Urinary Retention

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I'm 63 & cant pee. Not a drop. I think the term is "urinary retention". I have my second Foley catheter installed which is very uncompfortable to live with. I have had to stop certain activities I enjoy because of the discompfort of the catheter. All my doctor would say is there are "lots of reasons" for this ailement. No real help there. I am on FloMax. Which is no help at all. Thinking about trying Saw Palmento & Dandelion. I heard they are beneficial. This is really starting to bug me. Any advice that works is appreviated.

 

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I have chronic retention, I can void poorly but not fully. I have had three urologist give me three diagnoses. BPH, DSD and Neurogenic bladder. Flomax also didn’t help me. I have also become urinary incontinent, all the Doctors agree that they don’t know why that is happening. Still, lots of reasons seems unnecessarily vague diagnosis, I’d recommend a second urologist opinion or a first if you only have been a to a primary care. Hopefully they can find something to improve your condition. Good luck.

 

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Thank you. I will be seeing a urologist at the UCLA Medical Center early next week. Hopefully I can get some answers (and possible solutions) to this problem.
It literally popped up rather suddenly.
One day I just couldn't pee.
I had a live scan done as I watched in
real time. The radiologist could see no blockages anywhere in the urethra. A real mystery. There are no stabbing pain horror stories that you hear about. At least not yet. Except the insertion of the actual catheter - twice. Which was lubed up properly the second time and easier to take.
But it feels like I have a 2'x 4' up my butt. I like walking, bowling, cycling - among other things to stay fit. Most of which I've had to drop because of this catheter in my ass. I am diabetic for 8 years now. Until lately I've managed to keep it under control. But my glucose went to 800 a few weeks ago. I was hospitalized for a few days while they got things under control for me. I later asked the doc if my bladder troubles are the result of my epic episode of my bingjing on the wrong foods. He said yes. I also have neuropathy in both feet. Which I easily manage thru medications. That rarely holds me back. But this bladder stuff on top of it is a bit much. I dunno if I'll have to wear this bladder bag on my leg forever or just what.

 

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@GM1258

What has the diagnostics revealed e. g. ultrasound, MRI of pelvis ? Any surgeries or procedures done around the same time as when your retention began ? What was your diet like 2 weeks prior to the retention ? And how long have you had the retention ? What medicine do you take for the Neuropathy in your feet ?

 

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Hi GM,
Sorry to hear of the discomfort. Maybe try a Bellybag made by Rusch. They go around your waist and allot more comfortable for most allot of folks. Just a suggestion but I find them more comfortable than a leg bag.
You can do a amazon search and find many places selling them.
Happy Weekend from another diabetic.
Jim

 

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@jrpoorman @GM1258 , be careful looking at a belly bag, I get severe UTI's as my bladder at times cannot push the urine out through the catheter up into the belly bag. My Urology PA told me I cannot use them again. She is right, as I do need the bed bag, or leg or thigh.

 

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The bag has to be lower than your bladder so the urine can just use gravity as a sort of flow pump to drain away your pee. I fill a 600 ml bag just sleeping overnight. My flow rate is up. Partly because of certain meds I'm taking. Partly because I'm also diabetic. Because the catheter is a narrow tube it wants to poke at yer insides as you walk, drive, or just do the laundry. This is the most unforgiving & uncompfortable part about it. If I ever want to go in a hot tub I have to worry about that too. I must have easily passed a couple of gallons of pee in just the past two weeks. All via the catheter. I asked my doc about a condom catheter as that's supposed to be far more comfortable.

Unfortunately he said that won't work for me. So he doubled the dose of my med for the max amount. We'll see what that does.
No surgeries,no injuries, no anything before the retention. Tho my diet was a wrecking ball. Lots of sugary stuff.
While in re-hab they had me on a very strict 3-course diet. Tho I did sneak a soda or a candy bar from time to time. Which showed on my meter almost immediately. They knew I was up to something. You can't fool these guys.I take insulin, metformin, glipizide, losartin,and a couple of strong pain meds.
Which I time carefully just before bed.
Still, things are slightly harder to manage nowadays. Especially with a cathader up mybutt.

 

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@GM1258 have you tried intermittent catheters as an alternative? It does take a bit of getting used to, but saves the constant dragging feeling from a Foley, although when I have had a Foley fitted, I found that leaving quite a bit of extra pipe loose before going under the leg strap helped. Like you I can't use the condom catheters, cheers Phil

 

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@GM1258, Yes as Phil, is right, why cant you start straight cathing, (in and out) as I do this 6 times per day, yes I can anytime I want, I can email my PCP and ask to see her, my PCP then orders a Foley for me. I do this usually monthly to dilate myself, as if I don't my bladder and neck starts playing tricks on me. First is horrible pain, and almost complete retention. Send me a offline if you want to ask personal questions.
What the rectal catheter? Fecal incontinent? As I'm also, plus chronic constipation.

 

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My doctor gave me a case of these Lidocaine pump syringes to numb myself up if I wanna give straight cathing a try. Also a plastic bedpan to drain into. As I am new to all this I haven't worked up the nerve as yet. Tho I remain hopefull. The thot of doing all this at home does have it's appeal. No catheter to get infected and mess with my kidneys (a major can I worms there).

On a more positive note, this young lady came up to me on the street and saw how much pain I was in at the time. A born again christian. She put her hands on my head and said a prayer for all that is now ailing me. I was touched. I need all the help I can get at this point. So far no changes. But I remain hopefull...

 

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Actually I've been improving on the use of the Lidocaine pump. Insert the thin plastic syringe just into the opening if the urethra. Then pump about 3/4 a unit therein. That seems to numb me up for awhile. Also several pain meds at the same time. Repeat every 7 or 8 hours and just before bed. Together with the pain pills I'm feeling very little of same. A formula that seems to work. First near pain free day in weeks. Yeaaaaaaa!

 

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@GM1258

OUCH brother that hurts me just reading about it. Good job figuring it out. I don't have any experience with catheters but Im certain it's brutally painful and I'm sure there is a learning curve too. It's gotta be more painful for men since it's going against the natural order of things. You are alot tougher than I am.

 

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@GM1258

Hey buddy I was going over your post and I spotted you indicated you went on a high sugar binge before the retention began. What were you eating ? Can you name the items and preferably the brand ?

 

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Huey:
I forget exactly what I was eating at the time. But I was at a friends birthday party and I took in bit too much Jack. Daniels that is. Also sweets. As in chocolates, bunt cake, etc. Next thing I know I feel dizzy. Then I'm in the ambulance. I was really wasted. Just a guess but I suspect my immune system had dropped below required thresholds. I hadn't gone off the rails like that in a long time. A couple days later I woke up in the ICU with part of my right foot missing. My glucose had skyrocketed to 857 and my toes had turned four shades of purple and had to be amputated. One's eyes and feet are the first to be lashed by the rigors of diabetes. As of this date my eyes are fine. My feet are not. I had somehow acquired an infection and was hooked up to anti-biotics from an IV drip for a couple days.

I've binged before with no consequence whatsoever. But something tipped the scales this time and I can't figure out what. In the ICU my doctor stared at me over his glasses and growled at me saying "I warned you about this"...point taken albeit a bit late. So for me I have cut way back on the garbage foods. Cut the sugary stuff and no more bingeing. Whenever I get the urge to do so I just look at my foot and I am sorely reminded of the dangers of same. I use Rx Lidocaine to ease the pain where the catheter goes in. It takes away 90% of the pain. I just feel some slight pressure now. It's a learning curve to be sure. I just wonder if/when I will be able to pee normally again. My doctor can't (or won't) give me a straight answer. And it remains the $64k question...

 

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This is me...

 

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@GM1258

Wow brother you have it rough and you are one tough cat. To lose a foot or your vision because of what you eat... that's horrible ! And 857 glucose ! Your lucky to be alive with glucose level that high.