I’m a 78 year old
"I’m a 78 year old male in good health, however with BPH. Little by little as I’ve aged, my urine stream has become weaker to the point that it usually is only a weak dribble. The need to urinate has become more frequent and urgent. I’ve never had an accident, however I’ve come close to having some when bathrooms weren’t nearby. I usually have to visit the bathroom once, sometimes twice during the night. This past year I’ve had two UTIs, that my urologist believes were caused by my bladder not being fully emptied when I urinate due to my urethra being restricted by my enlarged prostate. Concerned that over time my bladder will stretch and become damaged due to not being fully emptied, my urologist prescribed Tamsulosin HCL 0. 4 mg to me. This medication had such a severe side effect for me, being vertigo and a dangerous loss of balance, that I immediately discontinued taking it. As an alternative, my urologist later prescribed Finasteride 5 mg. I had planned to begin taking this medication until my wife researched the possible yet probable side effects, which sounded worse than my immediate problem. So I decided not to even start this medication, and looked into supplements for BPH. Being a retired university professor, I find more credibility in published and documented research than with sketchy popular magazine articles, fads, or undocumented hype found on many supplement bottles. I have respect for an independent testing organization, consumerlab. com, that examines published world-wide supplement research and establishes which research is credible and which is flawed, and abstracts this research to be understood by the lay person. For BPH, consumerlab. com reports that Beta-sitosterol has shown some positive results in research with a dosage of 60 mg per day. There are various brands of Beta-sitosterol on the market, but most are extremely higher daily dosages than 60mg. For this reason, I decided to try the only Beta-sitosterol available at 60mg per day, which is made by Pure Encapsulations. After two weeks of taking 60 mg per day (morning), my urination has noticeably improved from a dribble to an actual stream, although still a weaker stream than in my youth. I continue to have frequent and sometimes urgent needs to urinate, and still visit the bathroom at least one time during the night. Because my urine stream has noticeably improved, I’ll continue taking this supplement, and hope that perhaps there will be further improvement with my symptoms of BPH."