Lifestyle and home remedies

Making some lifestyle changes can often help control the symptoms of an enlarged prostate and prevent your condition from worsening. Consider these measures:
    * Limit beverages in the evening. Don't drink anything for an hour or two before bedtime to help you avoid wake-up trips to the bathroom at night.
    * Limit caffeine or alcohol. These can increase urine production, irritate your bladder and worsen your symptoms.
    * Limit diuretics. If you take water pills (diuretics), talk to your doctor. Maybe a lower dose, a milder diuretic or a change in the time you take your medication will help. Don't stop taking diuretics without first talking to your doctor.
    * Limit decongestants or antihistamines. These drugs tighten the band of muscles around your urethra that control urine flow, which makes it harder to urinate.
    * Go when you feel the urge. Try to urinate when you first feel the urge. Waiting too long to urinate may overstretch the bladder muscle and cause damage.
    * Schedule bathroom visits. Try to urinate at regular times to "retrain" the bladder. This can be done every four to six hours during the day and can be especially useful if you have severe frequency and urgency.
    * Stay active. Inactivity causes you to retain urine. Even a small amount of exercise can help reduce urinary problems caused by BPH.
    * Keep warm. Colder temperatures can cause urine retention and increase your urgency to urinate.
Alternative medicine
Herbal treatments for BPH are available at pharmacies, at grocery stores, over the Internet and in magazines. Common herbal treatments that show some evidence of helping reduce enlarged prostate symptoms include:
    * Saw palmetto, made from the ripened berries of the saw palmetto shrub
    * Beta-sitosterol, extracted from rye grass pollen and other plants
    * Pygeum, made from the bark of an African plum tree
Be aware that the FDA does not regulate herbs. This means their safety and effectiveness has not been proved. Dosages, purities and ingredients available on the market vary, so it's not known which dosage is most effective and safe. The American Urological Association doesn't recommend using these remedies, and doctors have differing opinions about their use. Despite these drawbacks, growing evidence indicates that some alternative treatments may help relieve urinary symptoms caused by BPH. Herbal medications are commonly used in Europe to treat BPH.
Herbal products may increase your risk of bleeding and cause adverse drug interactions. Saw palmetto may suppress your baseline PSA level, which can interfere with the effectiveness of the PSA test for prostate cancer. If you take any herbal remedies, be sure to tell your doctor.