I have lived with urinary problems for the last 11 years but now they are
taking a turn for the worse. I weigh 210lbs, 5ft7inches tall, yes I know I
am overweight. I am on Atacand Hct32.12.5 and Norvasc 5mg for hypertension
for several years. I was on hypertension medication before and had stopped
because it made me tired. Unfortunately I have put on several lbs and my
blood pressure got out of control so I had to resume. I am 55 years old. The
diuretic in the Atacand really increases the number of time I have  to
urinate. So it is a double whammy. I estimate I urinate about 14 times a
day. If I eat a big salad and several glasses of ice tea, watch out. I don't
go to movies anymore because I have to go at least once during the movie
sometimes twice. If I do go on the rare occasion I drink very little fluids
and try to go before I take my meds. Any movie with a running time of 2.20
or more means two trips to bathroom for sure.

In 1995 when I first saw urologist he said I needed a bladder neck incision,
TURP. Laser treatments weren't available then. I was diagnosed with an
enlarged prostate three years ago when I had a virtual colonscopy, by the
way a total waste of money. I had some polyps so I had to get a real
colonosopy. Even going back to my pre-teen years I always had to urinate
more than most people. When I saw the Urologist they did the bladder test on
me and said my bladder was normal size and he thought the problem I had was
just scar tissue. So I guess I was born with a screwed up urethra.

Now things are starting get bad. When I wake up in the morning I have to
urinate 2-3 times in the first 10 minutes. I do wake up some at night but
not as much as you would think. It depends on how much water I drink.
If I sit in my recliner for any length of time I have very slow voiding. I
notice my stream is weaker. The urgency part is the worst and no doubt the
diuretic is to blame. It seems as if you go that results in you having to go
again minutes later to finish the job. You know what's fun, being on a
plane. If plane is sitting on tarmac after getting in a position to take off
you can't go. Then you have to wait till you reach cruising altitude.
Waiting an hour is unbearable. The worst part is my stream is weaker at
higher altitude resulting in more trips to bathroom. Attendants are so
obnoxious, even if you tell them you have a medical problem. Going to
sporting events is the worst. NFL games last three hours so getting up to go
is a real pain. What's worse is I have a bashful kidney so it's harder for
me to start when I have people waiting to go behind me. I try to use
bathroom stalls but their always full during games. As you can imagine I
don't go to sporting events that often. Walking around New York City can be
a pain as your always looking for toilets.

I am getting older and want to take some trips to Egypt, Greece and Rome. I
dread going on an escorted tour because I would have use to the bus bathroom
often and they say emergency only. I could sue the tour operator because
they can't discriminate against people with disabilities. How do you find a
bathroom if your going to see Abu Simbel in the Egyptian desert. It just
sucks having to urinate twice an hour.

All the message boards I'm reading have warnings of complications with
drugs, surgery. I have already messed up my bowels by not drinking enough
water over the years. I have chronic constipation and diverticulitis. I
know, I should take fiber. Here's what happens when I do. I use a good colon
cleanse with about 14 ounces of water and then starting drinking additional
bottles of water. I start urinating so frequently that I can't leave the
house for 3-4 hours. You must drink about about 85 ounces of water when you
take fiber or you get constipated even worse. Suffice to say that fiber and
water is the greatest diuretic known to man. I believe that those of us with
prostate problems are in the minority. I
see too many men in my daily life of all ages that don't have to urinate
frequently. We are a cursed bunch to say the least. I evny people who can
wake up in the morning
have a normal bowel movement and only have to use the restroom only every
4-5 hours to urinate.