Howdy. I've had BPH for about 15 years and in fact I used to be a
regular
poster here.

However, I have to admit that flomax has worked wonders with (I
thought) no
side effects.

Coincidentally, over the years I have had problems with constipation on
and
off. It was generally thought to be IBS (irritable bowel syndrome).

Recently things got very bad with the constipation: severe bloating,
pain,
etc.

I started wondering if flomax could be part of the problem. I had never
seen
constipation listed as one of the side effects. Well, upon a bit more
googling I did find that it is a rare effect.

I stopped taking the flomax and amazingly about 85% of my symptoms
regarding
IBS have gone away. No more severe pain and bloating and things do
"move"
better. I'm still not totally convinced that flomax is the culprit here
as
my IBS problems have waxed and waned over the years.

At this point, however, I've been off flomax for almost a week and my
BPH
has gotten very bad (it did within about 36 hours of stopping the
flomax). I
will probably resume the flomax soon in order to alleviate the BPH
(hope it
works again) but also to see if my constipation problems return. So,
here
are my questions:

1) Has anyone else noticed constipation problems with flomax??

2) Assuming I restart flomax and I find it is causing the IBS problems,
IS
THERE SOMETHING ELSE I CAN TRY FOR THE BPH?

I'm wondering if anything else is out there that will work fairly
quickly
with I hope minimal side effects. Is there anything new out there??

Eventually, I suspect I will be a candidate for laserscope, but right
now
I'm still hoping for a pill to work as well as flomax (it really has
worked
great for the BPH).

Mel