Tamsulosin side effects?

User

Posted 28 Aug 2024 at 10:51

Hi All,

Further to my recent post regarding the onset of late urinary cystitis/urethritis, my GP put me on Tamsulosin about 2 weeks ago. In the last 3-4 days, my urinary frequeny seems to have got worse and this has been accompanied by slight urinary leakage. I wonder if this is the Tamsulosin and if anyone else can relate to this?

Cheers.

User

Posted 28 Aug 2024 at 11:05

Tamsulosin helps you pee faster by relaxing the smooth muscle of the prostate and internal urinary sphincter. This is to help out in the situation where you are peeing slowly and not fully emptying your bladder, and hence going to the loo more often, or going in to retention (where you can't pee at all). Was that your situation? That's not what you're saying above were your symptoms, which makes me wonder why you were given Tamsulosin.

A side effect of relaxing the smooth muscle of the internal urinary sphincter is that you could become less continent, particularly if you have urgency, it can cause urge incontinence.

Side effects are reduced blood pressure, and retrograde ejaculation (because of weakened internal urinary sphincter).

Tamsulosin won't do anything useful if you have no prostate, as all the tissues it acts on have been removed.

User

Posted 29 Aug 2024 at 13:26

I've been on tamsulosin for 20 months now and I get the impression it's not as good as urology departments think it is. It makes at best a marginal difference to my normal urine flow. It didn't help when I had acute urine retention after HIFU, even if I took a double dose.

It also seems to make me feel a bit sick and dizzy on getting out of bed in the morning. I gather this is the reduced blood pressure side effect.

Regarding urge incontinence (mentioned by Andy62) I hadn't linked this to tamsulosin but come to think of it, I never had this symptom (as opposed to nocturia etc) before I was prescribed it.

User

Posted 29 Aug 2024 at 14:08

It might be worth asking to try an anti-bladder spasm medication, such as Solifenacin, Betmiga, or Trospium Chloride.

User

Posted 29 Aug 2024 at 23:17

I take tamsulosin along with solifenacin... the combination has definitely helped me to improve flow (had problems starting in particular) whilst reducing frequency (was going 5 times in a couple of hours sometimes) though obviously not everyone gets the same outcome so maybe I've been lucky in that respect; ive not had any noticeable side effects either.

User

Posted 04 Sep 2024 at 09:04

Don't think tamsulosin alters frequency hence why I had solifenacin added too. That combination works great for me.

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User

Posted 28 Aug 2024 at 11:05

A side effect of relaxing the smooth muscle of the internal urinary sphincter is that you could become less continent, particularly if you have urgency, it can cause urge incontinence.

Side effects are reduced blood pressure, and retrograde ejaculation (because of weakened internal urinary sphincter).

Tamsulosin won't do anything useful if you have no prostate, as all the tissues it acts on have been removed.

User

Posted 28 Aug 2024 at 11:41

Thanks Andy.

Still got a prostate - I had SBRT in April '23 (following 6 months of hormone therapy).

My late symptoms were (are) in descending order of impact on quality of life - frequency, dysuria, nocturia, urgency, hesitancy, intermittence & weak flow. The last 3 were really no hassle but have improved with Tamsulosin.

The first GP I saw (in July) said he didn't think Tamsulosin would do much for me. The second prescribed it (when I felt I had to try something...).

The frequency feels like more of an issue than it was before Tamsulosin & the slight leakage is new. I suppose the increased frequency could be due to the feeling of leakage...

Thanks again!

User

Posted 29 Aug 2024 at 13:26

It also seems to make me feel a bit sick and dizzy on getting out of bed in the morning. I gather this is the reduced blood pressure side effect.

Regarding urge incontinence (mentioned by Andy62) I hadn't linked this to tamsulosin but come to think of it, I never had this symptom (as opposed to nocturia etc) before I was prescribed it.

User

Posted 29 Aug 2024 at 14:08

It might be worth asking to try an anti-bladder spasm medication, such as Solifenacin, Betmiga, or Trospium Chloride.

User

Posted 29 Aug 2024 at 14:24

Thanks. Been in touch with my oncologist & he's told me he's likely to refer me to a urologist. I'll ask about these then.

The last four days, I've peed on average 18 times a day - which, I'm sure, is up on where I was pre-Tamsulosin. I didn't take the Tamsulosin this morning and I think I'll stay off it (as I really didn't have an issue with flow). I'll report back if the frequency and leakage issues improve...

User

Posted 29 Aug 2024 at 23:17

User

Posted 03 Sep 2024 at 11:16

An update. So I stopped taking Tamsulosin 6 days ago. My flow issues have returned (slow to start, intermittent & weakish flow) - but I can live with them. So the Tamsulosin clearly works for me in this area. Frequency is still an issue - so if Tamsulosin altered that, it was marginal. The slight leakage I experienced has gone & I think that had contributed to the feeling of increased frequency. So, for me, the benefit of the relaxed muscles was outweighed by the leakage & feeling of increased frequency.

User

Posted 04 Sep 2024 at 09:04

Don't think tamsulosin alters frequency hence why I had solifenacin added too. That combination works great for me.

User

Posted 11 Feb 2025 at 11:05

I was prescribed Tamsulosin by the urologist who carried out the Biopsy, he told me to take it before going to bed.

I did as instructed, I had to get up during the night and felt dizzy. The next morning I was very dizzy, felt sick and had a headache. I didn't take it for a few days, then after reading the enclosed leaflet, which states take after 1st meal of the day, the Nhs website also states after breakfast/1st meal, I did this. Tamsulosin has helped me, sometimes only getting up once in the night.

I had an oncologist appointment, 3 weeks ago he also told me to take Tamsulosin before bed. I have now compromised taking it after my last meal, about 17.00/18.00, I still get up in the night at least twice, I think I should have continued after the 1st meal.

The last couple of prescriptions are a different brand than the initial prescription, they are described as 400mg prolonged-release capsules, definitely states take after food, I don't eat late evening. I'll probably revert back to after 1st meal.

For info it was confirmed I had cancer the day before New Year, Gleason 4+3, high risk T3b.

del1949

Edited by member 11 Feb 2025 at 11:08 | Reason: Grammer correction.

User

Posted 27 Feb 2025 at 16:23

Several years ago, pre-Covid, with a rising PSA and frequent urgency my GP suggested tamsulosin and finasteride. In combination they reduced my semen volume hugely, possibly at least in part due to retrograde ejaculation. They helped a bit with my symptoms but not amazingly. I stopped the finasteride after becoming convinced I was growing boobs (no joke) and the tamsulosin shortly after as the low semen volume / retrograde ejaculation persisted. Instead I took saw palmetto and a 5mg daily dose of cialis. The side effects disappeared and I could pee pretty well and never had to get up at night. Daily cialis wasn’t available on the NHS via my GP but I gather now can be prescribed under certain circumstances. I Anyway, it’s pretty easy to get privately. I soldiered on like this for several years and kept my GP and urologists informed. My prostate continued to grow, of course…. Looking back, I’m not sure tamsulosin and / or finasteride ever did me any favours but who knows. With hindsight I’d never had taken either of them. I’ve recently had the Rezume procedure and if that works out well I aim to stop taking the cialis. Again, with hindsight I wish I’d skipped the meds and embraced a surgical option sooner though several years back Rezume wasn’t available locally anyway and the surgical options seem to be increasing and improving as time goes on. What does stand out is the importance of weighing up pros and cons which I wish I’d done more thoroughly …

Edited by member 27 Feb 2025 at 16:38 | Reason: Typo

User

Posted 28 Feb 2025 at 09:09

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

I was prescribed Tamsulosin by the urologist who carried out the Biopsy, he told me to take it before going to bed.

Tamsulosin is always packaged in a slow release/modified release preparation. Usually, this mechanism requires that it's taken with food, otherwise the mechanism doesn't work and it all goes into your system at once, causing short term overdose and then no effect when that's worn off. Even with the slow release/modified release mechanism, it only lasts around 16 hours, so if you take it with breakfast, it will have run out overnight, and if you need it overnight, you'll need to take it with a later meal of the day. Because it is also an uncontrolled blood pressure reducing medication, consideration of when other medications with this same side effect are taken (such as Sildenafil/Viagra, Tadalafil/Cialis) is also important, as taking them together increases chances of low blood pressure and falling.

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