Bladder Issues in Men
Question: I’ve been prescribed FloMax for a urinary sphincter problem (it doesn’t open fully or easily). I’m a 72-year-old male who had bulbar and paralytic polio. A CT shows bladder wall thickening and enlarged prostate. Any thoughts on this medication for polio survivors?
Dr. Bruno’s Response: I don’t have experience with Flomax in polio survivors. Acute polio patients had urinary problems – especially retention and incomplete emptying of the bladder in men - because pelvic floor and bladder detrusor muscles had been paralyzed. Flomax (tamsulosin) works by blocking an adrenaline receptor and allows relaxation of bladder muscles that connect the bladder to the urethra, in the prostate, the ureter and in the urethra itself. But the adrenaline receptor in the bladder is similar to the adrenaline receptor that shrinks the size of blood vessels. Flomax, while blocking the bladder receptor, may also block the blood vessel receptor, cause blood vessels to open and blood pressure to drop, which explains why dizziness and lightheadedness can be Flomax side effects.
Talk to your doctor about the potential for possible drops in blood pressure if you start Flomax and get up slowly when rising from a sitting or lying position (especially when getting out of bed in the middle of the night) so your blood pressure - and you - don't fall.