Kegel exercises and walking.

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I am three years past my prostatectomy and follow up radiation. I had no leakage after surgery until about 24 months after surgery. The radiation did a real number on my bladder to the point they had to go in and caterize blood vessels in the bladder to stop the bleeding. Since that I have had a serious incontinence problem. No problem during the night and very little issue if sitting but standing, walking, golfing, etc. is a big problem. I have been doing kegel exercises pretty religiously for the last six months; don't see much difference. Actually, it seems like it may make it worse the more I do. I recently have read on the forum that walking is recommended. I don't do a strict regimen of walking but certainly could if it would help. I don't consider my situation serious enough that I want to look into additional surgeries. I keep thinking there must me a way to improve my situation myself. I appreciate any and all somments/suggestions. Thank you.

 

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I wish you the best as this is over my pay grade. There is a medicine they put me on post op that may help but i cant remember the name. I believe they can also put in a ring of some sort to act as a valve. The problem with some of these surgeons is they figured they did their part and dont really particpate in post op sequelae. Check out Johns Hopkins and Cleveland Clinic and Mayos for such info. I know some of them speak at length about post op complications

 

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I may be way off base here, but since you mentioned bladder surgery after having had radiation treatment, I'm guessing your internal urinary sphincter is now not functioning properly. I had radiation treatment only (no prostatectomy) so my anatomy is different than yours. With a prostatectomy it seems logical that your internal & external sphincters would somehow be integrated together after the surgery, as you no longer have a prostate gland in between them. But I know that the automatic control of urination is done by your internal sphincter, which extends upwards into the bladder neck.

My control was fine after my radiation treatment, but when I developed prostatic calcium stones that had to be removed, my surgeon ended up removing some tissue up into my bladder neck, and I have been incontinent since. I also do fine at night and with very light activity, but standing, lifting, reaching, and any form of exercise causes my leakage to be more severe.

I do kegels religiously, and I do think they have helped, but they only affect the external sphincter. If whatever control you were getting from your internal sphincter is now gone, this is a permanent condition (at least until stem cells are available to grow new sphincter tissue).

I do take a couple of medications (myrbetriq and alfuzosin) that seems to help control muscle spasms in my urinary tract, which cut down on the random "squirts" I was experiencing. The myrbetriq helps with bladder spasms and the alfuzosin helps my prostate gland. Now my urine loss is mainly a low-level "drip...drip...drip". Good luck!