Incontinence issues

For three weeks out your lack of control while moving about is worse than many but not off the charts although it is clearly hard to live with.  If you haven't done so already, try to cut your caffeine intake.  Not just coffee and tea but soft drinks such as Coke.  People also report varying reactions to alcohol so limiting that might help.  Aside from that, keep on with regular walking. It would not be common, but be alert to the possibility of a urinary tract infection – fever, burning while urinating, cloudy urine.  For any of these contact your doctor.

Healing does not always go in a straight line, but the fact that you do have limited control remains a good sign.

thats actually not all that bad you seem to be right on track brother , it WILL come back and yes it will be good then bad day to day, thats totally normal, you should see noticeable improvement at 8 weeks and be shortly after that DRY , dont quote me  cuz everyones different , but you appear to be right where i was at good luck  and stay positive...............................................................dirt

Roger,

I agree that you are well w/in the expected zone of recovery. i found that specific body twists or bends would trigger a leak. i would also be leaky later in the day when I was tired. Try to measure progress on a weekly basis and you will see that you are better this friday than you were last friday. Individual days will have ups and downs as you learn to read and react to your new configuration. When leaks start, pucker up with those kegels.

Good luck and hang in there.

TeddyG

Roger,
Fir me it took 4 months before I became continent. I still may have a drop or 2 later in the day if I'm doing some physical activity. I can normally control that if I remember to Kegel when I'm doing that. It is common for your pelvic floor muscles to get tired toward the end of the day and leak more. Just keep doing your Kegel on a regular basis and in time you will get there.

Hello everyone,

I thought I’d give you an update!

Following geezer’s suggestion, I got a specimen of my urine tested and I was diagnosed with a mild urinary tract infection. Within a couple of hours of taking the first dose of trimethoprim (the first of 5 days’ treatment) I was already noticing an improvement in my ability to stand up and climb the stairs to the bathroom without squirting. By the next morning, I found I could stand and move slowly around for 30 minutes and still void a small volume of urine – OK, it was only 60 mL but it was a start! Before trimethoprim treatment, I was retaining nothing when standing.

Today, I took the last dose of trimethoprim and this morning I was able to potter around the house for 2 hours, including going up and down stairs half a dozen times, and at the end voided 220 mL of urine.

I’ve still a long way to go, and in the afternoons and evenings I leak continually when standing, as I do when I’m doing “serious” walking in the mornings but I’ve made more progress in the past 5 days than I had in the previous month since my catheter was removed. At last I feel I'm going in the right direction and there's a distant light at the end of the tunnel. I suspect that the infection had started while the catheter was in place and has been with me ever since.

Apart from very slight irritation at the meatus while urinating, I had no symptoms of a urinary tract infection and, being described as mild, it probably wouldn’t have bothered most men but for someone like me, whose plumbing had been tampered with, it was enough to push me over the edge and exacerbate my incontinence.

I’m going to see what happens now that I’ve completed the treatment with the antibacterial. I may get another sample of urine tested to check that the infection has gone because some of these infections can be very stubborn. And if I start to see deterioration in my level of continence in the coming weeks then I will know to get myself tested again.

I would recommend anyone who is not seeing any improvement in their continence in the weeks following catheter removal to get tested for a possible infection.

Thanks geezer!

Best wishes to all, Roger

Hi Engineer,

When was your catheter removed? It can't have been very long ago if you're only 12 days out of surgery on 24 June.

It's very early days for you, and your bladder, external sphincter and pelvic floor muscles will still be adapting to their new environment - they didn't have to do anything while your catheter was in. I get the urge to urinate but sometimes find it difficult to know what volume will be voided - it's usually a surprise!

Most people in the early days seem to be OK lying and sitting, but not standing and walking. If you're able to retain urine while walking you are doing very well but I can't explain why you leak when you are sitting. Perhaps you are pressing on something which opens the tap?

Roger

Thanks, Ted, I'm doing my pelvic floor exercises but I have been warned that you can do too many which tires out the muscles.

The point I was making in my posting is that my lack of progress in the first month post-catheter removal was due to an almost symptomless urinary tract infection. Once I started treatment for that infection, my continence improved dramatically, and only then did I start to see the benefit of the Kegels I'd been doing pre-surgery and from day one after catheter removal.

The possibility of a subclinical UTI is something that we should stay alert to because, as I found out, it can hinder your progress.

Still squeezin',

Roger