Urinary improvement with RP?

My pre-RP urinary issues (incomplete voiding, up several times a night) are gone. Literally it takes about 15 seconds to urinate now. "go like a teenager again" is true for me.

The only thing that's really different, and it seems to be common for many of us, is that the time lag between "I need to go soon" and "I need to go NOW" is a lot shorter than it used to be.

I can "chip the porcelin" when I go now. No more getting up at night at all. There is always a bit of good that comes out of something very bad I guess. Good luck on your decision.

Tom

I was really surprised by the improvement of my ability to pee post surgery, "go like a teenager again" like Halbert wrote or "chip the porcelin" like Reltnie wrote, I can certainly agree with. My uro said it often became so when I told him about this positive SE.

Allen,

So most of the adverse affects cited here -- tinyurl.com/hjlx9c7 -- are temporary/transitory and apply only to traditional IMRT?

- Frequent urination: +18 percent
- Urinary irritation or obstruction as a big/moderate problem (at 1 year): 14 percent
- Dysuria (pain while urinating): +11 percent
- Weak stream: +10 percent
- Leaking of urine > 1× per day: +9 percent
- Dribbling of urine: +4 percent

By chance are there any studies or estimates of frequencies of positive longer term urinary effects of radiation?

Thanks,
Jim

p.s., thanks for the testimonial on your results too.

That article was only about primary IMRT or 3DCRT.

What I wrote was:
"Most of the later-term side effect data are given as their absolute incidence (a number at a particular time after treatment). Some side effects are given as increases over baseline function (indicated by “+” symbol). Unless otherwise specified, these are also acute side effects (within 3 months of treatment), rather than late-term or chronic side effects. Acute side effects are typically transient. Contrary to “common knowledge,” new side effects rarely emerge after 2 years."

Also note:
"None of these data necessarily apply to either stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) or any form of brachytherapy."

For the longest f/u SBRT, read the following:
SBRT 7 yr QOL results

Patient-reported urinary QOL scores dipped acutely and quickly returned to baseline. As you can see for yourself:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4211385/figure/F3/

Late term physician-reported urinary SEs were very rare:
"Late Grade 3 toxicity occurred in nine patients (1.7%) and consisted of either urinary retention requiring surgery or bleeding requiring laser coagulation."

Similar results are seen in other studies:
Quality of life after three different first-line radiation therapies for localized disease: Part 2

I had BPH for years which caused many urinary problems. They were gone after RP. But after RT I have urgency and need pads again. If you don't need radiation you'll probably be very happy with results of RP.
Bob

My prostate was enlarged for years, and I was diagnosed with BPH at the time of my biopsy. All the issues that were part of that are now gone. Every time I pee I'm reminded that I certainly made the right choice for me. RRP. My uro (surgeon) offered to refer me to a radiologist but I declined because I knew I wanted surgery. I read in a number of different publications that any kind of radiation had a tendency to worsen the symptoms of BPH over time. Also, I was continent from the time the catheter was removed.




____________________________________________
Born August 13, 1954. Age 61. Diagnosed at age 60.
Father diagnosed with PCa at age 60.
Started PSA testing in 2000, at age 46.
PSA history: 2/00-0.7; 1/01-0.8; 11/04-1.20; 11/05-1.05; 11/06-1.09; 11/07-1.29; 12/08-1.18; 2/10-2.23; 2/11-2.26; 2/12-2.15; 2/13-2.66; 2/14-4.46; 3 weeks on Cipro; 5/14-3.88; 9/14-4.24
TRUS biopsy on 10/27/14. 1 of 12 cores, left base, prostatic adenocarcinoma, Gleason 7 (3+4), 60%. Left lateral base, High grade PIN. "The tumor exhibits a predominantly Gleason grade 3
growth pattern with a very minor component of Gleason grade 4." PSA density .09. Impression: BPH and elevated PSA.
2nd opinion Dr. Epstein. 1 0f 12 cores, Gleason 3+4=7 involving 60% of core. Perineural invasion identified in this case. 1 core high grade pin. Prognostic Grade Group II.
RALP on 2/12/15. pT2a. Gleason 3+4=7. Volume of prostate is 50ml. Proportion of prostate involved by tumor = 2.1%. Estimated tumor volume (% involved by tumor x prefixation vol) = 1.1ml.
EPE absent. SVI and LN invasion absent. + margin posterior left mid. Nerves were spared. Continent at catheter removal. ED is improving. PSA at 7 weeks <.02, 7 months <.02. 11 months <.02.

JimBear, i too am peeing strong. I sometimes find its a problem, standing by the urinal at work or in a restuarant, and my piss comes out with enough force that some of it splashes back, onto my pants LOL. But i guess a good problem to have.
Unless i drink a lot after 9PM i generally sleep 6-7 hours without waking.

The one negative change - i do find that from the time i start to feel i have to go, to the time i REALLY HAVE TO GO NOW! - has shortened considerably. Also, i do, sometimes leak just a bit. But its so small and so infrequent that it doesnt bother me. Barely a spot the size of a quarter on my boxers.
I was pad free at 5 or 6 weeks, i was lucky.

Thats my experience.