Seriously considering taking Flomax... opinions?

Therapeutic Efforts Pharmaceutical
#1

I’m as anti-drug as anybody here, but my prostate seems to have ballooned to the point where I can barely start a very weak stream and am retaining a good amount of urine, which is causing me to get repeated bladder infections. I’ve already denied two doctors who wanted to prescribe Flomax to me, but I am caving in tonight… I need relief. I can’t sleep at all, I constantly have to go, I can’t empty my bladder, and the straining and struggling is getting tiresome. I cannot live a normal life like this.

Before I call my doctor tomorrow, I want to know-- have any of you used Flomax, and is there anything in particular to worry about as a fin victim? I’m aware of the potential sides, though none seem to be permanent. I really don’t want to mess with my prostate any more, but I can’t think of anything else that might relieve this other than the various natural DHT blockers like Saw Palmetto.

My hope is to take Flomax long enough to weather this storm with my prostate, and perhaps within a few months the difficulty urinating might subside a bit on its own, though it probably will never go away completely. Unfortunately many people seem to develop a tolerance for this drug over time, which is also a worry…

Are there any other alternatives other than taking more drugs or DHT blockers?

#2

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1319&p=6567&hilit=flomax#p6567

#3

Are you sure it’s a problem with the prostate or could it be weak muscles in the bladder? I had a similar experience where my bladder was so weak I always had to go, but little amounts, never feeling like I could empty it. It felt more that my bladder muscles had become weak and rigid. I made it a point to stop drinking water way before bed. Also, exercise helped, especially deep thrust squats and walking/running with vibram five fingers. The prostate strengthened from this. Oh, probably the best exercise were kegels. You stop and start the urine stream constantly when peeing for varying amounts of time. I’ve stopped doing this now, forgot about it, but I’m gonna start again. This helped a lot!

Also, doesn’t flomax stop you from peeing all the time? It sounds like you’re having a problem getting it out. Do you want to compound this?

Hope things work out, regardless of what you do it will take some time, but flomax feels like the wrong choice. Let us know how it goes.

#4

Martin, I went to the urologist last week and they told me my prostate was enlarged, which goes along with all the symptoms I’m having. Now the last couple of days I’ve been feeling that pain in the perineum as well.

Flomax increases the urine stream… makes it easier to urinate and empty the bladder completely, which would lead to less frequent urination. The side effects(fatigue/weakness, retrograde ejaculation, etc) suck, but it’s better than constantly having your bladder infected, which can lead to something even more serious. There’s also another drug of the same class called Uroxatral which appears to have fewer sides and no potential eye problems, but it’s newer and not available as a generic…

Mew, I saw that thread when I searched before, and I know it’s not a good drug to go on, but I’m pretty desperate at this point. I’ve been up all night and I can’t sleep because of the constant urge to go, and not being able to empty my bladder, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to get rid of this infection for good if I’m not able to void completely. I don’t know what else to do, except for possibly trying self prostate drainage/massage over a few weeks. It doesn’t seem like the broccoli treatment is something that works long term for most guys.

The main thing I was looking for was some experience from other fin victims who have actually tried Flomax, and how it affected them.

#5

have you tried drinking a lot of water in addition to a dirutic like coffee and then standing under a warm shower? I mean fill the tanks completely and try to force the water out of you…

#6

I’m not sure coffee is a good idea since it’s known to be an irritant for the prostate. I would love to be drinking tons of it right now, especially considering the lack of sleep.

I’ve been drinking many gallons of water and cranberry juice(the real unsweetened kind), and I’ve actually been standing under a shower quite often, as it does seem to help a little bit, but not enough to empty the bladder. Seems like I’m spending about half my day in the bathroom.

I slept about 2.5 hours last night, but I feel a little better about things than I did when I went to bed. I think I’m just going to try and flush out this infection with tons of water, continue taking the antibx the urologist prescribed, and maybe try some self prostate massage and drainage(bought the jelly and gloves this morning). There was another guy on here in the stories section who had this blockage worse than anyone(was actually using a catheter to pee at one point) and he said continuously draining the prostate over many weeks helped him a lot. Flomax will be an absolute last resort.

Thank you for your help Martin.

#7

good luck man

#8

One more idea before proceeding to flomax. If we have a thyroid/cortisone/aldosterone imbalance there can be problems with regulation of salt in the body. I started taking ocean salt in water (must be pure ocean salt, not refined), about 1/4 teaspoon 2 times a day, and my urgency to piss has been greatly reduced. I also started sweating for the first time in years, real sweat, it smells normal, not like piss.

You may not have the aldosterone imbalance but this is a cheap option that doesn’t hurt to try once. Salt may also take care of the UTI. No guarantees just something else to try before more chemicals.

To be fair in disclosure I’ve been doing this 2 days now, the first was in conjunction with putting a small spot of iodine on my upper inner arm, so there was minor iodine supplementation too. There’s more info in my members story in the link below.

#9

I’m going to guess that your estrogen is high, which is why your prostate is swollen. Many post fin guys have high E and high E leads to a ballooned prostate. I know they like to blame this on DHT, but that’s just not the case. DHT does contribute to a healthy prostate, and by blocking it (DHT) you will atrophy it, but there is more and more scientific evidence coming out in favor of E ballooing the prostate, not DHT. DHT is critical to a healthy prostate, as we have learned.

I’m sure most of you guys know this, but the prostate is the male equivalent of the uterus. When we are in the womb, there is one template for the human body, and depending on the hormones that interact with it, this is what creates either a prostate or uterus, nuts or ovaris, clitorus or penis glans, etc, etc. Point being, it makes sense that when a mans E rises past a certain point, his prostate is going to do what the hormones tell it to do, namely swell up, like your growing a uterus instead. Now, your not growing a uterus, obviously, but you see my point.

We learned the hardway how sensitive we are to hormones and that messing with them was the dumbest thing we could have done.

Cantsleep, have you checked your E? Many guys with ballooned prostates have very good success with either (get this) supplementing with DHT, to antagonize the E, or dropping the E in itself. These DHT blockers have it all wrong. It doesn’t surprise me.

Do some research, google around, you’ll see what I’m talking about.

#10

No I haven’t checked my E, but I’ve heard what you’re talking about. I’ve also been aggressively growing breasts the last couple of weeks, so that would probably support your argument as well!!

Tomorrow morning I’m going to call the effing urologist and demand he get me a blood test NOW and not on 9/1. In fact I’m going to drive up there and tell them. This is a freaking emergency. I was going to set up an appointment with Crisler tomorrow, but this has got to get resolved first, as there’s no way I can make it to Michigan with this shit going on. It is getting worse and worse every day. I can barely get anything out now… it takes me 40 seconds to get a weak stream started and I can never empty my bladder completely. I’ll just stand there for another 1 minute trying to strain and get more out, and some will come out, and it still doesn’t feel empty!!

Unfortunately I am definitely going to cave and ask for some Flomax and take it until I can get this resolved. This is an extreme problem and I will end up in the hospital if it continues. I will get my blood checked ASAP. Hopefully it is a simple hormone issue and I won’t need surgery!!

What a nightmare this is!!! 15 fucking pills!!! Fuck Merck, the FDA, and DR. WILLIAM RASSMAN WHOSE BLOGS CONVINCED ME IT WAS SAFE.

#11

15 pills…damn. It really is amazing, in a bad way. Flomax may give you immediate relief, but it’s not going to fix the underlying problem, which I’m sure you’re aware. You need to work on getting that E down. Are you following a good diet? A non estrogenic diet will help immensley along with supplementation. Or, in your extreme case, you may want to go to the heavy hitters pharm style, if you’re not already scared shit of pharmaceuticals…

#12

I know about the Flomax… just hoping that it will get me through until I can get help with this. I called to make an appointment with Crisler today, but his office is closed on Friday. I am hoping once they hear my story and the urgency of the matter they will make room for an appointment ASAP.

What foods are in a non-estrogenic diet? Do you have any links? What supplements would you suggest? I am desperate for relief!!!

I am eating whole wheat bread, whole grain cereal, lean turkey meat, and vegetables right now.

I’m ready for the heavy hitters. I really want to try arimidex, but I have no idea how to go about getting it prescribed in a quick time frame. I don’t imagine my GP or uro would do it? If my blood results came back with high E, do you think a GP would prescribe arimidex or simply refer me to an endo who would make me wait 3 months for an appointment?

#13

Ditch the grains. Check out paleodiet.com. This is what I follow and I know when I’ve gone off the reservation diet wise. I feel the best on this diet. No cravings at all after the first week or so.

And if it was me, given the symptoms, I would supplement with Chrysin, higher doses until you can get something more substantial…

#14

cdnuts do you have a particular brand or source where you get your chrysin? Is that something that will need to be cycled?

Also have you tried things like DIM and Quercetin?

#15

I cycle all of them, but Chrysin seems to work the quickest. Any natural herb will have to be cycled to keep it’s effect viable. I use Chrysin from Jarrow Formulas.

#16

cdnuts, if you don’t mind me asking, what kind of cycle would you use for the purpose of containing estrogen? What other products besides Chrysin? I think I’m going to need to put something like this together to survive this. I don’t want to continue messing around with things, but this problem is urgent and the doctors don’t seem to want to help(the urologist is not returning my calls!)

#17

The three I mentioned previously are the ones I take. Your situation is a bit more pressing then mine in regards to the prostate, so you may want to play around with the dosage amounts. I also find Sustain Alpha to work well.

#18

My uro called back and prescribed the Flomax. I took the first one last night, but haven’t seen any positive results-- just side effects. This morning I am fatigued as hell and my muscles feel extremely weak. They say it might take up to a couple of weeks for it to kick in. I’ll let you know what happens.

#19

Good luck dude

#20

How often do you use sustain alpha? I plan on giving it this one cycle along with toco 8 and being done with it, it’s expensive man.

I seriously wish you the best of luck with your recovery cantsleep, I’m sure things will stabilize in time. When I was at my worst I was constantly pissing and could barely feel it, and had poo pellets but the severe stuff with pissing went away pretty soon for me.