Very interesting, Mr. B. Why are you taking Proscar again?

My uro, who is recommending a TURP for me, said that after the TURP, I
won't have to take the meds any more... no more Proscar. He says only
10% of TURP patients have to have the procedure again. But I figure
that the prostate will grow again, and cause trouble again. Maybe
there is ANOTHER 10 or 20% who suffers problems but decline the second
procedure. I don't know, I'm just guessing. Or maybe a fair number go
for a couple years and then go on Proscar.

So that's why I'm wondering why you are on Proscar now.

Ed

I took Proscar for five years, but wound up back in the emergency room,
getting my bladder drained.  Over the years, it had been borderline,
with some times barely able to get it to go.  After my problem, my uro
said he had some involvement when Proscar was being evaluated, and he
was skeptical at the time.  I discussed it with my non-uro VA doctor,
who said to try taking it for a time, then not, and see what you think.
 So I did, and I couldn't tell the difference, so now I don't need to
spend $80 a month for Proscar.

The uro would have put me on Flomax, but the VA wouldn't support it, and
uses Terazosin instead.  The uro doesn't like Terazosin because of the
side effects, but the side effects eventually go away and since I have
been using it, I have had no close calls as with Proscar.

It lowers your blood pressure, which helps you sleep like a baby.

Proscar is supposed to shrink your prostate.  I really, really doubt
that you can have measurable results with it.

I think the issue has been well covered, but in answer to the question
posed, and as I thought I had addressed in my initial post, I'm taking
Proscar to (hopefully) keep the prostate from once again growing. I frankly
don't understand the comment of the poster who thought that a TURP was a one
time 'thing.'  The prostate continues to grow after TURP or PVP - hopefully
not enough to require additional surgery, although for a good many on this
board, additional surgery was required.

As to the question of whether or not Proscar 'works', I note that there was
one poster on this group (my hard drive crashed and I lost his 'moniker',
along with my email correspondence with him) whose prostate was so large
that Dr. Reiter was unwilling to perform a PVP. The poster successfully used
Proscar to shrink his prostate sufficiently to enable a PVP to be performed
by Dr. Reiter. Using Proscar is no guarantee that I won't require another
PVP, but it's worth the gamble.  And, it may even grow some hair on my head
!  :-)

Mr. B