Saw Palmetto and Urinary Urgency

about three months ago I noticed my I was urinating more frequently and I was more easily triggered by sounds like running water. I also started getting up more during the night and my stream when half asleep was a bit weaker. I dribbled more day and night.

the symptoms felt a lot like radiation cystitis except there was no burning and no blood...yet.

about three weeks ago I was getting up maybe 4-5 times a night and I was peeing twice as many times a day. and I should mention I've always had urinary urgency and it has gotten a bit worse due to cancer treatment and aging. normally it's not a QOL issue but I felt it could become one.

when I was in Moab for my birthday the problem seemed to have peaked. I came home and had a few nights of getting up five times and then I noticed the slightest improvement. anyhow I went to the doctor and tests showed nothing. he told me to try Saw Palmetto -- which surprised me -- and if that didn't help he could prescribe something else or refer me to my Uro.

within two days of taking Saw Palmetto I can make it through the night only getting up once …. maybe twice and this is very good for me. i'm no longer dribbling and i'm peeing less often during the day.

of course i'm wondering if a had a slight case of radiation cystitis that cleared up or did the Saw Palmetto work. Anyhow i'm going to continue talking Saw Palmetto till the 100-day supply is gone and then decide whether to buy more.

Might have to try that..

I read about that months ago, but did not try it as I had a bottle of Pygeum that I used when the radiation treatments was making me pay way more at night. Based on what I read I would say that this indeed is/was helping.

Andrew and others -- i'm blown away by how fast my urinary issues cleared up and in fact they seem to be better than they have been in years. last night for example I got up once to pee after about three hours of sleep and I got up one more time right before I got up for good but I didn't really need to.

of course its early. i'll monitor the situation and keep on the lookout for SEs. but so far I am encouraged.

That's great to hear, F8. I too have recently been trying SP on the sort of advice of a doctor, even though every other doc to say nothing of the guys in my local support group say it's bunkum. Been on it for a coupla weeks at 2-3 450 mg capsules a day: zilch. I'd also tried Pygeum and Beta-sitosterol some months back with similar non-results.

Glad it's working for you!

mattam said...
So I’m thinking none of this would benefit anyone who doesn’t have a prostate, right? I’m also tired of getting up to pee 5X per night.

unfortunately I think that's correct. but maybe there's something else!

fuzzboxman said...
I posted this question on the thread I started but I will post it here as well.

Many include stinging nettle.
I've also read in ads that Saw Palmetto isn't regulated and some are higher quality than others. Possibly just advertising....but its worth looking into getting the best product you can.

My question is:
In addition or instead of taking Saw Palmetto what are your opinions on also taking the vitamins that are included in the prostate formulas...like selenium, lyopocene, zinc etc, omega 3's etc

I'm sure there are already many threads on nutrition/supplements....but new input can't hurt!

At MSKK you can make an appointment with a doctor in the herbalist department. I haven't done that but is interesting that they do have one as most of the medical community is not big on herbal supplements quite often. This is part of my online research...and this is a very good place to find information. Thanks everyone!

one reason I included the brand of saw palmetto I take is it's the one I recommend -- it's also about the cheapest that I found. cant speak for the others. when I was in treatment I did take several supplements. the main one that I took for the first five or six years was pomegranate.

is your PSA trending downwards?

saw palmetto, Mel -- hope you get that answer good day NEPOL

""ask your doctor" is often said. But in many if not most cases your doctor doesn't really know. There are doctors like yours that look at all options but we all know the bias the medical community has towards homeopathic remedies. I checked out one of the "integrated medicine" doctors that MSKK refer you to. That doctor has articles written that explain how these holistic/homeopathic solutions are not backed up by any research. Some are...like saw palmetto and the results are mixed. But there is very little research done into these supplements and their benefits."

QFT. I said that because I did not know where you were in your treatment. of all my earlier doctors only one radiation onc (young guy) would talk about supplements but only when I asked him about them. the rest dismissed them. my GP is a young Russian fellow. I really like him and he recommended saw palmetto as a first treatment for what I was experiencing.

Before I was diagnosed with PC, I experimented with several different supplements to help with frequency, and found that I got a lot of help from a combination of a certain maker's saw palmetto complex, which also contained pygeum, lycopene, and pumpkin seed extract, plus their beta sistosterol supplement. The doses were 320 mg saw palmetto (2 capsules) and 320 mg beta sistosterol. That reduced nighttime urination from every night to maybe 1 or 2 nights a week. After a few months of this combination, it was down to maybe 1 night per two weeks. I think everyone reacts differently to different combinations of supplements from different makers, so I would recommend experimenting and tracking your results to find your personal best combination.