I'm a 47 year old made who was diagnosed with BPH 3 years ago. The side effects of prescription medication don't appeal to me, so I'm looking for natural remedies. Thus far I've tried saw palmetto, pygeum, vitamin d3, selenium, stinging nettle and several "blends."
None seem to work well, so I'm looking for alternatives. I don't have trouble initiating urination, and I don't experience frequent urination during the day. My primary sympton is having to get up after about 4 hours of sleep to urinate. This wouldn't be so bad but it sometimes takes me several hours to fall back asleep...and if I have something to do I'm often exhausted the next day.
Also, I don't know if it's related but I've had erectile dysfunction for about the same length of time. For this I've tried viagra, cialis (both regular and daily), staxyn and levitra. They all had minor effects but since I haven't been dating I don't know their "full" effect." Again, it may be unrelated.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Chris my suggestion is try to find some short-term sleep aid that will help you fall back to sleep. attacking that problem is going to be a lot less of an issue then the prostate. Your symptoms for the prostate seem pretty mild. But I understand what you mean about not getting sleep I went through a bout of that as well. Even though my prostate is corrected now I still have to get up three or four times a night. Some of it has to do with the size of your bladder also. I found a lot of natural sleep aid that help like Valaria and melatonin. That's my suggestion because I never found anything that would help with the prostate that was a natural substance. Good luck to you.
Thanks for your help. I will try the natural sleep aids you suggested. I've had my doubts about natural treatments for prostate issues as none of them have seemed to have an impact.
The Valaria and drops work a lot faster than the pills. And I found that Ambien works very well for short-term sleep aid as well. It can be addicting so I try not to take it to many nights in a row. Hops are also a good natural sleep aid
Great advice...thank you very much!
Chris, every night for the past several years I have taken two 200mg Ibuprofen PM tablets when I go to bed. The PM portion is actually an antihistimine which makes you go back to sleep immediately and I get the best sleep I have in my life. I'm older and have a lot of aches and pains and the Ibuprofen really helps me with that. Before I started taking the PM my BPH was giving me little urges, enough to wake me up and go to the bathroom, sometimes 4 or 5 times per night. Now, I sleep right through, don't feel a thing and usually I'm up one time for three minutes then right back to sleep. There is a down side to the sleep aid, it's not supposed to be addictive but I am not able to sleep soundly without it. I'll deal with dropping the PM once I solve my prostate problem, sometime in the next few months.
You are wise to stay away from the BPH meds, your uro won't tell you but you will wind up with retrograde ejaculation and greatly decreased libido, erectile disfunction, etc. Also, the over-the-counter herbs and snake oil concoctions are just money pits, no help whatsover.
What will happen is that as your prostate grows you will have more and more need for the meds and finally you'll start taking them. Thus down the path to complete emasculation. Don't do it. At your age and with your symptoms I'll bet that you are an ideal candidate for Urolift. It's a new procedure that is minimally invasive, almost painless and works like a charm. I wanted to have it done and went to see a Uro who was performing the procedure and found that my prostate was too large among other disqualifying factors. It will probably buy you five to ten years trouble free, maybe a lot longer. Actually, at your age turp or tuvp will probably work ok, they are just very invasive, painful, bloody, will cause retrograde ejaculation and I believe probably unnnecessary for your situation at least not yet. Try one Ibuprofen PM when you go to bed. That was enough for me for years, it's only in the last two years that I need two. You can get the active ingredient, diphenhydramine hydrocloride, without the ibuprofen at your drug store if you prefer. But,do yourself a favor and stay away from all the meds that shrink your prostate. They work alright but the side effects are drastic and permanent. If you already have ed they will finish you off. Good luck!!
I have a suggestion that is inexpensive (about 50 cents a day) and has no side effects. I've been using it for several years. If you look at Allegro Medical online medical supplies you will see that they sell disposable 1 liter urinals in boxes of 50 for $25. I buy 3 or boxes at a time and keep them in the garage. Every night before I go to sleep I rinse out a disposable urinal with dish washing soap and water to check for leaks (I've only found 3 in the last two years) and make sure the urinal is clean inside and out. (They don't pack them in sterile bags so I don't want to take any chances.) I line a basket with a 4 gallon plastic garbage bag (the smallest size), place a paper towel at the bottom of the bag inside the basket, and put the urinal in it. I place the basket with the urinal in it on the floor next to the head of the bad. When I have to get up at night, I reach down in the dark, grab the urinal and stand next to my bed and use the urinal. When I'm done, I sna; the lid closed on the urinal, put it back in the lined basket and go back to sleep. This way there's no lights, (I don't even open my eyes), no walking, no aiming at the bowl. In the morning, I empty the urinal, tie up the end of the plastic bag with a knot and dispose of it.
Ron,
Did you see the surgeon today? How did you make out?
Bob
Have you been to your doctor about it?
Have you cut down your liquid intake in the evening to see if it makes any difference? Although to many with BPH four hours sleep would be good.
Erectile dysfunction as you are probably aware is often am early symptom of T2 diabetes or heart disease
I avoid antihistimines like the plague as they can cause urine retention when you have BPH..
Hi Derek,
I think there's probably a connection between ED, low Testosterone, and BPH. I have all three. Luckily I don't have diabetes or heart disease. If you research BPH there's lots of info but very few answers.
Ron, thanks much for taking the time to share your experiences and insights. I really appreciate it.
Hi Derek,
I'm still in the early stages of learning but I was curious if, in your opinion, urine retention might be positive in the case where someone like me was trying to sleep through the night? I can see how it would be problematic if one had trouble urinating during the day.
Thanks,
Chris
Derek,
Yes, I've been to a doctor, and cut down liquids. Yes, waking only once wouldn't be that bad if I could fall back asleep easily. I've ordered some melatonin and am hopeful that will help.
Fortuantely I don't have T2 diabetes or heart disease. As part of the connection between ED and BPH I tried daily cialis as it treats both (in theory) but I didn't like the side effects (achey-ness throughout the day)...and it didn't really do much to help me with ED or sleeping through the night.
Thanks, Bob. This is a good idea. I do feel that the brightness of leaving my bedroom to urinate tends to make it hard to sleep as it gives the message to my body that daylight has arrived.
I've been impressed with the participation rate at this forum. Unless I missed it, it doesn't appear there's a forum for erectile dysfunction on this site. I'm curious if anyone knows of an active forum for ED anywhere?
Thanks.
Ron I'm curious have you had any problems taking ibuprofen for that long. I took it for about four weeks and I got it ulcer. They say long-term use of ibuprofen is really bad for your heart and your stomach.
Urinary retention does not mean that you don't have to go it just means you can't go. You still feel like you have to go but it just doesn't come out very easily. if it's bad enough you have to use a catheter. I had it for a while and it can be very uncomfortable and dangerous. The pressure can back up into your kidneys and cause kidney issues.
Chris you can get lots of great sleep aids like Melatonin or valarian and other things at any local high health or Walgreens drugstore.
Don't tell me:-) I first had BPH in 2004, The drugs had side effects but I found that Saw Palmetto helped in many ways. I would not have a TURP and waited for PVP to come along. By the time I had that in 2005 my prostate was 75 grms. It grew again and was 125 grms by the time I had Thulium laser procedure last year.
Have you tried testosterone injections? It helped a friend but thickened his blood to the extent that he was liaqble to hve a stroke.