xylophone

I hope so........and bigly too!

My NZ doctor did recommend Flomax and that had a little bit of an effect, which seemed to wear off after a while so I stopped taking it. About a year later I noticed blood in my semen and as a urologist had already told me that my prostate "looked a bit ragged", I thought I'd better get something done about it, so I opted for a TURP, done at Epworth Hospital in Melbourne. I could have gone back to NZ and had it done on my health insurance at the time, which I wish I had have done, but opted for Epworth because my sister and brother-in-law lived in Melbourne and I could stay with them, and also because when I asked for laser surgery for this TURP, the urologist there said that he could do it. But I'm afraid he told a porky pie, because the day before the operation I asked again to make sure I was having the laser surgery and he said he would only use the laser if he thought it was very necessary after doing some sort of exploratory of the prostate! I know quite a few guys who had the TURP using the old-fashioned gold standard procedure, and they have come out of it well, but I had a few hiccups along the way what with urine retention and having to wear a catheter for a few weeks, and also it appears that there was some scarring around the bladder neck which I had to have operated on a few years after here in Thailand, because again my bladder wasn't emptying properly. After the original TURP, I was eventually able to pee properly, and there was no sign of retrograde ejaculation, so overall I was happy about it. However when the inability to urinate fully came back whilst I was in Thailand a few years later, a supposedly top urologist told me that I had some scarring of the bladder neck and that was what was causing it, so it needed to be removed, and there would be no after effects/side-effects – – another porky because after that operation I suffered from retrograde ejaculation and still do to a certain extent, although occasionally it works at about a 30% rate. Luckily at age 76 I'm not a "rampant rabbit" so I get by on that side of things, however as you will probably have read, I still have to use a catheter every night before I go to bed to empty the bladder because that has ceased to work – – and even the top urologist in Bumrungrad doesn't know why. Despite all of this I am a relatively happy chappy. However there is one proviso that I will add here, and which I've already stated elsewhere, and that is if I had my choice over again, and if the Urolift was available, then that's what I would have, and I would even travel to another country to have it done.

Just eat the dead ones then????.

Urolift is certainly a procedure I would consider if necessary, but maybe I'm too far gone anyway, what with the bladder not working now. I did check out a few places and Australia is one place where it is performed, and you might want to try India as they appear to have some good medical facilities and, of course, the price is very reasonable. I consider this to be one of the better options, having had a TURP, and a bladder neck incision, and researched Rezum, and of course if it doesn't work for whatever reason, it is easily removed/remedied!

I tried it a while ago and it made no difference for me.

No problems and by all means contact me via PM....happy to be of help if I can. Xylo

You asked a very difficult question to answer, however I'll try my best – – – Prostatitis is difficult to determine because there are two types of prostatitis, one being bacterial, which is reasonably easy to ascertain by tests and prostatic massage, and nonbacterial prostatitis which can be caused by any number of things, the main one being inflammation of the prostate, and this can be caused (amongst other things) by very small calcified stones in the prostate after a previous prostate infection. Generally prostatitis is determined by the number of symptoms that you have which together point to prostatitis, however there is no hard and fast "concrete" diagnosis because it is not just one symptom and can be caused by a number of things. The nonbacterial prostatitis is the difficult one because if it isn't bacterial, how do you deal with it? Many urologists will take the belt and braces approach and prescribe antibiotics along with an anti-inflammatory to see if this helps; please note I write "to see if this helps" because there are no hard and fast diagnosis rules I'm afraid. And to back this up if you were to do a lot of research on the Internet you would find perhaps thousands of pages on prostatitis and similar, none of which will give an exact reason/diagnosis/cause. That's why it is so difficult to treat and can be ongoing for many months or even years (as was in my case). On to your situation......you say you have frequent urination (how many times a day and what volume), which is something I never experienced, however according to some reports this can be a factor in prostatitis, but I would ask if you have had tests for cystitis or urethritis, both of which can cause the urge to frequently urinate, usually with some signs of slight irritation of the urethra (for example). You say that your prostate is somewhat enlarged, so you must have had some tests done on it?? And an enlarged prostate can be caused by inflammation or infection and of course this can give BPH symptoms (you can probably see now why this is such a difficult diagnosis, and why that prominent urologist stated, "this area is a medical wasteland" because there are so many symptoms which are interrelated, yet may or may not be a single cause of prostatitis). Furthermore the above becomes more complicated because the prostatic tissue is not easily penetrated by many antibiotics, so they don't get to the root of the problem, PLUS, bacteria can live beneath what is called a "biofilm", which protects them from many/most antibiotics, so they are very difficult to treat AND if the urologists suspect this, then long low doses of a particular antibiotic can be prescribed. I was often prescribed 90 day courses of doxycycline, which calmed the situation down, but as is often the case, it returned, so I took them for years. Just a note on antibiotics, a decade ago, ciprofloxacin was touted as the go to antibiotic for prostatitis and similar, however it didn't work for me and gave me severe tendon problems, as it has done many people according to reports, and even now it is not recommended as a first-line antibiotic for prostatitis or UTIs (in the main). So your urologist will have made their diagnosis based on a number of factors as noted above. Did they manage to isolate a bacteria? Did they take a prostatic secretion? Did they culture either of the previous findings? Has cystitis or urethritis ever been considered by your doctor/urologist? Overall, IMO, we have not been well served by the medical profession with regards to this, although it appears to be improving, and that's the reason I contacted two eminent professors, one practising in Harley St, London, and the other in Sydney, who had focused on this area for a few years, and had narrowed treatment down to a couple of antibiotics which worked in the majority of cases for them, and certainly worked for me. However they were focusing on the causes and treatment of cystitis and urethritis, but the antibiotics, they suggested, could also be used to treat prostatitis. I hope this helps you and others here, but just be aware that I am not a medical professional, even though my son is, but the above is based on my decades of experience in this area and treatment by urologists in London, Auckland and Thailand, plus having all of the tests that you can imagine, and thousands of antibiotic pills of various types.

Yep, you can download manuals online for most things, which I have done in the past and kept on file.

This poster to whom you replied, often posts a load of garbage, so is another one that I've put on "ignore". And as for his statement that, "incontinence and impotence being the two usual side-effects of all the treatments" is pure nonsense, because a TURP, in the main, doesn't result in this and the new laser treatments are an improvement upon the TURP because of less bleeding and quicker recovery time. Even a radical prostatectomy these days can result in far fewer side-effects than in the old days, especially if it is done with the da Vinci robotic machine.

Good advice Moonlover, and I would encourage guys to do as much research as they possibly can on this because if my situation is anything to go by, then even the best urologists out there are not fully informed, or don't take due care and attention – – a big statement but let me explain: – I suffered from prostatitis for decades and visited several urologists in New Zealand and was prescribed antibiotics on so many occasions that I must have taken many hundreds/thousands of different types of antibiotics, but the prostatitis kept coming back again. The thing about prostatitis is that in most cases it causes the prostate to become inflamed/enlarged, thereby restricting urine flow and therefore putting stress on the bladder, and I remember one urologist who did a flow test on me and then checked the bladder with ultrasound, stating that, "oh, you've got the bladder of an old man", which didn't please me much because I was in my 40s and fit and healthy. BUT, was anything done about it; NO, just put on more antibiotics, which didn't work again. Now the prostatitis/BPH was caused by bacteria in the prostate which antibiotics couldn't touch, for various reasons which I've outlined in previous posts, so for decades my prostate was enlarged and causing my urine flow problems, which I seemed to cope with okay, and didn't pay much attention to it, until I had a TURP and then the bladder problems started because I couldn't empty it. So frequent use of a self-cath is what I have to use these days, and a recent visit to Bumrungrad hospital to see the top urologist there (thank you Sheryl), confirmed that my bladder had stopped working – – WHY, well he didn't know why, but I suspect the many years of ineffective bladder emptying and a few bladder infections had caused this. I had taken all of the "usual" drugs for BPH like, tamsulosin, doxazosin etc. etc but to no avail, because the damage had been done to the bladder by not addressing the prostatitis years ago, so it's important that you get to know about your prostate and associated urinary tract workings so you can ask questions. In my desperation I tried just about every natural "remedy", such as stinging nettle root, pygeum, saw palmetto etc because I was desperate for a cure, but again to no avail. So to repeat what Moonlover has said, deal with any problems like this, early, because you don't know what they will lead to. For the record, I use the self-cath at night before I go to bed and can usually get by during the day by drinking less fluid and managing the occasional "dribble" by flexing my stomach muscles, and I'm still searching for a potential "magic pill" to make the bladder work again, but it seems unlikely, so I have got to live with this, and as unpleasant as it sounds, I have gotten used to it – – because as someone else has said, in so many words, "I've got no option". Although this won't offer much hope to fellow sufferers of prostatitis/enlarged prostate/bladder problems, one of the top urologists in the US stated that, "this area of medicine is like a medical wasteland", because it wasn't fully understood and not a lot of research had been done on it, however this was about 10 years ago, so perhaps things have improved. PS. Forgot to add this article: https://www.uptodate.com/contents/benign-prostatic-hyperplasia-bph-beyond-the-basics#:~:text=Alpha%2Dreductase%20inhibitors%20%E2%80%94%20Alpha%2D,men%20with%20a%20larger%20prostate

This isn't the first time that "Adumbration" has insulted a poster here, and on two occasions he described me as "Ignorant", as well as saying that another poster was likewise. He seems to lack what we used to call, "interpersonal skills", so I have put him on ignore, and you might well consider doing the same?

I thought I would jump back on and report on the beef bourguignon which I cooked yesterday, because it was the best I have ever made, and I've been cooking them for 40 years, trying loads of different recipes and variations, and even having a disgusting version in a restaurant in Menigoute (near Poitier, France)! For those looking to do a slow cook version of anything that contains beef, then I can recommend using the very cheap shin of beef....."The shin is a highly worked muscle that is supported by high levels of connective tissue. This connective tissue is broken down through slow cooking over a low heat and results in a moist, tender meat with rich flavour". Chuck steak is another worth considering however I have found that for long slow cooking it tends to break up. So in summary: – local cheap cuts of beef are fantastic for slow cook beef recipes.

Obviously we are finding out loads of different ways to prepare and cook good steak, and I think I've got it down to a fine art now, and one of the things I learnt just recently from a top chef was that the steak needs to be out of the fridge and left at room temperature until it attains that temperature (about an hour?). Searing it in a hot pan for a few minutes either side, and then putting it into an oven at about 200° for about five minutes seems to do it for me. Now on the subject of New Zealand ribeye, which was why I originally decided to reply, I had some poor quality NZ ribeye a while back, and I vowed never to buy it again, and when I went back to NZ and mentioned this to a couple of guys whom I had recently met, they were astounded because they worked at the plant which produced the meat!!! I gave it another try when I got back here, and still reckon that it isn't a patch on the Australian tenderloin which can be bought here – – and if I'm going to have a good steak, with a lovely bottle of wine, then that's the steak I buy.

So many times, from so many posters, publications and reputable news media has this subject been discussed, but there are still going to be a few out there, and we have some on AN, who will not accept the truth and what actually happened, so we get this merry-go-round, and it makes me wonder as to the state of their mental faculties. It is unbelievable, but probably not so when one thinks that they are part of the trump supporters clan and are not renowned for their ability to understand facts and reason.

A cowboy appeared before St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. 'Have you ever done anything of particular merit?' St. Peter asked. 'Well, I can think of one thing,' the cowboy offered. 'On a trip to the Black Hills out in South Dakota, I came upon a gang of bikers who were threatening a young woman. I directed them to leave her alone, but they wouldn't listen. So, I approached the largest and most tattooed biker and smacked him in the face, kicked his bike over, ripped out his nose ring, and threw it on the ground. I yelled, 'Now, back off or I'll kick the <deleted> out of all of you! St. Peter was impressed, 'When did this happen?' 'Couple of minutes ago.'

It appears that xylitol, which can be bought through the likes of Lazada very cheaply, is toxic to birds – – so as it dissolves in water because it is like a sugar, I would suggest soaking some bits of bread in xylitol and leaving that out for the pests.

Perhaps they don't like nut jobs either!

Wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them, and I often wonder what guys like that are doing here, and a good bet would be that they are up to no good! No, really!

Never a truer word spoken, however I do buy the Australian tenderloin beef if I want a nice steak with a good wine, but my preference these days is a beef bourguignon, slow cooked in red wine and beef stock, with garlic, tomato paste, carrots, mushrooms and onions and if one really wants to go the whole hog, then add some crispy bacon bits (plenty of other variations on this). Thai beef is good for this and comes out really well after about 3 to 4 hours of cooking. So basically prepare it, set and forget it. Available in Big C or similar.

I don't believe it was a good decision to bring Lampard back on board, because rumours abound that he wasn't respected in the dressing room. IMO he is not a good manager and couldn't analyse a team to see its strengths and weaknesses if his life depended on it. Tactics?? He thinks they are the little mints that you suck on.

Well obviously they don't work well enough to be able to stop the environmental/atmosphere contamination, or to appease the "climate change" brigade? There has to be another way.........

Well in my day running aluminium cable into the copper clamp/insert on the distribution board was a no-no, and special connectors had to be used which would hold the aluminium cable and allow a small length of copper cable to be connected and then used to connect to the distribution board (for example). That's my take on it, however you would be better off asking someone like @Crossy or the other guys here who are more up-to-date with regulations etc.

"If"..................Well that would have to be a "given", especially in light of the thousands of other lies and false claims by the compulsive liar and grifter, and his associates/advisers.

Is this the feed to your Distribution Board??

Esp when some of the BIB own or have part ownership of go-go clubs!