Experience with Saw Palmetto?

Posted by richardB @richardblackman, Feb 15 8:27am

The doctor of one of my prostate cancer friends (with an enlarged prostate undergoing active surveillance) recommended Saw Palmetto. Looks like it could have some beneficial effects. Wonder if anyone else is familiar?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Prostate Cancer Support Group.

Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Feb 15 9:35am

@richard88, as other comments come in, you may be interested in reviewing the comments in these 2 discussions in the Men's Health support group

- Saw Palmetto Withdrawal Symptoms
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/saw-palmetto-withdrawal-symptoms/

- Anyone experience ED after using Saw Palmetto?
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/anyone-experience-ed-after-using-saw-palmetto/

Here's "the bottom line" excerpt from this article: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/saw-palmetto-benefits
"Saw palmetto is a species of palm used to produce a supplement packed with potential health benefits.

Promising research suggests that saw palmetto may help increase testosterone levels, improve prostate health, reduce inflammation, prevent hair loss, and enhance urinary tract function.

However, some studies have turned up mixed results. Additional large-scale human research is needed to understand how saw palmetto affects health."

heavyphil | @heavyphil | Feb 16 8:40am

I tried it for BPH and it did nothing. In fact, one of my MD friends said that it may give you a false negative PSA reading: a lower number but not from actual PSA reduction.

ranger44 | @ranger44 | Feb 16 1:31pm

I have tried all the over the counter prostate products, never really noticed any difference in BPH symptoms, finally found out that daily Cialis 5 mg was prescribed for ED but also BPH. I did not want to take Tamulosin ( FloMax) the daily 5 mg Cialis has definitely helped, the added benefit is it aids in erection, but I still take an extra pill as the 5mg daily not really powerful enough like the 100mg Viagra I was taking

Jerry | @jerryegge | Feb 17 7:53am

I tried it, prior to my surgery, for bladder control. I didn’t experience any improvement.

jackwk | @jackwk | Feb 28 12:28pm

Is there any evidence of success using saw palmetto to treat an enlarged prostate?

southgeorgia | @southgeorgia | Feb 29 8:12pm

In reply to @jackwk "Is there any evidence of success using saw palmetto to treat an enlarged prostate?" + (show)

I’m not sure about saw palmetto. I did take it for a while (like a month or more) and could not tell a significant difference. I started suffering from an enlarged prostate about a year ago. I didn’t know at the time that’s what it was… I just knew I was having to strain hard to urinate, and I was having to do it multiple times, especially at night. I was already to scheduled to see a urologist at Mayo because I had a biopsy that came back 3+3. I thought I would be talking about treatment options for that, but after having an MRI, the urologist was much more concerned about my large prostate. It was causing my bladder to be extended since I could not fully empty it. I ended up having a HoLep procedure where they ran a tube up and used a laser to hollow out about half of my prostate. They did a biopsy on all of the material extracted, and it came back benign, thankfully! Now, I can go like I did when I was in my 20s! Lol. As for the prostate cancer, I am on active surveillance. I know this did not really answer your question, but you may want to look into the HoLep procedure. If you would like to know more about it from a patient’s perspective, just let me know.