Alphablockers, do they make me sleepy?

[User-CPPS]

Hello,

I had been taking Tamsulosin for a year, and it really improved my symptoms: pain was less, and there was no pain after ejaculation and urination.

I always had the problem of being sleepy, but for some years it is affecting my life to the bad!

Besides Fluoxetin and and medication for my thyroid underfunction I was taking Methylphentad (ADD) for a year!

You can say I started Methylphentad and Tamsulosin at the same time! So whenever I felt sleepy, I had taken Methylphenitad! My doctor suggested 20-40mg per day.
But this summer my legs started shaking while sitting and I had to stop Methylphenitad! Soon I became so much sleepy, that I had to quit my studies because I could not concentrate because I needed to go to bed whatever I was doing!

Although I was satisfied with Tamsulosin, the fact that it somestimes caused retrograde ejaculation forced me to try Alfuzosin! I know I have to take it for at least 3 months to feel the effect! But since August I am doing Triggerpoint-Therapy, and it certainly has positive effect, but somehow the alphablockers help me with things that Triggerpoint Therapy could not help yet!

I am student and I need to read much and stay awake and focussed!
Unfortunately, where I live there is no Adderal, and I am afraid to try the original Ritalin that could cause again some Parkinsonlike symptoms!

I asked my doctor to prescribe me Modafinil, which is very expensive! Now I have quit alphablockers for a week, and I feel significantly worse, but still sleepy, since 10mg of Modafinil seems not to help at all!

This day I have taken the normal dose of 20mg and I will see, what will happen!
I am thinking of taking Alfuzosin again, but I have to see...

Why not caffeine? Because I think caffeine makes UCPPS worse, and it prevents iron to be absorbed by the human body, which makes one sleepy again!

So now I have to pay for all this expensive medication and see, what will happen! Triggerpointtherapie, Modafinil.

Who else tested Tamsulosin and Alfuzosin and could tell me about it effect on being sleepy?
Recently, I started to take it in the evening!
Which one helps you more with this condition?

[webslave]

Tamsulosin does have fatigue (asthenia) as a known side effect. Try other a-blockers. Keep trying until you find one that does not make you sleepy, and if they all make you tired, quit them. If you are a student you need to be alert.

[charles]

Alfuzosin = Uroxatral

I have tried both tamsulosin (Flomax) and alfuzosin (Uroxatral). Alfuzosin is much more effective for me. It doesn't help with my frequency symptoms, but prevents me from having post-ejaculation pain.

The first week or so that I took alfuzosin I was kind of out of sorts, feeling funny and a little groggy. Now, it doesn't seem to affect me in that way anymore but it still prevents the post-ejaculation pain.

[User-CPPS]

I have had quit Alphablockers for 10 days, and I am suffering all the symptoms and pains I had all the years before alphablockers, poor urinary stream, more frequent urination, severe pain after ejaculation, discomfort after urination!

Triggerpoint Therapy seems not to have healed me for this problems yet...alpha blockers treat smooth muscles, while triggerpoint treats skeletal muscles! Maybe, I will have to take alphablockers forever, as I have to take Prozak!

Now after some days I feel much more awake thanks to Modafinil! Since I just switched from Tamsulosin to Alfuzosin, I guess I need to wait 3 months to feel it's effect! I had forgotten how horrible my life was before alphablockers!!!

I have quit caffeine (just a test, that means no coffee, tea, chocolate, cocoa ) and try to avoid refined sugar as much as possible, since these things should make some people tired! Also, chronic fatigue syndrome sometimes comes with CPPS.

[charles]

I didn't have to wait 3 months to feel the effects of Alfuzosin, but I do seem to get better the longer I take it.

I only take it every other day now, though, because it was making me a little dizzy and I would get headaches.

[carld]

I took alpha blockers for almost two wasted years...They are useless for helping with the pain or discomfort in UCPPS...The fact that they relax the smooth muscle and can maybe help with post ejaculation pain should tell you this is a muscular dysfunction. I would stay away from them period...

ALFUZOSIN VS. PLACEBO

Postby J Dimitrakov » Sun May 18, 2008 3:05 pm
As reported by J Curtis Nickel yesterday at the prostatitis session at the AUA, alfuzosin appears to be as effective as placebo in the treatment of chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome symptoms based on the results of the study below.

Best,
JD

A Randomized Multicenter Double-Blind Clinical Trial To Evaluate The Efficacy And Safety Of Alfuzosin In The Treatment Of Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CP/CPPS) In Recently-Diagnosed And/Or Newly-Symptomatic Alpha-Blocker Naive Patients

J Curtis Nickel*, Kingston, ON, Canada, John Krieger, Seattle, WA, Paige C White, Jackson, MS, Mary McNaughton-Collins, Boston, MA, Rodney U Anderson, Stanford, CA, Michel Pontari, Philadelphia, PA, Daniel Shoskes, Cleveland, OH, Mark S Litwin, Los Angeles, CA, Richard B Alexander, Baltimore, MD, Richard Berger, Seattle, WA, Shannon Chuai, J Richard Landis, Philadelphia, PA, John W Kusek, Bethesda, MD, Leroy M Nyberg, Chris Mullins, Anthony J Shaeffer, Chicago, IL, and The Chronic Prostatitis Colllaborative Research Network (CPCRN), Bethesda, MD

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Small studies have suggested beneficial effect with the use of prolonged treatment with alpha-adrenergic blocking agents in CP/CPPS patients early in the course of the disorder. We compared 12 weeks of treatment with alfuzosin versus placebo in newly-diagnosed, alpha-blocker naive CP/CPPS patients.

METHODS: The clinical trial utilized a 2-arm randomized clinical trial design in which all participants who met eligibility criteria at baseline screening (diagnosed within 2 years and alpha blocker naive) were randomized to either alfuzosin 10 mg daily or an identical looking placebo for 12 weeks. The primary endpoint for efficacy evaluation was the response rate, defined as a 4-point decrease from baseline to 12 weeks in the NIH-CPSI Total Score (scale of 0 - 43).

RESULTS: Two hundred and seventy-two eligible participants were randomized. Mean age was 40.1 (+/-11.8) and mean CPSI score was 24.4 (+/- 6.2, range 12-42) at baseline. There were no significant differences in the following baseline demographics between the two randomized groups: age, race, CPSI total score, CPSI sub-scores. Forty one (15.1%) patients withdrew after randomization: 7 no longer interested in participating, 5 dissatisfied with treatment, 15 lost to follow-up, 4 for personal constraints, 9 for adverse events, and 1 for other reason. Study completion rates for the 12 week end of study visit were excellent. The database has been locked, and final analyses are expected to be completed and unmasked by February 1, 2008. Efficacy and safety results will be presented.

CONCLUSIONS: This large NIH/NIDDK sponsored multicenter randomized placebo controlled North American trial will provide an evidence based foundation to help physicians decide whether or not to prescribe alpha-blockers for men with newly diagnosed CP/CPPS.

This communication provides general information, and is not a substitute for face-to-face medical care. A doctor-patient relationship should not be assumed by the reader.
Jordan Dimitrakov, M.D., Ph.D.

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J Dimitrakov
Urologist
Urologist

Posts: 322
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2002 4:59 pm
Location: Boston, MA

Best

[User-CPPS]

I cannot live with the pain that alphablockers help against! Life is killing me without them!

Taking care of my muscles has to be done parallely! after 7 weeks of triggerpoint therapy I tried to do it with medication, now I am suffering like all my life before alphablockers.!
Now I switched to Alfuzosin from Tamsulosin and started again! Will never stop them as long as I breath...muscles could tense over night even after one is "healed", and then life becomes a nightmare again for me!

[charles]

My symptoms also returned when I stopped using alfuzosin (Uroxatrol).

Yes, it is a muscle issue, and can be treated without medication, but for me it would take much, much longer. The alfuzosin makes it easier and allows me to have sex without fear of pain while I take care of trigger points, flexibility, stress, and other things in the meantime.

It may not have worked for Carl, but it has worked for me.

[carld]

That is where the relaxation aspect and cognitive therapy to get anxiety control is actually the most important part of healing...Over the long run...the possibility of the alpha blockers becoming useless is against you both...Sorry...just my sincere strong belief.

Paradoxical relaxation or autogenic relaxation or relaxation in general is all too often missed. It's like banging your head against a wall and getting a head ache...so you take a pill to stop the pain...wouldn't it be just easier to stop banging your head against the wall?

Best

[charles]

Maybe you misunderstood my post.

I am doing paradoxical relaxation. I am doing daily stretching. I am seeing a PT every two weeks. I am doing self TP release, internal and external.

I was doing all that and still had pain after ejaculation. As soon as I started taking alfuzosin, I stopped having pain after ejaculation. Meanwhile, I continue to practice relaxation techniques, I continue to stretch daily, I continue to see my PT and perform self TP release.

I don't expect the alfuzosin to heal everything, but if it helps me get better faster, I am all for it. It has definitely helped me to stop fearing sex and the pain that would accompany it before.

It may not have helped you, but I know for a fact has helped me.

[User-CPPS]

Update:

See my thread in the general discussion forum, please.