On June 8th, I posted that instead of a leg bag, I was using a valve attached to the end of my bladder, which has huge advantages. But even after 3 weeks of trying to retrain my bladder to do its freakin’ job – filling and emptying, it still thinks it is on vacation. During the day I still have “to go” about every hour. Sometimes I can stretch it to 90 minutes or so.
Apparently the retraining of the bladder is something that needs to be actively done. You have to get to that point where you’re doing “the wee-wee dance,” and then hold-it as long as you can stand to. That’s a lot of work and not all that fun, but it’s necessary to show you your bladder who is boss. Right now, my bladder is still my boss, apparently.
How long it takes to tame the bladder after catheterization also varies from person-to-person. Age plays a factor, as well as gender and duration of catheterization. My mother (who is 73) had 2 surgeries in a 1-month period last year, during which she was catheterized. Total time with a catheter in place was about 4 hours, 2 for each surgery. She told me that it was a whole year before she could sleep through the night again!
I have had a catheter in place for about 5 months! And in another 2 months, I won’t have a catheter at all (if all goes according to plan). If my bladder isn’t playing ball by then, I’ll be getting up about every 90 minutes (3-4 times a night) to pee. Uggh.
Right now, since I still have the catheter in, I remove the valve before bed, and plug the bedside bag (Covidien Bedside Drainage Bag) in so I don’t have to get up at all. This is probably not helping the whole bladder-taming thing, but I also need rest. So it’s a trade-off.
My bladder needed to rest for 3 months, according to my doctors, in order to get an accurate picture of where and how long my urethral stricture (the cause of this whole ordeal – whose cause is still a mystery) is. So there wasn’t much of a choice about the valve thing until that scoping (combined antegrade and retrograde urethrogram – or “up-down-ogram,” as my urologists call it) was done. But now I try to use the valve at all times. Currently that means every day except while sleeping at night OR going to a summer blockbuster movie at the cinema:).
So if you are trying to retrain your bladder after being catheterized, don’t get discouraged if even after several months, you aren’t back to normal – even after only a few hours of having a catheter in. But eventually, things do get back to normal unless there was something really unusual, like bladder damage of some sort.
So hang in there and show your bladder whose boss.
I’ve been sufferring from this problem as well increasingly in recent years, and this is what motivated me to treat the stricture originally about a year ago (I’ve had the stricture for about 14 years before that).
You might want to consider anticholenergic drugs. These drugs compete on M1-M3 receptors in the bladder, and thus reduce significantly the nerve feeling you get from the bladder (the need to pee). I have also researched on this extensively in current medical academic research and etc and came to the conclusion Trospium Chloride is the safest since it is the only one which almost sure does not penetrate the CNS (centeral nervous systmes) and thus does not impair cognitive abilities (since your brain has M1-M5 receptors and competing with them damages cognition…). Yet still be aware these drugs even Trospium Chloride still has extensive effect on all M1-M3 (and for Trospium Chloride M4 and M5 as well) on the rest of the body, including digestive system (and thus constipation may occur), eyes and so on. And these side effects may not be light. However from my own experience it did a very good job reducing urination (from 30 times a day! to “only” 11… and allowed me to finally sleep at night)
Eli
hi there Ken. studying a masters in gerontology. Presently looking at continence etc. Came across your site. excellent, more healthcare professionals should read patient experience testimonies as we can be desensitized to the effects of our treatment. ANYhow , I am researching use of catheter valves ( chronically underused and not expoused by nurses etc) I cant find any research stating that using a valve will help indwelling catheter users to retrain their bladders in preparation for trial without urinary catheter. have you any literatue, info from urologists.
Hi Emmet. Thanks for your comment! As much of a fan of having clinical data on my side, this one was down to listening to a doctor, yes, a urologist. The main benefit for using the valve was supposed to be to simply not have to deal with the bag and tubes, etc. But the retraining of the bladder was espoused as another benefit. That’s all I got on this one. And my own experience should be a data point in the direction of NOT supporting the idea that valves can do that. Interestingly, the day my catheter was removed (after a total of nearly 6 months having one), I was back to normal with regard to urination frequency. Of course there are multiple factors to consider – like increased volume after catheter removal. Nonetheless, using the valve did have some advantages. But I wouldn’t have worn it into a 3-hour movie:).
Ken
don’t worry I wont quote you
thanks for reply. have been reviewing literature. not conclusive. might look further. either way though the valves are great for overall management, mobility, dignity etc.
Agreed.
Are there exercises one can do to retrain the bladder after using a catheter for a week ?
Or is there medication to get it going again ?
Thank you,
Johnny
I can’t vouch for any exercises that would help. I have READ (not experienced) that if you try to “hold it” a little bit longer each time you have to go, it can help. But I am NOT a medical professional. So please don’t take that as medical advice. I am not aware of any medication for retraining a bladder either. I would just be doing a google search for these things, which isn’t any better than you could do yourself. Sorry I don’t have any good, personally-experienced advice on this.
Ken, thanks for this site!:-)
My cather experience started Nov 19 2015 after 4 pain-filled zero pee days, in ER. The two young nurse trainees were so gentle with my 1st ever anything up my penis. (One nasty male nurse jammed a replacement through my prostate and I bled solid blood over a day, later…)
About a year into total draining with leg and bed bags I realized my bladder would shrink, and found that an electrical wire nut would nicely plug the catheter.
Then I discovered Flip-Flow, then UGO valves.
Over a year ago I began needing to pee often as every 45 minutes in the day, and poo causing the very same urgent pain, making difficulty knowing which was calling.
Lately I rarely sleep the two hours between pees at night as a year ago. Also my urine volume is at most 1/3 cup.
Crazy!
The reason I found this site
Claude, so sorry for the delay in reply here! It definitely sounds like you need to see a urologist ASAP. This does not sound normal to me. Did they not give you antibiotics for your UTIs? And if you are wearing a catheter due to a stricture, did they discuss surgery options?
Hi Ken, I recently had a single level acdf spinal fusion surgery c5/c6. I could urinate afterwards so they ended up giving me a Foley Catheter. I had to wear it for 1 week. I’m good now, no problems. My question is, will this always happens to me post surgeries in the future?
Not necessarily. I’ve had multiple (way more than most people) surgeries since my urethroplasty. I always tell them about the urethroplasty and they usually do NOT put in a Foley. It will probably depend on the length of the surgery and who your doctor/hospital is. But I’ve been luck that I haven’t needed one. Hope that helps.