I am brand new to this newsgroup but wanted to provide some input.  I
live in Danbury, CT and had been diligent about annual prostate exams
since the mid 1990's.  I was told I had an "enlarged" prostate but
since my uro group did not provide me with any reason to further
investigate this knowledge, I thought it was a normal part of aging (I
am now 62 years of age).  However, I was having some erectile problems
and told both my euro and my primary care doc.  Both immediately wrote
me a script for Viagra, then Cialis when it became available.  I hated
Viagra because it made me all red in the face and the nasal stuffiness
was more than I could bear.  Neither of them offered to do testing to
find out why I was having the ED problem and, again I thought it was a
normal part of aging.  However, it just got worse and them my libido
started to wane as well (not good).  I had no clue and was not told
that it could be the result of my enlarged prostate.  In February of
this year, things went from somewhat okay to worse when I started
having pelvic pain.  I went to my euro and he pushed me off to his
Physician's Assistant.  They made the determination I had prostatitis
and prostatodynia in addition to a 91 gram prostate.  I had urine
retention although my urine was clear.  I was put on Levaquin and told
to take Aleve or some similar product for the pain.  I was also put on
Floxax and Avodart.  However, 1 Floxax was not enough so they upped it
to 2 per day.  I was told to come back in 6 months.  After a few months
of this, I was not feeling any better, so went back after doing a
little research on the internet.  I found a drug called Ultram and
asked them for it so they gave it to me.  This seemed to work better
for the pain.  I still was not happy taking all these drugs so did
further research and found some prostate specific exercises to do which
I did every day for months.  In addition, I worked out every day for
1-2 hours and lost 30 lbs.  This really helped with the pain to the
point of almost eliminating it.  However, I still had the urine
retention, even with 2 Flomax a day.  The euro wanted to do a TURP but
when I found out what it entailed I said to hell with that!  Further
research brought me to the Greenliight PVP which had done 1 week ago in
the Waterbury Hospital in Waterbury, CT by Dr. Michael Flanagan who is
now my new euro.  It seems to be working although I still have some
pain but no the same kind of pain that I had before.  Hope it works.  I
have a follow up appointment in 2 days so we'll see what he says.
That's my story.  If anyone has any questions, I would be happy to
share information with them.  Anything to help!

The first time I went to see my present doctor eleven years ago was with a
pain in my lower back. He immediately did DRE and discovered my enlarged
prostate.
Derek.

Makes sense to me.   FLOMAX is a relaxant.   If you are not experiencing any
side effects and if you are implying that you are having trouble for 18
hours because med only lasts for 6, then I'd suggest you go back to the
doctor to see if he'd have any problem with you taking one tablet/capsule
every 12 hours?   In my case UROXATROL was not dong as good as job after
about 2 months, so I escalated my own dosage to 1 and half tablets before I
consulted with my doctor.  He was totally OK with that for me, in my
particular case.   Your burning, I'm sure,  has a lot to do with the
radiation sensitivity that you notice more  once the passage way tenses up
after the FLOMAX wears off.   All the best to you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You smiled, you spoke, and I believed" <nospam@nospam.net> wrote in message
...[SNIP]... I am taking flomax after brachytherapy.  I am experiencing no
side effects, so far as I can tell....[SNIP]...