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frequent urge to pee at night.

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Posted 7/23/2010 2:36 PM (GMT 0)
hello again everyone.

I am just over 2 weeks RP and 1 week cath. removal.

I'm happy that I am fairly dry now (2 pads/day, none at night). But my biggest problem is this:

I wake up at night about once per hour with an urge to pee, not real strong but enough to keep me awake. I head to the bathroom and go into the measuring pitcher and usually it is only 100-150 ml. Go back to bed and repeat in about another hour. I have found that if I take a pain pill it seems to numb this urge and I sleep a 4-5 hour stretch, but I really don't want to overuse these.

During the day the urges are not nearly as often and when I go it's in the 250ml range. It really digs into sleep time and I hope this will subside. I spoke to the PA and she said she would write me an order for our local hospital to do a residual urine ultrasound, but I am not sure what good that would do as I wasn't told what they would do anyway if bladder was not draining. I am wondering if it is just the healing process "tricking" my bladder into thinking its time to go.

Any past experiences in this area posted would be much appreciated.

 

Posted 7/23/2010 3:47 PM (GMT 0)
Could be a urinary infection. It makes it feel like you need to pee when you don't.

Are you drinking lots of water? You should be.
Posted 7/23/2010 4:02 PM (GMT 0)
I forgot to mention, I had a urine sample done and it came back negitive, she started me on antibiotics anyway while waiting for results.
Posted 7/23/2010 4:13 PM (GMT 0)
You're pretty recent out of surgery so if your urine tests are good I would not be too concerned at this point. After my catherer removal it seems I was feeling the urge to pee more often than before the surgery. I think the bladder gets confused about its new environment without a prostate around and sends all kinds of wong signals. My doc said he could put me on flomax if I wanted to but I decided to just stick it out and it has gotten better. Now my urge is about what it was before the surgery, and I get up maybe once a night. But I'm completely dry, so that's fine.
Posted 7/23/2010 4:28 PM (GMT 0)
My symptoms were similar.

I had my RALP on June 1st. Cath removed 1 week later

For about the first week after cath removal, I was getting up about 4-5 times a night to pee.

Doctor didn't think it was a problem at my 2 week post op visit. I also had a small amount of pain still when peeing at that point. Doctor was OK with that too.

Getting up at night to pee gradually subsided and now I get up only 1 time a night to pee. Sometimes I make it through the whole night without getting up at all.

It sounds like to are doing OK at this point. If you are 2 months out from surgery, and still getting up every hour that might be cause for concern though.

Good luck

Dan
Posted 7/23/2010 5:07 PM (GMT 0)
It took me about 3 weeks to go from every hour to once per night.
Posted 7/23/2010 7:20 PM (GMT 0)
I had a similar experience. Seemed like I was getting up every hour. Then gradually, the periods started getting longer so that now I usually can make it through the night. There are still nights where I get up a couple of times, especially when I think the pelvic muscles are more tired than usual (more drippy later in the day). But see if things don't start improving week by week.

Bill

Posted 7/23/2010 7:39 PM (GMT 0)
AS did I. My frequency slowly decreased. You still got a lot of swelling in there and a lot more healing to complete before things can begin to return to normal. If the urine sample was clean, then I'd chalk it up to normal aftereffects of the surgery. Give it 6 months. Yes, it takes that long or longer to completely get over it... smilewinkgrin
Posted 7/23/2010 7:52 PM (GMT 0)

My experience is the same.  I am going through it right now.  My catheter was removed about 18 days ago (7/5/2010).  However, it seems to be improving some.  The problem I had for a while was the urgency to go when there was literally nothing there.  That has gone away.

Posted 7/23/2010 8:47 PM (GMT 0)
I REALLY missed my Foley bag the first week or two then things settled down and now I usually have to get up only once right before morning wake up time, sometimes I get back to sleep sometimes not.

If you've eliminated infection as a possibility give it some time and I'll bet things get better.
Posted 7/23/2010 9:07 PM (GMT 0)
Hey friends... try not to sweat it too much.... as we discussed before we both had the same surgery date only I got my cath out one day before you.  I get up a couple of times a night also.... with a massive urge to pee... only to go about the same amount you are.  I still have alot of discomfort at the end of my stream.... still feels like I have to go.... a couple of 2-3 second kegels and it's gone. Come to think of it... I'm kegeling so much... "Willy" is starting to feel really sore.  As James C. said... we're still really swollen and irritated inside, don't forget, the foley was doing it's rubbing on the inside and the outside of the bladder is irritated due to getting the prostate separated from it. I'm getting used to the discomfort... only thing that still really bugs me is getting up from the chair.... not to mention when I sit on a hard surface... OUCH!
Posted 7/24/2010 3:30 AM (GMT 0)
What you are experiencing is normal. While you have the catheter, the bladder has zero pressure. Everything that drips out the kidneys goes out the catheter. The bladder shrinks and becomes lazy fairly quickly.

The bladder will naturally enlarge as you hold the urine in. I believe there is also a psychological element here as well. As a part of contolling incontinence we are super aware of bladder tension, and run to the bathroom every time we get the urge to go, so we don't wet our pants.

I am a lazy sleeper. I cannot stand to get up in the night. Used to wet the bed when I was younger just from laziness.

I have found that partly by being a sound sleeper, and the lazy aspect, that initially I got up 2 or 3 times a night. As I began to resist the urge, and essentially refuse to get up until it hurt so bad I had to, I was able to reduce the number of times.

Today, I don't get up unless there is some unusual amount of liquid drunk the hour or two before bed.
Posted 7/24/2010 8:04 AM (GMT 0)

I think your experience is normal and now that infection is taken out of the equation you should pay attention to kegels.  Bladder control should follow slowly.

Decent results from kegels takes from 8-12 weeks to be noticeable and I was a life long carpenter who stood and walked all day.  That means I started with good muscles and got them back after surgery.  Now I still do kegels to keep them in shape and because I retired now and walk less.  I really don't think there is a down side to kegels unless it is starting them too early.  They help on many fronts.  Bladder control and erections are 2 big areas of concern made better with good muscles.  If ones work was sitting, I think kegels are even more important and necessary.

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