I am beginning to suspect my kidney damage was caused by tamsulosin. Has anyone else had kidney problems after perhaps prolonged usage?
I don't know about that, I had an aunt who took Flomax for many years, plus many more pills for depression etc. PLUS lots of heavy pain killers and she never had kidney problems. She was laughing about that since one would expect the kidneys could not handle so many pills.
I took Flomax for maybe 20 years or more. Two a day for the last several years. It created eye problems and sex related problems, but no kidney problems that I know of during all those years. I have been off of it since jan of this year after a sucessful PAE procedure at the UNC medical center.
What eye problems?
Dry eyes, blurred vision and alot of extra floaters in the eye. I have been off of flomax for 7 months and have notice a marked improvement in my vision. I assume since this is the only medicine I have quit taking then Flomax must have been creating some of, if not all, the eye problems. Hopefully it will continue to improve.
interesting, thanks. I don't take Flomax but another alpha blocker (Prazosin) and have similar problems. PAE did not work for me I am one of the unlucky 15%
I don't know why anyone would continue to take any med or herb over a long period of time when they do nothing for the condition you take it for but cause other problems not to mention the prolonged expense.
From drugs.com side effects for tamsulosin :
Ocular
Common (1% to 10%): Blurred vision
Postmarketing reports: Visual impairment, intraoperative Floppy Iris Syndrome (IFIS)[Ref]
Ian,
I have been on Flomax for several years. It makes me a bit dizzy, and dimishes my sex life. At first I took one per day, then, as an experiment, I reduced that to one every other day. Now, I am trying to reduce it to one every third day. It has a "half life" - stays in your system for a number of days, so I believe each person should take as little as they can tolerate to minimize side effects.
In my case I am not aware of any kidney or other issues from the Flomax other those mentioned above.
With this, as with all other meds, you really need to do a little experimenting and reduce the dosage until you get the desired result with minimal side effects.
My best to you,
Tom
I'm very hesitant to take any meds, especially long term. With that said, tamsulosin has definitely helped my LUTS. I do have side effects (persistent cough and nasal congestion ) , so I am trying supplements and educating myself about PAE.
Ian I've been taking Tamsulosin since I was 36 and I am 53 now. Only 0.4mg daily. I've never had kidney problems. Other side effects like Anejaculation is the worst for me. I am looking into other medications now with less of a side effect. It was interesting to read about the dry eyes. I get them badly and thought I was suddenly alergic to my cat. I got of the Tamsulosin for 2 weeks and the eyes felt amazing. Unfortuneately the Alfuzosin I tried was not for me and worse sides than Tamsulosin.
Would love to know if you find any alternative to tam and alfuzosin. What side effects did you have with alfuzosin?
Tom, how did you find it was reducing it to every second day? Half life is 9-13 hours so I was wondering how it would be the day with no Tamsulosin? Were BPH symptons higher? More urination at night?
Was erectile function better the days off? How about ejaculation which is my biggest issue with Tamsulosin. No ejaculation at all sometimes.
KC,
I switched to every other day 2 weeks ago. Effectivess and side effects (cough and nasal congestion) are less on the day off, but it's tolerable. With every day, the side effects were really pretty bad.
Also noticed that I needed to play with what time of the day to take it on the "on" day to get the most comfortable results.
Hi Rich, I was so optimistic trying it too. In two weeks the BPH symptoms were not dealt with at all. I was up 4 or 5 times a night. Awake or askeep I had to go every 2 hours. I'm usualy up twice a night on Flomax. The orgasms on Alfuzosin were bizarre. I was much more sensitive, and able to achieve but it almost oozed out rather than shot out and felt like it was lasting a long time. Not all bad but just felt so strange. I imagine it was retro grade ejacualtion and I had not experienced it as yet. I was also very low energy but that may be from not sleeping well. I also felt a UTI coming on which may or may not have been from not being able to empty the bladder properly. I drank a ton of cranberry and it got better or going on flomax made it better.
Was 2 weeks long enough to evaluate? It was for me. I'm not sure my body would have adjusted better to it over more time. Pharmacist said I'd know in a week if it was working.
I tried to get a prescription for Doxazosin and my urologist gave me Hytrin (Terazosin) instead. Said they are virtually the same but I doubt that. He likely makes more on Hytrin. LOL. I'm only going to start it in a couple of weeks as I have a vacation coming up and not willing to risk new sex issues.
Ah, those two are blood pressure meds. I have borderline low bp, so probably not something I would monkey with, but I'd be interested to hear how you do with it. Have a good vacation!
And what was your experience on that? I normally take it just before bed, but I'm thinking a few hours before may be a better idea. I have to say the days I forget I usually know it the next day really quickly.
So far pretty much what you're thinking. I started out taking it just before I went to bed. What happened after a few days was that on the "on" day when I took it just before bed, the first time I got up to pee (maybe 2 to 3 hrs later) the tam hadn't kicked in, and I had a difficult time peeing. After that things were fine, but that's always a scary feeling ... My dad had to have emergency surgery for blockage, and I definitely want to avoid carrying on the family tradition.
So I switched to taking it 4 hrs before going to bed. That fixed the first time up difficulty, but the sinus stuff now arrives earlier also, so I get congested in the early morning and often can't get back to sleep because of that. I'm going to try 3 and if necessary 2 hrs earlier to see if I find a sweet spot.
Wow! Many thanks for all you guys for responding so quick and so much. Much appreciated. I hope you wont mind my not responding to each one, as there are so many.
From all your responses, especially those taking tamsulosin for many years and not noticing any kidney problems. This in one way sets my mind at rest but leaves me with a problem.
My kidneys were fine, even after I'd had systemic chemo for my bladder cancer 8 years ago. Then something happened in the next few years that caused one of my kidneys to atrophy. Seemingly no problem, as one kidney can do all the work. Then about 3.5 years ago I started to loose the other one. However, it started to recover just about when I stopped taking the tamsulosin, but worsened again just recently when I went back on it.
But from all your replies, it would seem this timing between my kidney trouble and taking tamsulosin is just a coincidence and I have to look elsewhere for the possible source of my problems.
Thanks again guys.