How to proceed

[Mike7406]

A little background. I'm in my mid seventies. I have Type 2 Diabetes with an A1C of 7. Have hypertension. Was diagnosed with bladder neck obstruction decades ago and also have BPH. I am obese. Currently take several blood pressure meds one being a diuretic along with Jardiance and Tamsulosin/Flomax. I am urinating many times a day. I do retain urine but it isn't problem because I go so frequently. About 7 or 8 years ago I would get this weird spasm occasionally where I would get some urine on the tip of my penis. Sometimes it would happen when I was bringing in groceries. My urologist told me it was nothing to worry about. I know my Diabetes has caused some issues with my nerve endings. I notice less blood flow to my penis. In any event about 8 months ago I woke up and my bed was wet not a lot. And then it happened again about 4-6 weeks after that. I started to get spasms where I would have urine at the tip of my penis like before. Then while watching TV urine would leak in small amounts. I started wearing boxer/briefs which would quickly absorb the light spotting. I would get some brief spasms when I was out during the day but would simply go to a rest room and urinate. If I got any spotting it was minimal.

Now things have gotten quite bad. Mostly happening while sitting in front of the TV. If I doze off urine starts to flow. I started wearing Depends Night Defense and while I sleep I would discharge around 15-17 ounces of urine. I weighed myself with the Depends on and then nothing standing naked on the scale. What's strange is if I'm out and moving around or walking I only have the occasional spasm. I imagine sitting and lying down puts pressure on the bladder. I thought I could get by just wearing Depends while I'm sleeping but now when I come in for the evening I realize I have to wear a diaper while watching TV.

I am now taking Tamsulosin only every other day. I do need it because my flow is terrible without it. I guess this is leading up to what to do next. I haven't been to a urologist in several years. My PSA score 8 years ago 0.3 and he told me my chance of ever getting Prostate cancer was minimal.

I guess I have to see one now. I dread having a Cystoscopy again. I have had one twice. At my age do I want to make things worse. My fear is doing something like a UroLift is exactly that. There is nothing more painful than a Cystoscopy. I remember struggling to initially urinate after the probe and the burning, stinging sensation the rest of day every time I had to urinate.

I experimented wearing Depends when I went out for day but I have to say they are very uncomfortable. I live in warm climate and you sweat heavily in your groin area wearing Depends. Wearing them to sleep is not a problem and knowing that your bedding will be dry when you wake up is quite comforting. I am probably living on borrowed time where I will eventually have leakage 24/7. At that point it's wear a diaper round the clock or have some kind of surgical intervention which may or may not work. What's sad to me is how abruptly this came on. I traveled to Europe less than two years ago and then to have your life totally change 7-8 months ago with no warning.

 

[Mike7406]

If I thought things couldn't get worse, they did. Now leaking such a high content when I sleep that I need a mattress pad. Depends Night Defense isn't good for side sleepers because the urine traveled down my leg and onto the sheets. Once you are getting almost 20 ounces a night there isn't much the absorbent material can do. It supposedly holds more but when I stand up it's like a bowling ball below my scrotum. So I got disposable 30/36 pads which is now another expense. This is going to cost me $1000 a year between pads in by briefs during the day, Depends at night, an a disposable mattress pad on a daily basis.

Sitting on sofa simply horrible. I am now getting urine discharges if I sit there any length of time and unfortunately because the pad changes position the urine escaped I feel it on my leg. I'm going to make an appointment with highly rated Urologist in Los Angeles. I'm not expecting any good news. At least I can find out what the hell happened. Amazing having Diabetes under control with around 7.0 A1C and it still simply ravaged my neurological system. I guess 5-7 year ago if I gave up carbs I might have had a chance. You want to get men to change their ways just tell them how Diabetes can make you incontinent and destroy your life. Would it happened anyway, who knows. Taking diuretics for Hypertension, Flomax for BPH and Jardiance for Diabetes certainly are exacerbating the problem. Between the diuretics and Jardiance it's telling the body to rid itself of urine at all costs. The less water in your body the lower your BP will be and Jardiance is removing glucose via urine. Flomax is relaxing the urethra so the urine can easy pass the prostrate It's like a Trifecta for Incontinence. I notice my weight has dropped lower which is a good thing but that's because my body retains no water.