I am not a doctor but I still feel I can give some advice, especially as I recognise what you are going through. Fortunately, I don’t have any “rules” I have to stick to, not being a member of the medical profession, which means that information can be freely shared without the need for a gagging clause, albeit within the bounds of forum rules.
Secondly, I am not going to recommend you taking any medication, which merely treats the symptoms rather than the root cause of a problem.
Tamsulosin is used to help the symptoms of BPH, which is very common in ageing men, where the prostate enlarges to squeeze the urethra which passes through the “ring doughnut” shaped prostate to reduce urine flow. This you probably all know. What people often don’t know, is that hyperinsulinaemia and the ensuing insulin resistance are inflammatory and a likely cause of the problem, owing to long term, high carbohydrate/glucose/fructose consumption in your diet, often over decades, this problem often manifests itself in the over 40’s and is usually just put down to getting older. While getting older is true, these problems don’t have to occur and not all men develop them.
Insulin is an anabolic hormone, meaning that when it is in a constantly elevated state, it triggers cell growth more than it should. Every cell in the body responds to insulin and this is one of reasons for enlarged prostate issues, along with other complications, like hypertension and elevated blood pressure, cardiovascular issues and other related metabolic disorders. Given that roughly 2/3 of the adult population in Western society are overweight or obese and that researchers reckon that upwards of 80% of people have insulin resistance, it shouldn’t surprise you to find that you may be among that number.
Treat the cause and you will likely help the condition, so that means reducing the elevated blood insulin levels you likely have. I assume your doctor has measured your HBA1C, CRP and fasting insulin levels and given you a glucose tolerance test to see how far you are along the scale of Insulin resistance/pre-diabetes. If not, he should have done. Blood glucose measurements aren’t always sufficient because the human body is incredibly good at keeping blood glucose levels in the normal range until you are well along the way to being type 2 diabetic, along with other accompanying inflammatory metabolic issues.
Personally, I would look into reducing sugars, particularly sugary drinks and processed, high glycemic load foods, like pasta, rice, bread to make some inroads into reducing your blood insulin levels. Intermittent fasting is also a good technique for reducing the frequency of meals, cutting out snacking and reducing the insulin spikes caused by primarily, carbohydrate consumption.
Unfortunately, the standard diet eaten by many doesn’t help the situation I have described above but reducing the frequency of food consumption and lowering glucose and fructose spiking foods will likely help you manage the situation better in future.
I am 56 myself and have followed a fasting/low carb diet for the last couple of years and feel my flow is not worsening as it once was, plus I have lost 15 kilos, mostly fat from the visceral region, my skin and sleep has improved, along with reflux and gastro/bowel issues and have a lot more energy than I had, just to name a few.
Give it a go, you may find it helps, especially if you do some due diligence, as I did, to research the topics first.
One final point, I have a lot of respect for doctors and what they do, but Hippocrates, widely regarded as the father of modern medicine, is often quoted as saying,”Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” and I often wonder if modern medicine overlooks this aphorism, in their rush to prescribe for symptoms, rather than treat the causes of many modern diseases.
