Tips for getting off Flomax (tamsulosin)?

Oh I'm so envious. Its been 9 years since I had Proton therapy for my mild prostate cancer treatment, and I still have a basket full of issues. 1) can't get a full erection or even keep the 80% I can get; 2) can't ejaculate; 3) takes a long, long time to get to a mild orgasm; 4) painful urination most of the time; 5) have to pee about every hour to an hour and a half; 6) get up at least six time a night to pee due to the pain waking me up when my bladder fills with just 3-4 oz; 7) bladder wall has nonhealing scarring from the radiation which causes the pain; 8) and I sometimes have loss of rectum sphincter control (several "accidents" have happened over the years).
I have been to 5 different Urologist over this time; tried Hyperbaric therapy twice; several drugs; so far no solutions.
Like I said, I'm so envious.

I was diagnosed with low-grade, localized prostate cancer in 2012 and went on active surveillance. In 2016, I was prescribed Flomax (Tamsulosin). I continued taking Tamsulosin during my 9 years on active surveillance, throughout my 28 proton radiation treatments (19 April-28 May 2021), and then for one year following treatments.

Once I was confident that the proton radiation treatments were successful, I began to slowly wean myself off of the Tamsulosin.

What had been a pill a day for all those years, I wanted to closely monitor the effect of slowly reducing the dosage and monitoring the effect rather than stopping completely all at once. So, for a month, I reduce the dosage to 6 days/week. Experiencing no adverse issues, then reduced down to a pill 5 days/week for a month…. then down to a pill 4 days/week for a month….3 days/week for a month….2 days/week for a month….1 days/week for a month….and then none.

I still have a stash of Tamsulosin in my medicine cabinet (perhaps expired by now, I don’t know). But, by reducing the dosage slowly month-by-month, I could closely monitor any adverse effects related to the change. If at any point I had experienced a problem, I would’ve stopped the experiment and sought another option. So far, everything has worked well.

I've been on Flomax for 20 years for BPH. Seemed to help some but had frequent night urination. 2019 diagnosed with prostate cancer and placed on ADT Lupron, Reached out to a number of doctors in my plan for treatment of my BPH. They wouldn't consider any BPH treantment because of the cancer. Changed medical plan with new doctors who agreed on a procedure called HOLep. It's holeum laser treatment of the prostate from the inside to remove the prostate tissue pressing around the bladder and urethra. I had the procedure done last August with outstanding 100% results. No more Flomax and no more BPH issues. Check it out. It has an excellent success rate better than any other BPH procedures. I'm 77 and wished I had this done 20 years ago.

I thought I had it bad. Nine years is a long time. I'm 3 years post brachytherapy, and 3.5 years post radiation. My issue is the constant blood in my stool from the non-healing scarring from radiation in my lower intestine. I do occasionally have some pain during urination. Tamsulosin 2 days on and 1 day off works best for me. Weening myself off the drug was a no-go a year ago. I certainly would like to stop. Nothing to eat or drink after 7pm will usually get me 5 - 6 hours of sleep without having to visit the john. Now, the 2 ibuprofen with my evening beverage may help with the sleep, too. I'm seeing another urologist next week. I'll post again if he gives me some new ideas on the scarring. Hang in there.

I was prescribed Flomax for my need to urinate frequently during the night. Once again I learned that even though your doctor has all your medications in the chart he may not look at that. Fortunately I survived despite taking other medications that lower blood pressure. I have been taking 2 hs. Tonight I will not take any. Important to note, My CPAP physician explained how the cpap helps reduce urinary urge during sleep. I had been using an oral device for sleep apnea. Now, with CPAP I have to urinate only once or twice during six hour period.