John-

This isn't "prolonged," it's very expected at 2 weeks after brachy. Consider taking sleeping pills for a couple of weeks to get through the night.

I am one week post-HDR BT and have a very similar experience. My doc said there would be urinary urgency for a few weeks. Some days are better than others. Most night I get up once. I have had two sepreate days where the urgency was frequent. I am counting on this subsiding. Denis

John, your post-LDR brachy issues are certainly at the rough end of the normal curve. But I think I may have figured out the issue with your most recent post and that was the "enlarged prostate". LDR Brachy on men with enlarged prostates will frequently cause more severe urinary issues than with those of us who were lucky enough to have normal sized prostates. Frankly that's why some men will have HDR Brachy or SBRT with an enlarged prostate rather than LDR Brachy.

Having said that all you can really do now is work your way through it knowing that the issues WILL go away and that the end result is likely cure and no long term SE's. Continue to work with your doc on meds including something to help you sleep if needed and do the obvious things like avoiding caffeine and spicy foods.

BTW, I assume you had a post procedure CT scan and that your doc has assured you that no seeds have migrated such as to the bladder?

Good luck and remember that it's still early and this will pass.

Jim

John, patience is not one of my virtues either so I understand how anxious you are to have this done! The half-life of Iodine 125 is 60 days so by two months out you should be in much better shape. Again remember that the end game is that you made an excellent treatment choice and CURE is likely your future state. I'm now almost 10 years out from my LDR Brachy -- cured with no SE's other than loss of most of the ejaculate. And, at 72 years old I still have a pretty active sex life and you likely will as well. Think about that when you can't sleep!

Jim

Dear John,
I'm considering brachy soon so interested in this thread.
I already have lots of experience with sleep challenge and urination frequency and frequency urge. . . .perhaps though in a way different from yours, but ... two things I will mention from my own experience:
counter-intuitive: more water may lead to immediate temporary very frequent urination but helps after that passes. Please ignore if counter to your medical advice. One of my urologists really likes my approach.

Second, going back to sleep easily after getting up to pee, is key. I have a protocol of about 8 things I can do if I'm having trouble going back to sleep. It is very rare to go through all 8. Usually 1 or 2 is enough. The biggest help is what I think is called a baby roll in Feldenkreis classes. Feldenkreis is a modern bodywork from the 70's. In my area there are 3 Physical Therapists who have trained extensively in Feldenkreis and various classes. One of the classes is something like this "baby roll". I innovated and added a meditation at 16 points in the "baby roll" process. 90% success with going back to sleep if having problems. I avoid sleep medication (took ambien for years). I only allow low dose 1mg melatonin. occasionally I will do some aspirin or ibuprofen if pain problems as they seem to help with sleep.

I know most of the response here is with medical information and support which I appreciate. I also really like finding out about the "heuristic" innovations that people make to cope. So I share one of my heuristic innovations. Please take with many grains of salt. I hope the urination volume, urge and frequency challenges and its interactions with sleep, pass soon. Manticore

I am now a month post-HDR-BT and urination is normal, actually better than before the procedure.

Hang in there, John. If you have to fly, tell the flight attendant you have a medical issue that requires bathroom trips and get a seat near the bathroom. Be well. Denis

Have you tried switching Flomax to a different medication? In my case, I found Rapaflo to be more effective. Really sorry to hear about your issues...

John, my dad is in the same boat! I posted this on a separate thread earlier tonight!
Looking for advice, similar experiences for my dad.
He has brachytheraphy on Feb 22 of this year.
Prior to that he had 40 rounds of external beam radiation.
The seeding went well with minimal immediate side effects EXCEPT his urination has turned terrible. He is up to pee 10+ times a night and during the day can pee better but isn't fully emptying his bladder. He is not a good sleeper to begin w/ and this has made it worse.

I'd like to add that how my dad ever got diagnosed with PC was his urination STOPPED. After having a catheter inserted for several weeks and then learning to self catheter, he was able to wean off and pee again really well. Even throughout radiation his urination did weaken but was tolerable. Now it is not.

His radiation oncology nurse keeps telling him to hang on for a bit, symptoms should get better but he is losing his patience. And because of how this all started with urination problems I feel like whatever the seeding did really irritated or obstructed his ability to urinate. On the flip side, I am unsure of why a few weeks of catherter use prior to treatment, he was able to successfully resume urination on his own.

Any help? advise? similar experiences?

Hi Timkerbell , accept my apology for the late reply , I am now 9 weeks post Bracky I would say I'm improved over the 1st 3 weeks , post I could not leave the house , at all as had to pee like every 15-30 min. I am now able to hold it but still need to pee or urinate frequently , as my bladder does not empty fully and it goes drip drip like a leaky faucet , due I'm sure to my enlarged prostate , I am due to do External Beam soon for 5 weeks an am petrified that this well get worse while i understand we are combating the cancer it really sucks , I can cerently sympathizes with your Dad I had some thoughts about doing the self catheter but have some fears can you maybe tell me a bit of how that went , here is my email if you would like to communicate that way Sets95@aol.com I'm John