Limited urge to urinate during the day, strong urge at night. Why?

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Hey folks, new to the forum and 3 weeks post prostrate removal surgery. Thankful for this forum as I never expected at 47 years old having to deal with this.

This seems odd to me but wanted to get others experience.

I don’t seem to get any urgency to urinate during the day. I take the signal from leakage. At night, it’s a different story. Urge will wake me up. Not sure why the difference.

I have also been trying to walk 10,000 steps per day. Halfway through, I will start leaking and continue to do so until I quit walking. I guess it’s a combination of movement and gravity?

Finally, anyone have experience with the devices that help validate that the kegel exercises are being done correctly?

 

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To Jdhoffm, you’re urge to urinate during the day will start to return. If you can squeeze enough to make it to the bathroom in time, that’s where the Kegels come into play. I have found little correlation between leakage and voiding on my own, I do both, 5 months out. You might be the youngest person I’ve seen in this forum. Your incontinence might be shorter, without knowing your particular circumstances. Good luck to you.

 

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@Jdhoffm - I am 15 weeks post surgery and still wake up 3x per night. I believe the problem is that my bladder has not yet fully recovered in terms of holding the proper volume which should be between 300 to 400 mL. Right now I my capacity is about 200 mL. During the day I drink lots of water and hold it for two hours in order to recondition my bladder to hold more volume. You don't want to hold too much. 500 mL could stretch out the bladder too much. I periodically check the volume during the day and night to monitor progress.

The leakage during the long walks is also an intermittent problem during the day. When I am tired I tend to leak. The pelvic floor muscles get tired fairly easily which is why I do the Kegel exercises in the morning when I am well rested.

 

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Jdhoffm, regardless of this issue of daytime/nighttime urges, remember you are VERY early after surgery. Everything which is happening to you now will change and improve. Be patient -- you may see improvement within the next month or so, or it may take 3-4 months. It gets better! Hang in there.

 

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Dear Jdhoffm, For me as a woman, the prostrate issue doesn't apply.

But I have a possible theory for night time frequency: I believe that the human body, being upright for most of the day, produces less urine, because the blood drains to the legs. Then when lying down for a time at night, the blood flows differently, and gets the urine-making process "going."

Any one else: could this be it?

 

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Wow, thought I was young guy here at 55. I'm 5 months out this week. Just really starting to see major improvement over last few weeks. My advice would be keep up keagals and walking. But add some weight lifting while doing keagals. As for the urges that's different for everyone.
I was good at night after Foley removal 1wk.
Other thing that seems to help could be in my head though . Is using the penis pump at least 2x day. I'm guessing more blood flow.

 

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The normal pattern is that urinary output is suppressed at night due to changes in vasopressin and prostaglandin production (hormones which control kidney functioning). The theory is that this has evolved so that we could sleep at night without having to get up frequently. Clearly, this changes as we age. Unless you are measuring your output, it's hard to say if you are really producing more urine at night or just having more trouble controlling the remaining sphincter (since the primary sphincter has been removed) while you are asleep or half-asleep. Certainly you could ask your surgeon to refer you to physical therapy but, as I noted earlier -- you are in the very early stage of recovery -- it will get better!

 

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Appreciate all the advice and personal experiences. This isn’t lottery I was hoping to win, but patience seems to be needed now more than ever!

 

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Well, I'm a woman, but I've noticed the same thing. Perhaps it's also partly to do with the fact that during the day we're busy with activities & this distracts us from thinking about urinating. But at night, unless one can drop off to sleep rather quickly -- which I can't -- our mind can start thinking: "Do I have to pee right now?" I think our brain signaling that we have to pee function is not working properly. Or, our bladder is signaling to our brain that we have to pee when we really don't. Something like that -- the Mind/Brain & Body Connection is somehow off. I've purchased several devices involving Kegel exercises but become squeamish about actually using them. So, I'm not a good one to ask.

 

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Pegasi99 - if you end up with an opinion positive or negative on the devices, please let me know. Planning on asking about them at my 1 month check-up.

 

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JD I tried a clamp with minimal success. After great discomfort and irritation. I realized that time is the key to recovering and feeling better.

 

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Jdhoffm -- Okay, will do. Contemplating taking Pelvic Floor P.T. again. This time, from Sutter P.T. Also have Fecal Incontinence (FI). My G.I. dr. sent me a link for exercises to strengthen anal sphincter muscle. Wish that could be included with Pelvic Floor P.T. Have had 2 bladder infections with E. coli being the bacteria. Can only take 1 antibiotic for it due to my antibiotic allergies. Allergic to Penicillin & all of its derivatives. Dr. said infection due to the my FI.

 

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I’m 3 weeks and 3 days post surgery. I have the damn urges more lin the evening before I go to bed. Once asleep I’m good and average waking up two times a night. I go pee and go back to sleep. I’m using depends overnight and it stays pretty much dry. During the day with activity, I can go they three a day because I don’t like feeling wet or smelly. My bladder spasms have calmed down now for the past week (thank god)because that was hurting like hell when going to the bathroom. Now it just burns some times. I practice the pelvic exercises during the day somewhat, I had very good muscle control before this , but now I gotta get it back. Being 54 and having no issues prior to this surgery (which caught me by surprise ) I’m impatient and want to be back to “normal” now. I know it takes time though. I have to go back to work in just over three weeks and my goal is to have better control. I’m sure I’ll be bringing extra pads or depends with me….which sucks.

 

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Chris I'm only slightly older then you. And was caught by surprise also. Patience is the key. This is not a fast recovery process. I'm 5months post op still use 1-2 moderate pads a day. Except when doing gym routine which is 1 pad. As for the other pains and sensations give them at least 2months.
Walking and keagels are the best combined with time. Everyone heals diffently but from reading many post on here the average is 8-12 months for 90% or better recovery.

 

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PatRnF - making good progress, but the surgeon recommended a penis pump to aid recovery. I looked on Amazon but realize I have no idea on what to look for. Read where the water ones need to be used in the shower or tub. Do you or the other members have any recommendations?

 

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JD I got my pump from Allegro Medical. It's a traditional style pump. I spent 125.00 for it. Main thing is that it comes with multiple retention rings.