An enlarged prostate (also known as Benign prostatic hyperplasia) is a relatively common condition that increases in prevalence as men get older. Certain medications (including common over the counter medications) can influence the growth of the prostate and worsen associated symptoms of an enlarged prostate. In this lesson, we discuss these medications in order to prevent and reduce prostate enlargement and reduce symptoms of an enlarged prostate.
Hey everyone welcome back to another lesson this lesson is on medications to avoid if you have an enlarged prostate and these medications are important to avoid because they worsen symptoms associated with an enlarged prostate so symptoms including lower urinary tract symptoms like issues with intermittent urinary stream or issues starting urination or issues
With urinating at night so these medications are important to avoid if you want to improve your symptoms so a lot of the medications we’re going to talk about in this lesson come from the article entitled contribution of common medications to lower urinary tract symptoms in men so the first class of medications we’re going to talk about that’s important to avoid
If you have an enlarged prostate is antihistamines so antihistamines are commonly used for treating allergy symptoms so things like allergic rhinitis and it’s been found that using antihistamines can worsen lower urinary tract symptoms or l-u-t-s luts associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia bph also known as enlarged prostate so it’s important to try
To avoid using antihistamines some examples of antihistamines include benadryl also known as diphenhydramine the generic name of benadryl claritin which is also known as loratadine and zyrtec which is also known as cetirazine so these are common antihistamines that are used oftentimes for treating symptoms of allergies and these can actually worsen symptoms
Associated with an enlarged prostate the next class of medications we’re going to talk about is decongestants so as his name suggests decongestants reduce or improve congestion associated with oftentimes respiratory tract infections but also with allergies these may also worsen those lower urinary tract symptoms associated with an enlarged prostate so again
Issues with intermittent urinary stream and issues with frequent urination during the night some examples of decongestants include pseudoephedrine phenylephrine and we can also see decongestants in nasal sprays but a lot of times nasal sprays are not going to lead to significant issues with symptoms associated with enlarged prostate unless nasal sprays are being
Used very frequently so again two classes of medications to avoid with an enlarged prostate antihistamines examples include benadryl claritin and zyrtec and decongestants including medications to help with congestion that contain pseudoephedrine phenylephrine and even some nasal sprays if they’re used frequently another class of medications to avoid within
A large prostate is non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or nsaids so there’s actually some conflicting data with regards to the use of nsaids and prostate enlargement and associated symptoms nsaids or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs include ibuprofen naproxen and aspirin so ibuprofen you can think of advil or motrin and these are used for pain relief
And there has been some data that has suggested that nsaid use or use of these types of medications like ibuprofen aproxin aspirin can lead to prostate enlargement and a worsening of associated symptoms of an enlarged prostate so important to either reduce or try to avoid nsaid use i know it’s difficult with some conditions that have issues with pain control
But again this is one class of medications that could lead to worsening prostate enlargement and associated symptoms another class of medications that can worsen symptoms associated with enlarged prostate include opiates or opioids so opiates the reason why they can worsen symptoms associated with an enlarged prostate is because they can cause constipation and
Constipation itself is what can lead to worsening lower urinary tract symptoms so again opiates can lead to constipation which can worsen lower urinary tract symptoms so with opiates it’s important to use laxatives to avoid constipation and avoid worsening of lower urinary tract symptoms examples of opiates include morphine and hydromorphone or dilaudid and again
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen so you can think of medications like advil and motrin other ones including naproxen and aspirin these could lead to increased or worsened prostate enlargement and worsened associated symptoms of an enlarged prostate so it’s important to try to reduce or avoid use if possible and then opiates are another class
Of medications that can worsen lower urinary tract symptoms associated with enlarged prostate because they can cause constipation which is oftentimes an issue in causing or worsening symptoms associated with enlarged prostate as well some other classes of medication that are often prescribed medications so it’s important to consult with your physician include the
Following tricyclic antidepressants or tca so tricyclic antidepressants are an older generation of antidepressants so they may be used for depression or for other conditions including neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia more likely they’re used for neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia than they are for depression but they could be used for depression as well examples
Of tricyclic antidepressants include amitriptyline nor triptyline doxapin and amipramine and another class of medications that can worsen symptoms of an enlarged prostate include diuretics so as mentioned before caffeine is a diuretic and it leads to worsening symptoms because there’s increased volume and frequency of urination so it can worsen the symptoms or the
Sensation of symptoms and diuretics are utilized for a variety of very important health conditions like congestive heart failure chronic liver disease chronic kidney disease and hypertension or high blood pressure so these medications are very important and as mentioned before they increase urination and urine volume therefore they can increase symptoms associated
With benign prostatic hyperplasia or an enlarged prostate so these are medications that should not be avoided these should be discussed with your physician but it’s important for completeness sake in this lesson to tell you about these that they can worsen symptoms associated with enlarged prostate so again tricyclic antidepressants very important for use in
Neuropathic pain disorders and can be used in fibromyalgia and they include amitriptyline nor tripling doxapin and and mipramine and then diuretics and diuretics are used for very very important health conditions like congestive heart failure chronic liver disease chronic kidney disease etc so if you want to learn more about foods to avoid if you have an enlarged
Prostate please check out my lesson on that topic and also check out my lesson on supplements and foods to eat to prevent having a large prostate in the first place and if you haven’t already please consider liking subscribing and clicking the notification bell to help support the channel stay up to date on future lessons thanks so much for watching and i hope to see you next time
Transcribed from video
Medications to Avoid with Enlarged Prostate | Reduce Symptoms and Risk of Prostate Enlargement By JJ Medicine
