Prostate Cancer and Tamsulosin? Post RT medication for urinary pain

Hello GaryW 

I am so sorry to read that you are having a couple of issues.

Re the Tamsulosin - you need to speak to the Urology or Oncology team who prescribed this as to if and when to stop taking it.

Re the bladder pain - this could well be a UTI (urinary tract infection) and not necessarily caused by the RT. Your first port of call should be a call to 111 and let them know you have completed RT. If you can get an urgent GP appointment even better.I

I hope this helps, please let us know how you get on.

Best wishes - Brian.

Hi

Thanks for your input. Ive had a test last week and theres no infection, this is basically Radiation Cystitis symptoms as per post prostate RT. 

Hello GaryW 

Sorry to hear about the issues. Here are a couple of links which might help. It is likely that you have acute radiation cystitis which will hopefully resolve itself within a few months. The first thing to try is usually self management by drinking plenty of water and avoiding things which might irritate the bladder like caffeine, alcohol, spicy foods. My husband was also prescribed with Mirabegron (Betmiga) which calmed down the bladder and worked quickly. 

https://prostatecanceruk.org/prostate-information-and-support/living-with-prostate-cancer/urinary-problems#:~:text=Radiotherapy%20can%20irritate%20the%20lining,burning%20feeling%20when%20you%20urinate

https://patients.uroweb.org/radiation-induced-cystitis/

Hi GaryW sorry to hear you are still having problems.  How is the swelling and soreness now?  I am not medically trained but I think Tamsulosin is one of those products that you can tell if it is helping or not.  If you can’t get an official answer, I would slowly cut down on the tabs maybe miss one and see how it goes.  They are fast working, so if you need to revert then it seems easy.  Second question is harder.  As you haven’t got a UTI it sounds like your RT has caused some collateral damage to the surrounding area.  Unfortunately I think this is going to be a longer recovery until your body can repair the damage.  As this happens, I would make sure you drink more water and cut all things likely to irritate, like alcohol, caffeine, fizzy drinks and spicy food.  If this doesn’t have any effect after say a week and the pain is getting you down, you may need specialist help. Please let us know how you get on. Best wishes, David