I am 65, in reasonably good health, and I thought I would share my 15 years dealing with BPH

I first became aware of BPH when my PSA went above 4 when I was 50. My MD said my prostate was enlarged, but smooth, we decided to just monitor the situation. I was not having any major urination problems. My PSA bounced around for a couple of years and then shot up again to 4.7. My MD convinced me to see an urologist, and then came the biopsy. Everything was negative and my PSA dropped back to under 4. The urologist did say that if your PSA goes down it is not cancer.

I moved about 10 years ago and got a new primary care MD, who was also very concerned about my PSA bouncing around 4. About 6 years ago I began to experience more frequent urination and getting up more often at night. My MD confirmed my prostate was continuing to grow, but I didn’t want to take any drugs.

Four years ago my PSA shot up to 6.1, and the cancer fear returned. Off to another urologist and another biopsy. Everything negative, just a big prostate. We did a round of Septra to rule out infection - that was a bad experience! So, after all that was done I was faced with the BPH urination problems as well as a high PSA. I also determined that antihistamines affected my prostate and PSA. If I avoided antihistamines for 6 weeks, my PSA would go down. If I took antihistamines before a blood test, my PSA went up! About that time my older brother had a TURP, and he was not happy with the results, still isn’t.

About two and a half years ago I decided to give Avodart a try. I didn’t want to use Flomax as it didn’t do anything to reduce the prostate size. I slowly started to get relief, but after 6 months on Avodart I began to have the dreaded ED side effects. Off Avodart for a week and the ED problem went away. My MD convinced me to stay on Avodart as the ED side effects go away over time, and she prescribed Levitra to take care of the ED side effects.

I am happy to say that my prostate has shrunk, my frequent urination problems are greatly reduced, the side effects are gone and my PSA has been about 1.8 for the last two years. I stay away from antihistamines too! I hope Avodart continues to work for me, but I suspect some time in the future I will have to look at other options.