Avodart Questions, Please

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Robert11 - 06 Jun 2008 21:48 GMT

Hello,

Have bph/frequent urination, and have tried Flomax for 6 months with
negligible, if any, improvement.

Dr. has therefore just put me on Avodart.

Questions:

a. Their site says may take 3 to 6 months to see any improvement at all.
Wow !

Is this your experiences also ?

b. The Avodart site is, IMHO, pretty poor.

Could anyone please comment on: "This medication can affect the results of
the blood test used to detect prostate cancer (PSA). Make sure laboratory
personnel and your doctors know you use this drug."

Am concerned, as my Dr. has been using psa tests to get any indication of
cancer.

c. Flomax had a warning about droopy eye or Iris, or something like that,
to tell your Ophthalmologist if you are having cataract surgery. Does
Avodart have a similar warning and concern ?

Any major interactions to be concerned about ?

And, - how effective has this stuff been for you ?
- any "better" site than the official Avodart one ?

Much thanks,
Bob

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willshak - 06 Jun 2008 22:10 GMT

on 6/6/2008 4:48 PM Robert11 said the following:

> Hello,
>
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> Is this your experiences also ?
>

It may work for you in 3 to 6 months. I quit it after a year of no
improvement. Perhaps it helped in not having my enlarged prostate from
growing larger, but I don't think it shrunk the prostate as advertised.
I only kept it that long because I have a prescription plan. If I had to
pay full freight for it, it would have been gone much sooner. YMMV

> b. The Avodart site is, IMHO, pretty poor.
>
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
>

Signature

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
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Ed - 06 Jun 2008 23:45 GMT

>Could anyone please comment on: "This medication can affect the results of
>the blood test used to detect prostate cancer (PSA). Make sure laboratory
>personnel and your doctors know you use this drug."
>
>Am concerned, as my Dr. has been using psa tests to get any indication of
>cancer.

Yes, it reduces the PSA. Now I don't know for sure about Avodart, but
for Proscar (which works in a similar way), the PSA goes down by a
predictable amount, to about half of what it was before. So it is no
big deal. It goes down, and stays there as long as you are on that
medication.

But if it goes down and then starts trending up, it is a sign that
something else is going on. The uro will spot that.

With PSA, I believe it's the trends that matter, not the level itself.
Mine was very high (around 26) and some uros would worry, but I had
biopsies and tested negative for cancer. Now I'm on Proscar and the
PSA is stable at around 10 or 12.

Ed

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Ed - 06 Jun 2008 23:49 GMT

>Hello,
>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
>Is this your experiences also ?

Yeah, the purpose of Avodart is to stop growth of the prostate and
hopefully shrink it a bit. Similar to Proscar. I don't think either is
that helpful in improving symptoms. Might help just a bit. Together
with the Flomax, you might have a better experience. Might stave off
surgery for years... depends, though. Everybody is different.

My uro says, try meds first... then surgery if relief is not enough.

Ed

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Ramón - 07 Jun 2008 12:28 GMT

> Hello,
>
[quoted text clipped - 30 lines]
> Much thanks,
> Bob

Have said it over and over, any form of drugs will give you side
effects and provide only a temporary fix.
Diet & lifestyle change works.
My opinion and mine only.
Ramón

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