Conquer Embarrassment and Seek Help!

Many men are embarrassed to begin treatment for urinary troubles associated with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia. It’s never easy to discuss urinary issues with a loved one or even your doctor. Further, many patients will modify their lifestyles to avoid embarrassing symptoms. While they may not feel embarrassed in public, they may be missing out on interesting activities and experiences. Brandon, a successful Prostiva® RF patient, suffered through years of urinary trouble before finally seeing his urologist and getting treatment for his enlarged prostate.

Here’s his perspective:

I am no different than any other guy in the world.  I grew up playing football, baseball and hanging out at the lake with my friends.  I did my share of drinking and traveling around the state and country.  I enjoyed life and never really thought I was any different than most men.

I did have one trait that seemed to not affect my friends or brother.  I had to go to the bathroom about 3 times more than any other guy I knew.  My mom always said I was born with a small bladder and based on my lack of medical training that made sense to me. 

I had spent years adjusting my life to the urgent need to be near a bathroom no matter what the situation.  I never really told anyone because that is not really the kind of thing most guys brag about.  I never thought there was anything I could do to fix it so I never even asked my doctor.  I grew up before you could Google everything that popped into your head and like most guys I certainly wasn’t going to admit to a doctor I could not go more than 2 hours without a bathroom break.  I just decided to suffer in silence.

I would not take trips with the guys because I didn’t want to be the one that had to stop 2 times before we went 100 miles.  I would never drink at a football or baseball game because the line was long and I would miss too much going to the bathroom so much.  I didn’t drink after 7 pm with the hopes I wouldn’t get up more than once during the night.  I avoided the movies because there was another 2 hours I would have to suffer through.  Going to the kid’s programs at school would require planning because we all know walking in and out of school program is a social mistake.  What about sex?  Well let’s just say there is a lot of planning that goes into making sure you don’t ruin the mood with a bathroom break in the middle of a romantic evening.

So let’s assume you manage through all those obstacles and stay close to a bathroom.  Then you have the painful and embarrassing moment of trying to start a flow.  Once you finally get things flowing you still end up with that feeling of the bladder is not empty.  So you leave the bathroom with the sweaty forehead and your mind swirling around the next excuse you know you have to make to go back to the bathroom in less than 2 hours.

SO what do you do?  Talk to your doctor.  It really is a very simple conversation and as with most things not nearly as embarrassing as you played it in your head.

Brandon is a paid consultant for Urologix, Inc.