Orgasms after Aquablation

Hello @mike5450, Welcome to Connect. I've thought about having the procedure but at age 80, I'm not sure I want to have it done yet. Members on Connect are patients like yourself and can't provide medical advice but can share our experiences. While you wait for others to respond with experience, I thought I would share these research articles I found using Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com/) which is useful for finding medical research articles and references.

--- Patients' Perspectives on Attributes While Choosing Minimally Invasive Surgery for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Procedures: Experience from Men Undergoing Water Vapor Thermal Therapy:
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/end.2022.0607
--- Ejaculations and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: An Impossible Compromise? A Comprehensive Review:
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/10/24/5788.

Sometimes emails can get lost in transit or the recipient doesn't check it often. Are you able to call the doctor or developer who performed the aquablation procedure?

@johnbishop, thank you for the response.

I looked at the two study reports that you provided. They generally are consistent with what I have read about the sexual side effects from prostate procedures generally, but neither addresses the specific question that I raise: at what point can sexual activity be resumed, assuming that, as the many studies lead one to expect, the patient is one of the vast majority who is sexually functional after the procedure.

I cannot call the developer of the procedure, but have left a telephone message for my doctor, whose previous advice regarding sexuality omitted any caveats or mentions of timing expectations. Unfortunately, my doctor isn't usually one to respond to phone inquiries; instead, his staff prefers to schedule office visits, which I am trying to avoid for reasons of expense and convenience.

As the question seems like one that many, many patients must have confronted as they recover from this specific procedure, I am quite astonished that best practices aren't available, data hasn't been generated, and the internet doesn't address a patient's reasonable expectations.

I just had Aquablation Sept 26th. I had a Foley catheter in for 6 months. I got covid during the 2nd week of recovery. It hasn't been an easy road but as of today I'm feeling much much better.
Like you Mike I have the same concern and haven't been able to find data on when I can resume intimacy with my wife. Any information or experience from anyone that has had Aquablation would be appreciated.
Good luck Mike and hope your doing well.
Mike

Mike, I resumed activity after about five weeks. I don't think I have the same functionality as before, but I can live with my current capabilities.

I am sorry you had such a rough time recovering but am confident that better days already are here for you. Best of luck to you.

Exactly two weeks out from aquablation today. Doctor sent me home the same day but with a Foley. No pain at all, which was surprising, although the cath was slightly uncomfortable with movement. Six days after procedure, doctor removed cathether, but that day had trouble peeing so he had me return to his office. Unfortunately, he re-installed the Foley for one more week (yesterday). So yesterday I was sweating a bit about whether or not I could urinate, but he did a test where he inserted fluid through the catheter, then removed the catheter and asked me to urinate in a container. Happily all went well. No pain, just a joyous sense of relief. Since yesterday I have been peeing well, no blood or discoloration, and this morning I peed all the way across the shower stall. WooHoo!!!!
To your question, my doctor said I'm okay for the hot tub but he wants me to wait on orgasm two more weeks. Mainly so as not to irritate the urethra through the activity leading to orgasm, not the orgasm itself. Erections are strong. Hang in there.

Thanks Dragnet12. I had the procedure nine days ago and the docs instructed me to refrain from orgasms for four weeks. 12,960 minutes down with 27,360 to go (not that I'm counting).

Okay, I'm now 4 weeks out, and last night EVERYTHING is working great (BIG relief!!!) Also, peeing the porcelain off the commode. Interestly, urine is clear but I'm still showing trace blood on a UA dipstick, but doc says this is normal.

I'm smiling at your characterization of improved urine flow. I described it as "peeing like a teenager". Can't wait to be released from purgatory.

I am in a similar situation but a bit more complex. I had my Aquablation 10 weeks ago. They sent me home with a Foley for three days during which time I had quite a bit of bleeding. Doc advised this was normal but the last day of the Foley I woke up in the middle of the night pretty covered in blood. Foley was removed in three days and they sent me home. I experienced a fair amount of bleeding and passing what looked to be clots for about a week and then everything was great thereafter. As they say peeing like a teenager. Then things took a turn for the worse in week three. My stream started to diminish and I was experiencing pain in the head of my penis. I called the Doc and they advised to keep an "eye on it" but let them know if the stream stopped. Duh yeah!. By five weeks out I could only get a few drops and my penis was going through contortions. They called me back in for a Systoscopy which they tried without anaesthetia. They hit a brick wall about 1/2" into the procedure. After peeling me off the ceiling, I was advised that they need to unblock a penile stricture and that this needed to be done in the hospital under anaesthetia. Had that done two weeks ago, Foley for three days and all seems well now. My big question is ..... when can I resume sexual activity. I am 77 but have always enjoyed a strong erection and for the past few days have been getting the old feeling back and mounting a pretty good erection. However, I am worried (after the previous episode) that it may be too soon. Anyone out there with a similar experience.

@bph24 - Welcome to Mayo Connect. A great place to ask questions and gain some new perspectives...

Aquablation is so new I don't think there's a set time table for a return to normal sexual activity. My doc said four-weeks and I stuck to that. I am now eight weeks post and all is working as expected...

Have you asked your urologist for a time table? (BTW - I love hearing about us 70+ year olds still going strong.)