Why Make Things So Complicated?

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Archives1

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So I have an oversized, neurogenic bladder with retention. Instead of letting me know I need to pee, I just fill and then dump without warning.

My new urologist, who is amazing, has me trying many different approaches. There are intermittent caths, foleys, super-pubics, yada-yada-yada.

But it’s all jut a bunch of tubes, trauma, discomfort and complication. Honestly, I’m fine with diapers if I could just clear the retention.

I feel like I would prefer to just do something to make my bladder stay open permanently. That way I could manage the slow drop with a simple diaper. No infections, no tubes, no constant irritation.

AM I WRONG???

I don’t see why we go to such lengths just to avoid wearing absorbent pants!

And before you say it isn’t sanitary, a diaper never gave me uti’s or required constant sterility.

Why have a huge surgery to put a hole in your abdomen, and tons of issues? I just wish it could be simpler.
 
As for me I’m just thankful I never get any skin irritation from being wet. I also agree I am not interested in surgical measures that my Dr. Says might help. I’ve worn diapers to bed my whole life for bedwetting and gave up the daytime leaking issues by going to full time diaper use over 17 years ago. I also have a neurogenic bladder that I was probably born with. The diapers don’t bother me at all.
 
I know the feeling. I had many doctors wanted me to try different catheters other things but I’m just fine with wearing a diaper. I have been in diapers for most of my like started wearing in my teens so I’m used to it. My doctor now is ok with my use of diapers and so am I
 
It has taken me some time, but have finally accepted that I should be in diapers full time. There are times, however, that maybe if I can just run a short errand without being protected to see if I can really accomplish my task and stay dry. I have done that a few times, but not a wise thing to do. It has been nearly 6 years since my prostectomy, and now with heart issues, and spinal stenosis my incontinence seems to be getting worse. I have tried to self-cath. but ended up with a severe uti. No more tubes inserted where they shouldn't go for me! I do try and go unprotected when home alone, but the outcome is most often not successful. Not easy to accept my new normal, but it is what it is. Aging is not for Sissies. I'm closing in on 76 years old.
 
No kidding! I’m 2 months post RP and 76. Pretty much constant dripping. Have you found that any diet changes and/or exercise changes help? What about weight loss?
 
Just a guy
On another thread Pammy53 and I were discussing corn silk tea.
It is a diuretic which means you will pee a lot and with urgency.
I bought some organic on Amazon and it worked that way.
I don't want to meddle in your medical discussion with the VA urologist but could that help with retention of you wear a diaper?
 
Some of my VA urologist don't understand at all.(i get anew one every time i go for appointment)
They come up with the strangest reasons for my urge incontinence, even though i know it started with small fiber neuropathy and was made a lot worse by surgery for Fournier's gangrene. And have told them many times
They sent me diapers that are useless and would trap me at home or having to find places to change every 2 hours.
i buy my own XP5000 diapers and can go out all day without having to worry about anything.
And I want nothing to do with foleys or condom caths
 
I'm 88 and had prostatectomy for prostate cancer 14 years ago. (Aug. 2008.) I do at least 3 sets of Kegel exercises every day (see YouTube Michelle Kenway, Physical Therapist). It helps but does not solve the "wet" problem completely. We want to keep dry and we want to avoid "diaper rash."

So, we have two remaining choices: 1. PADDED PULLUPS WITH PADDED LINERS, vs 2. EXTERNAL CATHETERS with drain tube and leg bag (19oz).

The internal catheter is necessary if the urethra is swollen and blocked. Otherwise, please deliver me from the internal catheter!
Keep AZO tablets on hand (and store them in the same place always) to ease the task of peeing if it becomes a problem.

2. External catheters (made like a condom with a tube at the end) + a drain tube to a 19oz bag strapped to the calf of the leg. The external is not trouble-free but is the best choice (for me). It is my friend. If I run out of ext. catheters, I switch over to the other choice above.

I, too, like for things to be simple and limited. The disadvantage of the external condom, tubing, and 19oz bag, is "the fit up." A schedule and process are needed for changing the external catheter (daily) to make it easier. A new e.catheter is required every 24 hours. Clean skin is a must. After the e.catheter is installed, the remaining skin should be coated with vaseline to prevent itching. If the vaseline dries, a new coating of vaseline can be applied.

I also use a vacuum penile pump about 3 times a week to aid the flushing out of penile arteries with fresh, oxygenated blood. It helps with removing plaque and scar tissue. (Erections begin in the mother's womb and continue at night several times until a man is 40 or 50 years old. When the night-time (nocturnal) erections stop, it accelerates the decay of the penis. (See Dr. Gerald Brock, YouTube.)
 
@Greg8 the best diet is just to drink 2 liters of water day. Keep the concentration of urine low to prevent uti, skin irritation, odor and urgency (yes, concentrated urine irritates the bladder). With 2 liters of water, people will tend to use 5 diapers per day (not pullups).

@Maymay it’s a fair idea, but whether I have a diuretic or not, I won’t get sensation to pee until I have a massive volume of urine. At that point I do get urgency, and the result is an absolute flood. So I’m my case, I don’t think that is the best route. But thanks for the idea anyway!

@garry finding a good urologist is a struggle. I feel for you. I recently wrote of similar issues. I wish you luck.

@Dancarr there ARE more options if you would like to hear about them:

- First you can use more absorbent diapers instead of pull-ups with a pad. Buying pull-ups and pads is more expensive than just buying a hood diaper. Pull-ups with pads end up being bulkier and less comfortable as well.

- Second, you can find solutions around a blocked or swollen urethra. One is called a Spanner stent. Supposedly this still allows you control of your external sphincter, so you can time your voids.

- Third is another route around a blocked urethra, and that is a surgery to cut out the scar tissue, and maybe even to cut a hole in the internal sphincter to let urine out.

- Finally, and this might not work in the case of a swollen sphincter, but Botox can be injected into the sphincter to leave it open. It is called a “chemical sphincterotomy”. You would drip still (constantly), but would ideally not have the retention, and this could just wear a diaper.

Note: this is all new-ish info to me, so I will add that anything I just said could be absolutely wrong. :)
 
JustAguy, I'm fully with you - I also have no complains at all simply using diapers for my combined dribble and urge IC. IMHO they feel comfortable, I can do everything I like to do and did before my IC started, nobody else can tell, I have nothing to do with any skin irritations, and, last but not least, for me diapers don't have any side effects!
For sure, I understand everyone who wants to avoid wearing absorbent products, but I try always to rethink with every suggested "therapy" what are the pro's and what are the con's and up to now - for me personally - there was nothing where I could see for myself that it allows me better handling my IC that I do now.
 
After my prostate surgery, I was like a deer looking in the headlights. I knew nothing and was told nothing. The constant wetting drove me to learn. I went to Walmart and bought 2 dozen white washcloths and a box of one-gallon storage bags with ties. I waded up two washcloths and stuffed them in the bottom of a one-gallon storage bag. I pulled the storage bag up and behind my scrotum, making sure it was snug. Then, I placed another washcloth on top of everything and twisted the bag. To hold this in place, I put on a pair of men's cotton pull-ups by Fruit-of-the-Womb. Sometimes I used two pairs to utilize the two waistbands.

That worked! The washcloths acted as ballast to prevent incoming urine from sloshing in the bag. It would get heavy and begin to sag which was a signal to change everything. I changed 3-4 times a day. I took the bags home, shook the contents into the washer, and added soap powder and a 1/4 cup of bleach. Then came folding washcloths in half and stacking them in the bathroom.

It was trouble, took time, and cost...something. I kept looking at Walmart and found the pullups and pads. THEY CERTAINLY COST SOMETHING...but were less trouble. My point is...this primitive method works and I would go back to it in a heartbeat if need be.

There's no free lunch and there's no free managing of incontinence. We take our pick, master it, and switch to something else when we are tired of what we are using. Thank God for ANYTHING that keeps us reasonably dry and hopefully wet-free. If you need it, THIS WILL WORK. As with any method of managing incontinence, we have to keep a close watch to keep our skin. We had four babies and DIAPER RASH was a member of the family.
 
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