Hey all, got some questions to ask. I'm currently stuck on the toilet which will relate to question #3. Just looking for some answers, not trying to be an a-hole!

#1 - Has anyone here taken Flomax? I was just prescribed this medication about two days ago and will start taking it in a week. My doc thought it would work great due to chronic prostatitus, hypertension and inability to empty my bladder completely. I am sensitive to many side effects of medication so anyone who is taking it please let me know if you've seen any improvement and side effects please.

#2 - Just out of morbid curiousity, I have to ask. I have polycystic kidney disease and several other weird medical conditions. I do have migraines (2-3x a week) however they are very consistent and specific in where they hurt. For the past 3 days I've had a really nasty headache in a different spot on my head, and my skull is tender in that area. I haven't hit my head or anything and I've been dizzy, sluggish and feel like I'm beginning to see things. Given that I am inherently at risk of aneurysms (due to the pkd) I am kind of paranoid. What does this sound like?

#3 - Lastly, this one is odd. I went to the store and one of the local cashiers convinced me to try out this aloe Vera drink, as he said it tastes great and works better than Gatorade for rehydration. So on my drive back I downed it and it tasted great, being peach flavored. That was about 6hrs ago, and now I cannot get off the toilet. This is very similar to the one time that a buddy pranked me and got me with laxative brownies. Does aloe typically do this? If so, I'm gonna give that kid a nice little gift of laxative brownies!

#3 Aloe Vera is a laxative
Candies made with sugar alcohol for diabetics make a great "laxative brownie". One of my guys at work goes to yoga after work. Thinking of putting out a big bowl of sugar alcohol chocolate covered raisins some day at the end of the work day.

Ah alright, thanks for that! Aloe is truly contradictive, it's supposed to help relieve burns and it's not doing my bum any favors! Yeesh...

I'm the last one to advocate running to your doctor, but #2 sounds like something you need to see/ask him about QUICKLY. While you're there, I'd ask him #1 and consider his response to be more valuable than unknowns off the net. JMHO.

I'm not a believer in Flomax. I took it for a while, didn't see any significant improvement and stopped. I take blood pressure and cholesterol medication, but try to avoid anything additional. I sympathize with prostate problems. My PSA numbers are all over the place from 6 to 20. My brother and cousin are the same way, so my brother quit going to his urologist.

I've had one biopsy and can't think of a more barbaric procedure. I suspect a prostate biopsy would be better than water-boarding if you wanted to get the right answers at Guantanamo.

Give Flomax a shot. Maybe it works for you.

Metal, let me ask you something. Are you really, really sure you want to use a guns and hunting internet site to get serious medical advice? Maybe if you wanted to know about vaccinations before going to Africa or something, but the kind of things you're interested in? I just say that in the spirit of trying to be helpful.

In any event, I took Flomax a couple or three days because it was prescribed along with other stuff to help pass another large kidney stone. I didn't have adverse effects (from the Flomax anyway). But it didn't keep me out of the ER either.

It didn't affect my prostate, but then it couldn't. That was already removed.

Incidentally, the prostate biopsy Kensco mentioned wasn't that bad except for the intense burning and all the blood everywhere and the worry about the results. The doc said, if the blood bothers you, just don't look at it. But, trust me, the biopsy was great fun compared to the operation that followed...and if emptying the bladder was ever a problem, it ain't now.

Anyway, go see a trained physician. This isn't stuff anyone here can advise on.

I agree. Believe me,no one wants to see the Doctor more than me;but you need to.You may have some serious issues + you need knowledgeable advice. When I was still in the A.C. service business I'd give you a nickel for every time on a service call the customer would say,"Well my barber/brother in law/whoever told me all it needed was a shot of freezon.Yeah, really.Go see a doc. your life is worth it.Your family probably thinks so too.

Metal;
Did you happen to give your wife her very own tool kit? Did it have a ball peen hammer in the kit?


Jim

FWIW, I've taken generic Flomax for several years. it works for me. no side effects that I can see. it's not an instantaneous results and take a few days to really get working.

If you are having repeated headaches in a specific region of your head then you need to inform your primary care physician immediately. Chronic hypertension combined with poly-cystic kidney disease carries with it an increased risk of stroke and perhaps the development of renal aneurisms. Your renal arteries and brain may need to be scanned to rule out these conditions.

Arkypete, thanks for the laugh! I showed that to my wife as I often accuse her of beating me in my sleep. Nontheless, no tool kits but I suspect she is using one of my tire irons.
Well I started the Flomax and it has actually helped! Just makes me a touch drowsy but already starting to feel an improvement. As for the headaches I'm scheduled for an MRI on the first of July, and got a healthy dose of vicoden for the meantime. The doc thinks since I'm not having significant neurological symptoms aside from seeing things that it may just be an incrediblely persistent migraine. I can only hope so.
And dear god, I am hoping no biopsies are in the future! I had a kidney biopsy and felt like hammered dog poo for the longest time afterwards.
The reason I asked was for opinion, as I have received some good advice before on here. I know there are some lurking around here with better experience than I have, and some doctors too. I'm going through the Department of Veteran Affairs for my treatment and hate to say it, but I'm not getting the most wonderful treatment in my opinion. They have recently flat refused pain management treatment for my shoulder and left leg, and believe me I had to seriously beg and argue to get the vicoden to hold me over until the mri. Every visit I've had goes straight to blood pressure (which is 140/79, not shabby considering before treatment I was at 171/119 when resting!), which I think is due to the fact that on a daily basis I'm at least uncomfortable, if not in horrible pain. I realize that having this kidney disease comprises my ability to take certain medications, however my levels are all normal despite having an uncountable amount of cysts over my kidneys and liver. There has to be something other than ibuprofen to help right?
Regardless thank you guys and I'll keep you updated on my brain stuff! If it's bad I'm gonna sell off my big bore rifles and go buy me a 502 big block to go into the suburban!

I may be more patient than you. I received all of my medical treatment from the VA for about 23 years.

In my opinion, it is a serious error to even conceive of VA medical "treatment" as medical "care". No way, Jose. Medical "This incompetent quack don't give a shit" would be a much more accurate summary IMHO.

Since I moved to an area of the U.S. where a LOT of doctors accept Medicare patients, I have refused to set foot in a VA facility again. And except in the most dire of straits where nothing else is available, I never will willingly do so again. Even where some few of their staff really DO care, their horrendous workloads and their lack of up to date training, combined with the fact they never talk to each other about patients directed from clinic to clinic, make reliably good care simply impossible there.