The unofficial enlarged prostate thread
Discussion
I'd imagine Pistonheads has a large contingent of middle aged men,many of whom may have or have had an enlarged prostate.
There are are many surgical fixes for the condition and new ones coming on stream......if you'll excuse the pun.....all the time.
As someone who is looking for a more permanent solution than daily tamsulosin tablets I'd like to hear from fellow sufferers who have been down the surgical route.
Was it entirely successful,if not what side effects have you had,in hindsight would you have the op again etc etc.
There was a chap who started a thread towards the end of last year while having surgery,laser if I recall,but he didn't come back with an update.
There's a new procedure now where they hold the prostate out of the way,a lot less invasive than previous methods but you have to wonder about the long term success.
Discuss
There are are many surgical fixes for the condition and new ones coming on stream......if you'll excuse the pun.....all the time.
As someone who is looking for a more permanent solution than daily tamsulosin tablets I'd like to hear from fellow sufferers who have been down the surgical route.
Was it entirely successful,if not what side effects have you had,in hindsight would you have the op again etc etc.
There was a chap who started a thread towards the end of last year while having surgery,laser if I recall,but he didn't come back with an update.
There's a new procedure now where they hold the prostate out of the way,a lot less invasive than previous methods but you have to wonder about the long term success.
Discuss
Big Al. said:
Not at all.Enlarged prostate has little to do with prostate cancerI was on Tamsulosin & Finesteride but with limited effect. For 5 years from age about 50. Low psa (under 1) and soft prostate on examination so not cancer. But my elderly GP said leave well alone and don't opt for surgery.
He retired and new young GP took over, said it was ridiculous, I was 55 and my life was being ruined by prostate issues. 6 or 7 trips to the loo a night, and having to plan trips out around toilet stops. As I had private medical, he recommended a TURP, which I had done in June 2018.
The build up to the op isn't nice, camera up your peehole right up to the prostate, is very unpleasant.
Op went ok, apart from 2 UTIs in early August and early September, which were bloody awful. Antibiotics sorted them out. Plus another camera up the doodah to check all was ok, again, very unpleasant.
But that aside, 100% successful, and it has transformed my life. Can go hours between loo visits now, maybe 6 or 7 hours, and often go thru the night with no or 1 trip to the loo, and could put out fires with the stream. Just brilliant. 90% of men will be left with retrograde ejaculation, so exactly the same sensation but nothing coming out. Which is not a problem assuming you don't want more kids. But I'm one of the 10%, so a bit less end product, but other than that, no change.
2 bits of advice....take a month or 6 weeks off work after the op, don't rush back like I did after 2 weeks. You need time to recover and relax. And get the antibiotics for any UTI before you get the UTI. So you have them ready as soon as it starts.
HTH.
He retired and new young GP took over, said it was ridiculous, I was 55 and my life was being ruined by prostate issues. 6 or 7 trips to the loo a night, and having to plan trips out around toilet stops. As I had private medical, he recommended a TURP, which I had done in June 2018.
The build up to the op isn't nice, camera up your peehole right up to the prostate, is very unpleasant.
Op went ok, apart from 2 UTIs in early August and early September, which were bloody awful. Antibiotics sorted them out. Plus another camera up the doodah to check all was ok, again, very unpleasant.
But that aside, 100% successful, and it has transformed my life. Can go hours between loo visits now, maybe 6 or 7 hours, and often go thru the night with no or 1 trip to the loo, and could put out fires with the stream. Just brilliant. 90% of men will be left with retrograde ejaculation, so exactly the same sensation but nothing coming out. Which is not a problem assuming you don't want more kids. But I'm one of the 10%, so a bit less end product, but other than that, no change.
2 bits of advice....take a month or 6 weeks off work after the op, don't rush back like I did after 2 weeks. You need time to recover and relax. And get the antibiotics for any UTI before you get the UTI. So you have them ready as soon as it starts.
HTH.
Edited by TwigtheWonderkid on Friday 16th April 11:03
Thanks for that Twig.
That's one of the older procedures isn't it ? More invasive than more recent techniques like using steam and such like and from what I've read more likelihood of side effects like incontinence and erectile disfunction,any chance of either and I'd stick with medication
That's one of the older procedures isn't it ? More invasive than more recent techniques like using steam and such like and from what I've read more likelihood of side effects like incontinence and erectile disfunction,any chance of either and I'd stick with medication
V8covin said:
Thanks for that Twig.
That's one of the older procedures isn't it ? More invasive than more recent techniques like using steam and such like and from what I've read more likelihood of side effects like incontinence and erectile disfunction,any chance of either and I'd stick with medication
My surgeon assured me he'd done around 4000 turp operations, without a single case of either incontinence or ED. Yes, there are risks, but they are very small. That's one of the older procedures isn't it ? More invasive than more recent techniques like using steam and such like and from what I've read more likelihood of side effects like incontinence and erectile disfunction,any chance of either and I'd stick with medication
I was told after my TURP in 2011 that it will grow back in about five years. I'm now ten years along and although the symptoms have returned, it's in much lower intensity than prior to the procedure. Mine started as a green laser resection but due to the size (large) of my prostate and consequent copious bleeding during the procedure, the surgeon opted to revert to a TURP. I had opted for a local anaesthetic (spinal) so my recovery was fairly quick. I now pee two or three times a night but I make no attempt to limit my evening fluid intake so that could be improved. My original symptoms were like Twig's but with a bout of haematuria after an occasion when I simply couldn't stop for a pee until I was nearly in chronic urine retention. PSA went to about 15 but returned to normal after the operation. I didn't find the flexible cystoscopy (camera up the urethra) too bad, but I did have an ultrasound guided biopsy and that was very uncomfortable. Think about having a large (or so it felt) probe that fires little hollow needles out sideways shoved up your bum. The needles sample the prostate tissue by penetrating the wall of the rectum into the prostate. Faecal matter becomes deposited into the prostate! Very strong antibiotics before, during and after the procedure attempt to suppress infections - successfully in my case but not in all. These antibiotics fouled up my digestive system for about a year thereafter. One of them alone would cure gonorrhoea in one dose I was told. It's all worth it though to avoid the symptoms as Twig eloquently described.
V8covin said:
I'd imagine Pistonheads has a large contingent of middle aged men,many of whom may have or have had an enlarged prostate.
There are are many surgical fixes for the condition and new ones coming on stream......if you'll excuse the pun.....all the time.
As someone who is looking for a more permanent solution than daily tamsulosin tablets I'd like to hear from fellow sufferers who have been down the surgical route.
Was it entirely successful,if not what side effects have you had,in hindsight would you have the op again etc etc.
There was a chap who started a thread towards the end of last year while having surgery,laser if I recall,but he didn't come back with an update.
There's a new procedure now where they hold the prostate out of the way,a lot less invasive than previous methods but you have to wonder about the long term success.
Discuss
Can't help I am afraid. But something to consider: How is your gut?There are are many surgical fixes for the condition and new ones coming on stream......if you'll excuse the pun.....all the time.
As someone who is looking for a more permanent solution than daily tamsulosin tablets I'd like to hear from fellow sufferers who have been down the surgical route.
Was it entirely successful,if not what side effects have you had,in hindsight would you have the op again etc etc.
There was a chap who started a thread towards the end of last year while having surgery,laser if I recall,but he didn't come back with an update.
There's a new procedure now where they hold the prostate out of the way,a lot less invasive than previous methods but you have to wonder about the long term success.
Discuss
I was in dialogue with a professor of gastroenterology yesterday and by coincidence later saw a medical discussion about prostatitis (I know how to party) and there is increasing evidence for interplay between a dodgy colon and prostate bother.
motco said:
I was told after my TURP in 2011 that it will grow back in about five years. I'm now ten years along and although the symptoms have returned, it's in much lower intensity than prior to the procedure.
My surgeon told me that due to the amount of the prostate he'd cut away, he was confident it would see me out for the rest of my life. He was confident of 30 years at least, probably more, and I was 55 at the time. I'm almost 3 years in so way too early to tell if he was lying.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
motco said:
I was told after my TURP in 2011 that it will grow back in about five years. I'm now ten years along and although the symptoms have returned, it's in much lower intensity than prior to the procedure.
My surgeon told me that due to the amount of the prostate he'd cut away, he was confident it would see me out for the rest of my life. He was confident of 30 years at least, probably more, and I was 55 at the time. I'm almost 3 years in so way too early to tell if he was lying.
motco said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
motco said:
I was told after my TURP in 2011 that it will grow back in about five years. I'm now ten years along and although the symptoms have returned, it's in much lower intensity than prior to the procedure.
My surgeon told me that due to the amount of the prostate he'd cut away, he was confident it would see me out for the rest of my life. He was confident of 30 years at least, probably more, and I was 55 at the time. I'm almost 3 years in so way too early to tell if he was lying.
I don't know how much was taken in weight, but the willy camera video that I watched on the screen as they were doing it (in colour and HD), before and after as I had it done post op following UTIs, showed the camera in a very narrow tube before, but in a wide open space afterwards.
I have suffered prostate related issues for some 20 years now and have a deal of experience to recall.
Like most, it started as increased frequency in micturition, disturbance through the night etc. I had the generic PSA checks which all came back within limits; apropos those limits, they do vary quite markedly between medics. The usual pills like Tamsulosin etc were prescribed, sadly with little or no effect.
Like other posters on here, I had the ubiquitous biopsy in about 2008 which came back free of any cancer trace.
Over time and quite predictably, the symptoms became more and more intrusive and really impacted my life both at work and play. I got to know every toilet stop on every route that I travelled, whether on a bike or in a car. There were oddities in that there was a variable severity and incidence of the problem, especially when being on holiday.
We travelled to the US a lot in those days and I used to dread the flights and whether I would be able to get to a toilet or even ‘go’ when I got there. Here is the mystery; whilst on holiday, my symptoms improved markedly to the point of being of little note. This was good because I do love American beer! I have never understood why and the experts have no answer.
October 2011 and we had just returned from a super motorcycling holiday in Spain and were out on the bike for a Sunday ride and beer. This is engrained on my mind. I had to stop on the way back home for a pee; nothing, rien, nowt. I ended up in hospital that evening with acute retention and walked out with a catheter complete with bag. The relief was stupendous, but then the issues of having said accoutrement and the attendant UTIs became a real drag.
I had the catheter until the following January and a TURP. The recovery was slow but positive and I was problem /drug free for about four years.
Yes, dear reader, despite constant PSA and annual checks the issue returned. Knowing the score, I was not going to be caught out this time and without shame I aggressively sought help. Both my doctor and consultant were nothing short of heroic and following CT scans and a cystoscopy a second TURP was advised. I had that in May 2018 and was advised that I came out with very little prostate left.
And so in 2021 things have regressed once more and I am now on my second six month trial of Finasteride, the only drug that has done me any good so to speak. Please look up what Finasteride does but NOT the treatment for baldness.
Quite where I am going I don’t know, but have much more manageable symptoms and can carry on relatively normally. The effects of BPH (my diagnosis since day one) are still variable, some nights I get up once, others, not at all.
In closing, quite a few of my friends have had prostate cancer, some had the offending article removed but none have died yet!
To those of you reading this, who have just started on this road or have concerns; go and talk to your doctor and get on the radar.
Like most, it started as increased frequency in micturition, disturbance through the night etc. I had the generic PSA checks which all came back within limits; apropos those limits, they do vary quite markedly between medics. The usual pills like Tamsulosin etc were prescribed, sadly with little or no effect.
Like other posters on here, I had the ubiquitous biopsy in about 2008 which came back free of any cancer trace.
Over time and quite predictably, the symptoms became more and more intrusive and really impacted my life both at work and play. I got to know every toilet stop on every route that I travelled, whether on a bike or in a car. There were oddities in that there was a variable severity and incidence of the problem, especially when being on holiday.
We travelled to the US a lot in those days and I used to dread the flights and whether I would be able to get to a toilet or even ‘go’ when I got there. Here is the mystery; whilst on holiday, my symptoms improved markedly to the point of being of little note. This was good because I do love American beer! I have never understood why and the experts have no answer.
October 2011 and we had just returned from a super motorcycling holiday in Spain and were out on the bike for a Sunday ride and beer. This is engrained on my mind. I had to stop on the way back home for a pee; nothing, rien, nowt. I ended up in hospital that evening with acute retention and walked out with a catheter complete with bag. The relief was stupendous, but then the issues of having said accoutrement and the attendant UTIs became a real drag.
I had the catheter until the following January and a TURP. The recovery was slow but positive and I was problem /drug free for about four years.
Yes, dear reader, despite constant PSA and annual checks the issue returned. Knowing the score, I was not going to be caught out this time and without shame I aggressively sought help. Both my doctor and consultant were nothing short of heroic and following CT scans and a cystoscopy a second TURP was advised. I had that in May 2018 and was advised that I came out with very little prostate left.
And so in 2021 things have regressed once more and I am now on my second six month trial of Finasteride, the only drug that has done me any good so to speak. Please look up what Finasteride does but NOT the treatment for baldness.
Quite where I am going I don’t know, but have much more manageable symptoms and can carry on relatively normally. The effects of BPH (my diagnosis since day one) are still variable, some nights I get up once, others, not at all.
In closing, quite a few of my friends have had prostate cancer, some had the offending article removed but none have died yet!
To those of you reading this, who have just started on this road or have concerns; go and talk to your doctor and get on the radar.
L.Len said:
What is TURP ?
Transurethral resection of the prostate.Basically, they pass a tiny camera and copper wire up your peehole, until they reach the prostate, run an electric current thru the copper wire that heats it to a high temp, and then burn away as much of the prostate as they safely can. Sounds terrible but you're under general anaesthetic.
Imagine the prostate as a doughnut, the wire goes thru the middle of the doughnut and burns it away from the inside out, so when they're done, less doughnut and more hole.
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Feeling great now, everything works, even the
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