What are your symptoms and how severe are they? Do they have a major impact on your quality of life? Have you sought advice from your Urologist on non medicinal options?
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Dec 28, 2024
@hanksgt, an enlarged prostate, also called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), is a health issue that becomes more common with age. You can read more about BPH in this article from Mayo Clinic:
@vincescs and @medinfo1 both ask good questions of you. Knowing the answers to those questions and discussing them with your doctor can help guide your decision about choosing the treatment option best for you.
Does your husband have kidney disease? If so, what stage is he in? As a general rule, those with chronic kidney disease find that monitoring their salt, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, sugar, and processed foods help. Not knowing what medications your husband is on, check in to the side effects, to ensure his kidneys are not going to be suffering from side effects
Ginger
Hello @sandraazeez, I'd like to add my welcome to @gingerw. You may notice I moved your comment and combined it with an existing discussion in the Men's Health support group titled:
I'd like to invite @billh, @bill5letsfixthis, @kayak461 and @jimbomayo to this discussion as well as they have discussed an enlarged prostate and treatment options they have undergone or considered.
@sandraazeez, was your husband given any dietary suggestions? How is he doing with his medications?
Hi @sandraazeez! First of all, BPH (Enlarged Prostate) is a common problem with many, many men especially if he is over 50! Urologists can treat this for many years with prescription drugs! It is important to see a Urologist. It is also important to understand the size of the enlarged prostate and just how it is affecting your husband. It is important to research all of the options out there in terms of medical procedures to lessen the impact of the enlarged prostate. My experience was that I took medications for years for the enlarged before I had to choose a medical procedure to deal with the impact it was having on me. After 5 or six years of medications, I decided to see a different Urologist. That Doctor immediately did a sonogram of my bladder, after I had urinated, to understand how well I was emptying my bladder. Next came procedure called a cystoscopy; this is where a small camera on the end of a tube goes up the urinary track to the inside of the bladder. In my case, the results of the cystoscopy indicated that my prostate was growing up and into my bladder, posing a risk of urine backing up and affecting the kidneys. This is where things get tricky because I had to choose the best procedure to deal with the enlarged prostate. In my case, I did what everyone does…..I googled questions, I looked at YouTube Videos on prostate treatment procedures, I sought another opinion from a Urologist. That Urologist want to perform a treatment on me the following week……but it would have been the wrong choice. After I had made my own decision about a procedure called HOLEP, I went to see another Urologist for his opinion. That Doctor looker at my Cystoscopy result and said….there is only one procedure for you, and it’s called HOLEP! I was very happy has this represented to me I had made a good decision. I contacted the Mayo Clinic Urology Department online, sent them the Cystoscopy result, I had also had an MRI so that they could view my condition. For your reference mine was not severely large….it was 83 cc’s. But it was growing up into the bladder, which really meant that there was only procedure for me. HOLEP. I encourage you to watch a YouTube video on a Doctor Dora at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville as he describes the procedure. I have no regrets at all. Hope this helps.
Hi @sandraazeez! First of all, BPH (Enlarged Prostate) is a common problem with many, many men especially if he is over 50! Urologists can treat this for many years with prescription drugs! It is important to see a Urologist. It is also important to understand the size of the enlarged prostate and just how it is affecting your husband. It is important to research all of the options out there in terms of medical procedures to lessen the impact of the enlarged prostate. My experience was that I took medications for years for the enlarged before I had to choose a medical procedure to deal with the impact it was having on me. After 5 or six years of medications, I decided to see a different Urologist. That Doctor immediately did a sonogram of my bladder, after I had urinated, to understand how well I was emptying my bladder. Next came procedure called a cystoscopy; this is where a small camera on the end of a tube goes up the urinary track to the inside of the bladder. In my case, the results of the cystoscopy indicated that my prostate was growing up and into my bladder, posing a risk of urine backing up and affecting the kidneys. This is where things get tricky because I had to choose the best procedure to deal with the enlarged prostate. In my case, I did what everyone does…..I googled questions, I looked at YouTube Videos on prostate treatment procedures, I sought another opinion from a Urologist. That Urologist want to perform a treatment on me the following week……but it would have been the wrong choice. After I had made my own decision about a procedure called HOLEP, I went to see another Urologist for his opinion. That Doctor looker at my Cystoscopy result and said….there is only one procedure for you, and it’s called HOLEP! I was very happy has this represented to me I had made a good decision. I contacted the Mayo Clinic Urology Department online, sent them the Cystoscopy result, I had also had an MRI so that they could view my condition. For your reference mine was not severely large….it was 83 cc’s. But it was growing up into the bladder, which really meant that there was only procedure for me. HOLEP. I encourage you to watch a YouTube video on a Doctor Dora at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville as he describes the procedure. I have no regrets at all. Hope this helps.
I should have summarized….my apology. My point is….don’t over react. Do your homework and research your options. Don’t be afraid to get a second, third, or fourth opinion. Reach out to this forum….allot of us have gone through the same thing and we’re ready to help!
After years of BPH I decided to get a median lobe TURP and UROlift. Flomax was beginning to be ineffective and I was maxed out on it anyway. Between urinary issues still occurring and retrograde ejaculation it
was time to fix it instead of band-aids like flomax.
So far so good. It's only been 2 weeks but it keeps trending better. But again, understand, it was a MEDIAN LOBE TURP ONLY. All TURPS aren't created equal. Pro tips if you do this: get diapers to wear for about a week. Take home the plastic urinal jug, take home some of the puppy pee pads and take your meds, expect blood in the urine. After about a week all of that improves significantly. The first week its difficult to control so you'll want those safeguards. I felt as though this was the best option for me. Everyone is different so follow your intuition.
Connect
Connect
Like
Helpful
Hug
What are your symptoms, and why are you averse to taking medication for them?
What are your symptoms and how severe are they? Do they have a major impact on your quality of life? Have you sought advice from your Urologist on non medicinal options?
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 Reaction@hanksgt, an enlarged prostate, also called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), is a health issue that becomes more common with age. You can read more about BPH in this article from Mayo Clinic:
- Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/benign-prostatic-hyperplasia/symptoms-causes/syc-20370087
See this page for a description of treatment options https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/benign-prostatic-hyperplasia/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20370093
@vincescs and @medinfo1 both ask good questions of you. Knowing the answers to those questions and discussing them with your doctor can help guide your decision about choosing the treatment option best for you.
What treatment has your doctor suggested for you?
My husband just diagnosed with an enlarged prostate (5) now on meds what diet recommendations
@sandraazeez Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect!
Does your husband have kidney disease? If so, what stage is he in? As a general rule, those with chronic kidney disease find that monitoring their salt, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, sugar, and processed foods help. Not knowing what medications your husband is on, check in to the side effects, to ensure his kidneys are not going to be suffering from side effects
Ginger
Hello @sandraazeez, I'd like to add my welcome to @gingerw. You may notice I moved your comment and combined it with an existing discussion in the Men's Health support group titled:
"Enlarged Prostate: What are treatment options?"
- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/enlarge-prostate/
I'd like to invite @billh, @bill5letsfixthis, @kayak461 and @jimbomayo to this discussion as well as they have discussed an enlarged prostate and treatment options they have undergone or considered.
@sandraazeez, was your husband given any dietary suggestions? How is he doing with his medications?
Hi @sandraazeez! First of all, BPH (Enlarged Prostate) is a common problem with many, many men especially if he is over 50! Urologists can treat this for many years with prescription drugs! It is important to see a Urologist. It is also important to understand the size of the enlarged prostate and just how it is affecting your husband. It is important to research all of the options out there in terms of medical procedures to lessen the impact of the enlarged prostate. My experience was that I took medications for years for the enlarged before I had to choose a medical procedure to deal with the impact it was having on me. After 5 or six years of medications, I decided to see a different Urologist. That Doctor immediately did a sonogram of my bladder, after I had urinated, to understand how well I was emptying my bladder. Next came procedure called a cystoscopy; this is where a small camera on the end of a tube goes up the urinary track to the inside of the bladder. In my case, the results of the cystoscopy indicated that my prostate was growing up and into my bladder, posing a risk of urine backing up and affecting the kidneys. This is where things get tricky because I had to choose the best procedure to deal with the enlarged prostate. In my case, I did what everyone does…..I googled questions, I looked at YouTube Videos on prostate treatment procedures, I sought another opinion from a Urologist. That Urologist want to perform a treatment on me the following week……but it would have been the wrong choice. After I had made my own decision about a procedure called HOLEP, I went to see another Urologist for his opinion. That Doctor looker at my Cystoscopy result and said….there is only one procedure for you, and it’s called HOLEP! I was very happy has this represented to me I had made a good decision. I contacted the Mayo Clinic Urology Department online, sent them the Cystoscopy result, I had also had an MRI so that they could view my condition. For your reference mine was not severely large….it was 83 cc’s. But it was growing up into the bladder, which really meant that there was only procedure for me. HOLEP. I encourage you to watch a YouTube video on a Doctor Dora at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville as he describes the procedure. I have no regrets at all. Hope this helps.
I should have summarized….my apology. My point is….don’t over react. Do your homework and research your options. Don’t be afraid to get a second, third, or fourth opinion. Reach out to this forum….allot of us have gone through the same thing and we’re ready to help!
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionAfter years of BPH I decided to get a median lobe TURP and UROlift. Flomax was beginning to be ineffective and I was maxed out on it anyway. Between urinary issues still occurring and retrograde ejaculation it
was time to fix it instead of band-aids like flomax.
So far so good. It's only been 2 weeks but it keeps trending better. But again, understand, it was a MEDIAN LOBE TURP ONLY. All TURPS aren't created equal. Pro tips if you do this: get diapers to wear for about a week. Take home the plastic urinal jug, take home some of the puppy pee pads and take your meds, expect blood in the urine. After about a week all of that improves significantly. The first week its difficult to control so you'll want those safeguards. I felt as though this was the best option for me. Everyone is different so follow your intuition.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 Reactions@cg55: Thank you for this post! You have given hope to many men who deal with the symptoms everyday. Best health to you…