The Health, Diet and Exercise Thread

[Painter]

7 hours ago, maipenrai said:

No worries, I'm always willing to share - sometimes I have difficulty starting a piss but once it's flowing it's usually not too bad; my biggest problem is urgency, meaning when I have to go I don't have much time to find somewhere to do so, and frequency because I find it difficult to go for more than two hours without having to pee. Mix in changing seasons where you are going from warm to cold frequently and that can trigger more frequent occasions, and you can imagine what drinking a few pints of beer does to me - sometimes I am up and down every five minutes or so which becomes not only a nuisance but I find it embarrassing as well. Also, lately I have been noticing that I have to take extra care that I have completely finished my piss before tucking the works away - you think you've got it all and next thing you know you've got a wet spot in your undies...

Maybe we need a seperate prostate related thread....

As I think we spoke about when you were in town earlier this year, I've been suffering from the same urgency and weak flow for about years. BPH runs in both sides of the family, with my maternal grandfather having a turp back in the 70s, my father one in the 2000s, and my younger brother a HOLEP last year.

My peeing issue was "controlled", but not really satisfactorily, by Tamsulosin. A year ago my GP put me onto Finasteride as well, to try to reduce the size of my prostate. All last winter in Thailand the peeing issue was, er, OK, probably due to sweating much more and so not needing to pee as much.

Then I went home, into the wet and cold that was the uk.

And within 3 days, I couldn't pee. Whether it was dehydration from the flight, or effects of an over the counter sleeping pill I took the night before (I'd been fine in the past with half a one, but took a whole one that night, not realising that they shouldn't be taken if you have bph), or what, no one knows, but woke up that morning and dribbled, then nothing.

Got myself to a+e, who sent me to Urology, who inserted a catheter (not pleasant,  but the relief was instant) and drained 850ml from my bladder, which was designed for 450ml. Sent me away, catheter with valve on in situ, to come back in 2 weeks for a TWOC. Felt like life was turned completely upside down.

2 weeks later, with a UTI from said catheter, I had the tube removed (equally as painful) and was sent away. An hour later I had a pee , so climbed in the car and drove home, as they said I could. 3 hours later, I couldn't pee again, so returned for another, more painful insertion of catheter, another 850ml drained, and sent away being told to contact my GP.

To say mentally I was a mess would be an understatement. I was 55 and was peeing through a tube hanging from my dick....

The Internet became my research buddy, as finding  people to talk to was next to impossible. Obviously, be careful of what sites you use.

Anyway, did my research about the surgical options. A simply health (insurance type) medical policy paid for an initial consultation with a chap who I since discovered is one of the leading UK urologists.  Didn't want a turp, as (mainly historical) data isn't good. Prostate wasn't big enough for a HOLEP, didnt like the thought of staples in a Urolift, aquablation wasnt available locally, PAE not very successful, which left me a choice between Greenlight laser and Rezum, which I why I initially saw this chap, as he was the one who introduced these to the uk. By his admission, for people in my condition, Rezum had a much higher needing to be redone figure within 5 years.

And so, 9 weeks (it would have been 5 except he had 3 weeks holiday in Peru booked) after the 2nd catheter was inserted, he removed it, shoved various other things up my dick, including a camera and a Greenlight laser, and cut about 30% of my prostate away. Fortunately I was out cold...

Woke up with another catheter, and amazingly, no pain at all. Returned home the next day feeling great. The following week I returned to hospital for a TWOC, and could pee!

Recovery was interesting, small amounts of blood, 2 large scabs, one of which I am amazed fitted through my dick, 2 weeks of frequency issues, the record being 29 times in 18 hours, things feeling tender and bruised, and living on laxatives as you mustn't "push" (I did after about 3 weeks and put myself back a week). 3 months after the op the surgeon signed me off, and I started making plans for this winter.

Now 4.5 months, and I am fine during the day, but occasionally get frequency (like, 3 or 4 times in an hour, then nothing for several hours) and urgency issues when I lie down at night, and the occasional ache from my prostate. 

The NHS were brilliant at sorting the initial issues, and would, in time, have sorted the actual problem. I was impatient,  life was difficult with this tube, even with a valve and not a bag (imagine being on an open boat with 3 ladies you don't know, and needing to pee over the side..), and so spent some savings going private for  the op.  After all, I'd been putting money away most of my life for emergencies, and this was just that.

My advice... if a Dr mentions surgery, don't put it off. At least, enter into a meaniful discussion with them and go on any waiting lists. My GP wanted to refer me 2 years ago, and, being me, I declined thinking I wasn't that bad....

 

And having written all that, I'm off for a pee..... not because I need one, but because I can!

Edited November 5, 2023 by Painter

[Glasseye]

7 hours ago, Painter said:

Maybe we need a seperate prostate related thread....

As I think we spoke about when you were in town earlier this year, I've been suffering from the same urgency and weak flow for about years. BPH runs in both sides of the family, with my maternal grandfather having a turp back in the 70s, my father one in the 2000s, and my younger brother a HOLEP last year.

My peeing issue was "controlled", but not really satisfactorily, by Tamsulosin. A year ago my GP put me onto Finasteride as well, to try to reduce the size of my prostate. All last winter in Thailand the peeing issue was, er, OK, probably due to sweating much more and so not needing to pee as much.

Then I went home, into the wet and cold that was the uk.

And within 3 days, I couldn't pee. Whether it was dehydration from the flight, or effects of an over the counter sleeping pill I took the night before (I'd been fine in the past with half a one, but took a whole one that night, not realising that they shouldn't be taken if you have bph), or what, no one knows, but woke up that morning and dribbled, then nothing.

Got myself to a+e, who sent me to Urology, who inserted a catheter (not pleasant,  but the relief was instant) and drained 850ml from my bladder, which was designed for 450ml. Sent me away, catheter with valve on in situ, to come back in 2 weeks for a TWOC. Felt like life was turned completely upside down.

2 weeks later, with a UTI from said catheter, I had the tube removed (equally as painful) and was sent away. An hour later I had a pee , so climbed in the car and drove home, as they said I could. 3 hours later, I couldn't pee again, so returned for another, more painful insertion of catheter, another 850ml drained, and sent away being told to contact my GP.

To say mentally I was a mess would be an understatement. I was 55 and was peeing through a tube hanging from my dick....

The Internet became my research buddy, as finding  people to talk to was next to impossible. Obviously, be careful of what sites you use.

Anyway, did my research about the surgical options. A simply health (insurance type) medical policy paid for an initial consultation with a chap who I since discovered is one of the leading UK urologists.  Didn't want a turp, as (mainly historical) data isn't good. Prostate wasn't big enough for a HOLEP, didnt like the thought of staples in a Urolift, aquablation wasnt available locally, PAE not very successful, which left me a choice between Greenlight laser and Rezum, which I why I initially saw this chap, as he was the one who introduced these to the uk. By his admission, for people in my condition, Rezum had a much higher needing to be redone figure within 5 years.

And so, 9 weeks (it would have been 5 except he had 3 weeks holiday in Peru booked) after the 2nd catheter was inserted, he removed it, shoved various other things up my dick, including a camera and a Greenlight laser, and cut about 30% of my prostate away. Fortunately I was out cold...

Woke up with another catheter, and amazingly, no pain at all. Returned home the next day feeling great. The following week I returned to hospital for a TWOC, and could pee!

Recovery was interesting, small amounts of blood, 2 large scabs, one of which I am amazed fitted through my dick, 2 weeks of frequency issues, the record being 29 times in 18 hours, things feeling tender and bruised, and living on laxatives as you mustn't "push" (I did after about 3 weeks and put myself back a week). 3 months after the op the surgeon signed me off, and I started making plans for this winter.

Now 4.5 months, and I am fine during the day, but occasionally get frequency (like, 3 or 4 times in an hour, then nothing for several hours) and urgency issues when I lie down at night, and the occasional ache from my prostate. 

The NHS were brilliant at sorting the initial issues, and would, in time, have sorted the actual problem. I was impatient,  life was difficult with this tube, even with a valve and not a bag (imagine being on an open boat with 3 ladies you don't know, and needing to pee over the side..), and so spent some savings going private for  the op.  After all, I'd been putting money away most of my life for emergencies, and this was just that.

My advice... if a Dr mentions surgery, don't put it off. At least, enter into a meaniful discussion with them and go on any waiting lists. My GP wanted to refer me 2 years ago, and, being me, I declined thinking I wasn't that bad....

 

And having written all that, I'm off for a pee..... not because I need one, but because I can!

 

Thank you mate. Brilliant post.

[KhunDon]

I’m having great difficulty in both crapping and pissing at the moment, but both are down to the high doses of morphine I’m taking for my back and sciatica, which is incredibly painful at the moment and seems to be getting worse. 😟

I can control the constipation with Lactulose which pretty much guarantees a crap every 2-3 days, it’s the pissing I have no control over and I can sit there for 5 minutes squeezing my bladder (yes sitting, I’m exploring my feminine side🤣) muscles before only a drop comes out, then it’s a case of squeezing the muscles down there and gradually it becomes a few drop, which turns into a little trickle and from there a bit of a flow. 
Finally those trickles add up to something like what you would expect a piss to be. 
I’m drinking a lot more water to assist the pissing process and am pissing twice a day whereas before I’d piss 5 times a day. 
I got Covid booster jab tomorrow and I’m determined to get there as I’ve put it off twice before and an appointment with my Gp’s Muscular Skeletal team on the 17th so hopefully they can sort out the sciatica once and for all. 

Edited November 5, 2023 by KhunDon

[Painter]

1 minute ago, KhunDon said:

I’m having great difficulty in both crapping and pissing at the moment, but both are down to the high doses of morphine I’m taking for my back and sciatica, which is incredibly painful at the moment and seems to be getting worse. 😟

I can control the constipation with Lactulose which pretty much guarantees a crap every 2-3 days, it’s the pissing I have no control over and I can sit there for 5 minutes squeezing my bladder muscles before only a drop comes out, then it’s a case of squeezing the muscles down there and gradually it becomes a few drop, which turns into a little trickle and from there a bit of a flow. 
Finally those trickles add up to something like what you would expect a piss to be. 
I’m drinking a lot more water to assist the pissing process and am pissing twice a day whereas before I’d piss 5 times a day. 
I got Covid booster jab tomorrow and I’m determined to get there as I’ve put it off twice before and an appointment with my Gp’s Muscular Skeletal team on the 17th so hopefully they can sort out the sciatica once and for all. 

Difficult.... with your back issues I know its easier sitting, but I find now, and before, standing is/was easier. I know, everyone and the Internet says sit, but for me, standing it is. Middle of the night, head against the medicine cabinet mirror above the loo, daytime cleaning the forehead mark away. And don't try to force it, relax and let it come naturally. Hand in warm water might help.

One issue I have now is that my bladder volume has seemingly been reduced, in the UK I'm averaging 5 or 6 pees a day. Unfortunately I have no data from before these issues... you take it for granted and don't analyse the volume and flow of every pee....

[maipenrai]

10 hours ago, Painter said:

Difficult.... with your back issues I know its easier sitting, but I find now, and before, standing is/was easier. I know, everyone and the Internet says sit, but for me, standing it is. Middle of the night, head against the medicine cabinet mirror above the loo, daytime cleaning the forehead mark away. And don't try to force it, relax and let it come naturally. Hand in warm water might help.

One issue I have now is that my bladder volume has seemingly been reduced, in the UK I'm averaging 5 or 6 pees a day. Unfortunately I have no data from before these issues... you take it for granted and don't analyse the volume and flow of every pee....

From this and your previous post it's obvious that you have had it far worse than me; I have taken Tamsulosin for a couple of years myself and really can't tell at this point whether it helps or not but I have been lucky to have not had any medical procedures other than an ultrasound. As for the sitting or standing issue, I generally stand in the daylight hours and sit at night so I don't get too woken by the lights - my house is small enough that I can find my way around in the dark easily enough. What I find a real pain is having the sudden urgency to piss when I am right in the middle of doing something like washing dishes, brushing my teeth or shaving - the two latter situations I handle simply by pissing in my bathroom sink with the water running while carrying on with the other activity. Same as doing stuff in my yard - the urge to piss hits so quickly that I sneak off to a sheltered part of my yard and piss outside rather than running inside - nice to have a big and fairly private yard! Also this is why I chose the night time security job - there is usually a washroom handy if I have time to disarm the building panel and get into it - if not I know where the dark corners are outside; as I mentioned before, this time of year brings new  challenges with the constant change of temperature from warm to cold as you go in and out of vehicles and buildings. I'm supposed to have a telephone appointment with a Vancouver urologist this month sometime - same guy I talked to three years ago, as we don't have a local one - and I'll definitely take his recommendations  this  time around. 

[KhunDon]

Strangely enough I got up late today and I didn’t take a piss until 3pm. And what a piss it was. 🤗

It started straight away at 100% and kept going without a stop until I’d completely emptied my bladder. It was so good I went and told the wife. Who listened to me like she would a child telling her a story. 🤣

Then this evening it was back to stop, start again. 🥺

[Glasseye]

21 hours ago, KhunDon said:

I’m having great difficulty in both crapping and pissing at the moment, but both are down to the high doses of morphine I’m taking for my back and sciatica, which is incredibly painful at the moment and seems to be getting worse. 😟

I can control the constipation with Lactulose which pretty much guarantees a crap every 2-3 days, it’s the pissing I have no control over and I can sit there for 5 minutes squeezing my bladder (yes sitting, I’m exploring my feminine side🤣) muscles before only a drop comes out, then it’s a case of squeezing the muscles down there and gradually it becomes a few drop, which turns into a little trickle and from there a bit of a flow. 
Finally those trickles add up to something like what you would expect a piss to be. 
I’m drinking a lot more water to assist the pissing process and am pissing twice a day whereas before I’d piss 5 times a day. 
I got Covid booster jab tomorrow and I’m determined to get there as I’ve put it off twice before and an appointment with my Gp’s Muscular Skeletal team on the 17th so hopefully they can sort out the sciatica once and for all. 

 

Try steroids and muscle relaxants. Forget the morphine, it's worthless.

 

Beleive it or not, good weed will help it also. Maybe better than anything.

Edited November 6, 2023 by Glasseye

[KhunDon]

I’m hoping that the GP will put me forward for a ganglion block at the hospital as that’ll stop it recurring again, but needs doing under anaesthetic which they may not want me to have. 😟
Steroid injections into the spinal cord going to the leg don’t work for long and have to be repeated. 
The problem isn’t in the muscles unfortunately, it’s in the spinal column at the bottom and it’s due to the bones of the spine pinching the spinal cord, causing the nerve pain. 
 

Morphine does work, believe me. But after time it becomes less and less effective. 🥺

Edited November 6, 2023 by KhunDon

[Stillearly]

59 minutes ago, KhunDon said:

I’m hoping that the GP will put me forward for a ganglion block at the hospital as that’ll stop it recurring again, but needs doing under anaesthetic which they may not want me to have. 😟
Steroid injections into the spinal cord going to the leg don’t work for long and have to be repeated. 
The problem isn’t in the muscles unfortunately, it’s in the spinal column at the bottom and it’s due to the bones of the spine pinching the spinal cord, causing the nerve pain. 
 

Morphine does work, believe me. But after time it becomes less and less effective. 🥺

I was awake for mine , just a local 

[Zeb]

I suppose most of us would expect regular exercise to help with our sexual health.

Urologist Dr Rena Malik MD sets it out -

Scientifically Proven Way to Improve your Erections Without Medication

 

[Jambo]

55 minutes ago, Zeb said:

I suppose most of us would expect regular exercise to help with our sexual health.

Urologist Dr Rena Malik MD sets it out -

Scientifically Proven Way to Improve your Erections Without Medication

 

She is hedging her bets!

Yesterday I noticed her U-Tube video was on the subject of the respective merits and which was best out of Viagra and Cialis.

Basically, her conclusion was that it was a draw but as Cialis effects apparently last for 36 hours they are much better value for money if one can still shag more than once in 24 hours particularly if used in the generic version such as Apcalis.

She didn't actually mention "Apcalis" by name but that is what they sell in the Pharmacist in Second Road just past The Robin Hood.

So they tell me. 🤣

[Krapow]

Got a call from my GP to come in for a blood pressure check.

I said i have my own monitor, do it when i can remember, but every week anyway.

Said we'd still like you to come and do it.

I said okay, no problem. 

It's the kinda thing i'd think your Travel Insurance might be a c**t about if you needed them, and they checked you didn't do anything 'go against Doctor's orders/advice' or similar. 

[KhunDon]

I’ve been put on Amlodipine for the last 2 weeks and it’s made my BP rocket to 185/85 on average. Messaged my GP on Wednesday and she told me to stop taking it and do 3 BP measurements each day and do each BP measurements twice each time 15 minutes apart at rest, so that I get a good average over 5 days. Then pop the results into the practice when I can. 
BP went back to almost normal after 2 days so it’s pretty certain it was the Amlodipine that caused my high BP. 
Glad I have my own BP monitor. 👍

Edited November 12, 2023 by KhunDon

[Zeb]

19 hours ago, Krapow said:

Got a call from my GP to come in for a blood pressure check.

It's the kinda thing i'd think your Travel Insurance might be a c**t about if you needed them, and they checked you didn't do anything 'go against Doctor's orders/advice' or similar. 

The travel insurance I use allows declaration of this as an existing condition but that condition is not covered etc.

I have declared this for years but recently my doctor said I no longer need to take any medication after taking BP meds etc for many years.

Result of improved diet, exercise & weight loss etc.

[lazarus]

Put that salt shaker down! 🧂

It's always the easiest adjustments that are not necessarily the most desired...

. . .

Cutting 1 teaspoon of salt works as well as blood pressure meds, study finds

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/11/health/low-salt-diet-or-medication-wellness/index.html

. . .

https://www.paho.org/en/campaigns/world-salt-awareness-week-2020

[Krapow]

1 hour ago, Zeb said:

The travel insurance I use allows declaration of this as an existing condition but that condition is not covered etc.

I have declared this for years but recently my doctor said I no longer need to take any medication after taking BP meds etc for many years.

Result of improved diet, exercise & weight loss etc.

Yea, all my health conditions and medications are declared and covered.

It's not so much that what i'm talking about, it's being called in for a blood pressure check, and if i didn't go, then was on holiday and something happened to me connected to that, like my heart or something. The travel insurance would pull all my medical records from my Doctor as they do, see that, and no doubt have grounds to refuse, or try to anyway. 

[Painter]

On 11/12/2023 at 5:54 AM, Krapow said:

Got a call from my GP to come in for a blood pressure check.

I said i have my own monitor, do it when i can remember, but every week anyway.

Said we'd still like you to come and do it.

I said okay, no problem. 

It's the kinda thing i'd think your Travel Insurance might be a c**t about if you needed them, and they checked you didn't do anything 'go against Doctor's orders/advice' or similar. 

 

6 hours ago, Krapow said:

Yea, all my health conditions and medications are declared and covered.

It's not so much that what i'm talking about, it's being called in for a blood pressure check, and if i didn't go, then was on holiday and something happened to me connected to that, like my heart or something. The travel insurance would pull all my medical records from my Doctor as they do, see that, and no doubt have grounds to refuse, or try to anyway. 

I think there's a "are you waiting for any tests or results" question that they'd get you on even if you have declared high BP in this case. Hope you get the tests and results before going anywhere. 

[Zambo]

7 hours ago, Krapow said:

The travel insurance would pull all my medical records from my Doctor as they do, see that, and no doubt have grounds to refuse, or try to anyway. 

Is this really how this works. I havem't been registered with a UK doctor since i was a teenager. That's a long time ago and since then i have only ever had treatment at private clinics with no records. There must be many like me, i doubt insurance companies track records down.

[Phantom51red]

I've never travelled without travel insurance but I can understand why many do,their always looking for holes,who reads the small print anyway.

[thegrogmonster]

9 minutes ago, Phantom51red said:

I've never travelled without travel insurance but I can understand why many do,their always looking for holes,who reads the small print anyway.

I only ever travelled once without travel insurance and I got dengue fever. I visted BPH and the doctor said if I didn't stay in overnight for checks and tests he would contact the airline to stop me flying home in 2 days time.

Cost me over 20,000 baht for the night's stay.

[Phantom51red]

30 minutes ago, thegrogmonster said:

I only ever travelled once without travel insurance and I got dengue fever. I visted BPH and the doctor said if I didn't stay in overnight for checks and tests he would contact the airline to stop me flying home in 2 days time.

Cost me over 20,000 baht for the night's stay.

That's it,just sods law the time you don't take it or forget it.

[galenkia]

On 11/11/2023 at 10:54 PM, Krapow said:

Got a call from my GP to come in for a blood pressure check.

I said i have my own monitor, do it when i can remember, but every week anyway.

Said we'd still like you to come and do it.

I said okay, no problem. 

It's the kinda thing i'd think your Travel Insurance might be a c**t about if you needed them, and they checked you didn't do anything 'go against Doctor's orders/advice' or similar. 

My GP called me in a couple of weeks ago as my repeat prescriptions were expiring. I have one for my blood pressure and three for my mental health. My blood pressure was 133 so she didn’t need to up the dosage.

[Krapow]

6 hours ago, Zambo said:

Is this really how this works. I havem't been registered with a UK doctor since i was a teenager. That's a long time ago and since then i have only ever had treatment at private clinics with no records. There must be many like me, i doubt insurance companies track records down.

Absolutely they do, and it has to match exactly as my Doctor told me when getting my fit to dive form done. Insurance companies do ask and get medical records, and go waaaaaaaaaaaaay back as far as they can. 

I remember reading something from @KWA a couple of weeks ago saying his insurance pulled his medical records before agreeing to some eye op or similar.

@Jambo i think worked in Insurance for many years, and has said the same, and they'd try to get out of paying in whatever way they can.

Edit - But i suppose, if like yourself there's nothing to be found, then there's nothing to be found.

For most of us, with a regular GP, Doctor's Practice or whatever, there will be.

Edited November 13, 2023 by Krapow

[Krapow]

6 hours ago, Painter said:

 

I think there's a "are you waiting for any tests or results" question that they'd get you on even if you have declared high BP in this case. Hope you get the tests and results before going anywhere. 

Yea, there's that one, and also going against doctor's advice.

I mean it's no biggee, just go in get it taken, out, 20mins max. Save me doing it at home that day.

[KWA]

3 minutes ago, Krapow said:

I remember reading something from @KWA a couple of weeks ago saying his insurance pulled his medical records before agreeing to some eye op or similar.

That was my Thai health insurance who pulled my Thai medical records, of which there were zero!