 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Prostate BPH / April 2005Cardura ???
To quickly summarize: I have a prostate that has re-grown to 170gm prostate after TUMT 4 years ago, and my bladder was weakened following an Appendectomy 2 1/2 years back, but symptomatically I have very little urgency, except when I drink an excessive amount of liquid. And I have recurring Prostatitis attacks (3-6 months apart) for which I am now on daily Septra doses. Retention is usually minimal (ultra-sound), except early in the AM, before my bladder fully wakens or I've been vertical for a while. I know I'm a PVP prospect down the road, but so far it hasn't seemed necessary. My Uro has had me on Cardura for several years and recently added Proscar. What are some of your experiences or takes on Cardura? I don't think I've ever seen it mentioned as being taken by anyone here. My long-trusted Internist is OK with it, but I'm curious as to why it isn't mentioned here. Don't know. But I believe it was used more before flomax became popular - supposedly flomax was more tailor made for BPH as opposed to blood pressure problems. Ron > From: Midlife <midlife@cox.net> > Organization: Cox Communications [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > ever seen it mentioned as being taken by anyone here. My long-trusted > Internist is OK with it, but I'm curious as to why it isn't mentioned here. I was on it for awhile, then switched to Hytrin. Cardura made me more lightheaded, especially when standing up quickly, than Hytrin. Hytrin also helped my flow more than Cardura. Al > To quickly summarize: I have a prostate that has re-grown to 170gm prostate > after TUMT 4 years ago, and my bladder was weakened following an [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > ever seen it mentioned as being taken by anyone here. My long-trusted > Internist is OK with it, but I'm curious as to why it isn't mentioned here. > I was on it for awhile, then switched to Hytrin. Cardura made me more > lightheaded, especially when standing up quickly, than Hytrin. Hytrin > also helped my flow more than Cardura. Just what is meant by the term *lightheaded*? I find that such a term is so imprecise that it is an impediment to communication with physicians. I take it to mean the feeling of orthostatic hypotension--what happens if you get up from a crouch such as looking on a low shelf in a library. My sister thinks of it as being dizzy but not faint. We both take it to be different from vertigo. My neurosurgeon uses the term as well, and I think I am not getting across well. Bill Cardura is an alpha blocker, originally designed to lower blood pressure. They had me on cardura for about 4 years, first at 4mg/day and then at 2 mg/day. I have low pressure and had to be careful especially when getting up from bed or when raising up from bending over when my head was below my heart. In both cases I would get dizzy if I got up to fast. Eventually they changed me to flomax, also an alpha blocker, but it didn't affect me as much as the cardura. My guess is, if you don't have low blood pressure the cardura would not affect you. To make the long story short, I had a PVP done 2 years ago and now I don't use any prostate meds. I wouldn't wait too much longer to have something done with your prostate. At 170 grams you are really enlarged. Not all doctors who do PVP, TURP or many other prostate procedures will do that large a prostate, other than by open surgery. Jack > To quickly summarize: I have a prostate that has re-grown to 170gm > prostate [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > Internist is OK with it, but I'm curious as to why it isn't mentioned > here. <snip> > To make the long story short, I had a PVP done 2 years ago and now I don't > use any prostate meds. I wouldn't wait too much longer to have something > done with your prostate. At 170 grams you are really enlarged. Not all > doctors who do PVP, TURP or many other prostate procedures will do that > large a prostate, other than by open surgery. > Jack I've had a lot of input on this subject, but I would appreciate your take on what the major threats are to 'not' having a procedure, given my situation. I know that a very large prostate is just a larger harbor for infection or worse, and that acute retention is a potential concern given that the prostate tissue has to go somewhere. It also seems logical that my bladder may be working harder than it needs to as it pushes urine past that large a prostate. But I don't pretend to be a doctor. My symptoms are very livable and the Uro is not pushing me on this. I'm thinking that a consult with a PVP-trained Uro (mine has done a few, but isn't a real advocate) is a good idea. Well, there are quite a few other things that can be caused by a blockage. - Depending on how your bladder reacts to the blockage, you incur risk the bladder wall may thicken due to straining. (trabeculation) This reduces the volume the bladder can hold, and may or may not return to normal once the blockage is fixed with PVP/TURP/whatever. - Risk the bladder will get so stressed trying to overcome blockage it will lose muscle tone and could get to the point where catheterization is the only relief - even after the blockage is corrected. - Risk the bladder overfills to the point where it backs urine up back to the kidney(s) and causes damage. - Risk the bladder pressure caused by the blockage causes the bladder wall to bulge like a balloon and form a diverticulum. A diverticulum requires open surgury to correct, if it is large and if you want it fixed. - Increased risk of infection. You can have a dye type XRAY done and assess the status of the bladder wall; flow tests will tell you the severity of the blockage. As you mention, acute retention could occur. If you think you are at risk, you should get a catheter and keep it handy to avoid an emergency room visit. By the time acute retention occurs the blockage could have alredy caused bladder damage. That's why you read different recovery stories as people have the PVP/TURP/whatever. Everyone is different. Only your doctor can test and provide guidance. In the end, you have to decide how to handle your treatment based on analysis of your situation. > <snip> > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > PVP-trained Uro (mine has done a few, but isn't a real advocate) is a good > idea. > Well, there are quite a few other things that can be caused by a blockage. > [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > In the end, you have to decide how to handle your treatment based on > analysis of your situation. Thanks for all that........ but I really don't know how you concluded that I have a serious blockage or that one is imminent. My prostate has been very large for a very long time. 120 grams or more for 5 years +. I see my Uro every 4-6 months and have done so for something like 8 years. I had a TUMT about 3 1/2 years ago, then had some bladder compromise when hospital staff didn't pick up on my level of retention following an appendectomy. It lasted less than 24 hours and I called my Uro into the hospital myself to check on me. Over the past 8 years I've had cystoscopies, ultrasounds, flow tests, biopsies, etc. routinely. I'm experienced in self-catherterization because I did it for several months following the bladder compromise, to giver my bladder a chance to regain viability, which it has done for the most part. Symptomatically, I have very little problem, but such a large prostate is definitely going to end up requiring intervention. I am very sensitive to my own 'functions', and have noticed no degradation at all. I'm actually better than before the TUMT. My concern is based on logical projection and the desire to avoid either a TURP or an open prostatectomy. My Uro's last opinion on PVP was that he thought it would take two procedures to get the job done, and that he had some reservations about the effectiveness of Greenlight laser compared with other lasers he'd been reading about. It's my own concern that is making me question his advice and ask more questions. There is a good PVP-centric doc at UCLA (near where I live) whom I want to get a consult with to see how best to judge the need and timing. My own Uro is just too fuzzy about PVP for my taste. > on 4/17/05 11:26 AM: > [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > good > idea. Hi Midlife, Read your post after this one. It sounds like you are keeping on top of all the ramifications that an really enlarged prostate can cause. Doing that and your being able to live with your situation as it is today, I'd say continue to stay on top of the problem like you have. My motto is, "if it ain't broke don't fix it". That's what I did until I got sick of having to worry about how far it was to the next rest area when traveling, or having to race to the bathroom at home because I had a second mug of coffee. Then I looked at the possibilities my uro offered me, a TUNA or TUMT, I said no thanks went for the PVP and got fired by my uro. That's OK my PSA is 2.6, and the prostate is 45 gms, was 5.4 and 85 gms, before the PVP. My internist and I check it now and he said he will tell me when it's time to see a uro, if my body doesn't tell me first. It is my understanding that UCLA has an excellent uro who now is a PVP surgeon as well as doing TURPs and other prostate procedures. Sorry I don't remember his name. Good luck and good health, Jack <snip> > It is my understanding that UCLA has an excellent uro who now is a PVP > surgeon as well as doing TURPs and other prostate procedures. Sorry I don't > remember his name. > > Good luck and good health, > Jack For anyone interested, and if I recall correctly, he is Dr. Robert Reiter. |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.