Incontinence issues

It has been about a month since my Robotic Prostatectomy at Loma Linda (great Hospital).  Got the catheter out after 9 days and all is well but still having incontinence issues in the afternoon and evenings. I'm doing Kegel exercises 5 -10 times per day . I hear do Kegel 5-6 times per day, others say do as much as you can. Seems to be a debate on how often to do them- repetition I hear 15-25 times per set.                                                                                                                                                                                                   I find when I drink coffee in the AM it adds to the incontinence problems, so I'm cutting down dramatically on this to like 4 sips in AM. All is well but I hear patience is the answer with incontinence and doing your kegels.. Any advice out there on incontinenca?? 

Sounds like you're doing well in the continence dept, probably ahead of most.  I was told 4 sets of kegels per day with 10 squeezes per set, followed by 10 quick squeezes.

r

Caffine (coffee) and anything carbonated (read BEER included) cause me problems - they are off my list. It was hard to part with coffee.

Add - Kegels - I do 3 or 4 sets a day - 10 seconds hold, 10 seconds relax, repeat 10 times. Then walk a bit. Doctor-suggested level was 5 sets, but I have back issues that kicked in. They eased off a bit at 4 sets, so 4 is the max for me.

The quick sets - 5 seconds hold, 5 seconds relax, repeat 5 times is for the "urgent hold" set - those you use to stop an accident. Do them if you can.

I had significant incontinence for 5 months. I am still using 1-3 pads a day at 10 months, but that may be worsened by radiation.

Post Edited (142) : 8/31/2010 6:44:47 PM (GMT-6)

Kegels are a help, but not the total solution.

As you have discovered, until you get Willie under control, find the beverages that cause problems and eliminate or reduce. I have found diet beverages, or beverages with sweetnlow, or nutrasweet .

Don't overdue the kegals. You can actually tire out the muscles, and make it worse. Make sure while you are peeing, that your kegals will stop the flow, so that you know you are doing them correctly.

I took 8 months, probably a little slower than the norm. I would say average is 4 to 5 months.

Good Luck !

Hi veteran member:
incontinence at night is not an issue, I've luckily been dry- used to get up 4 X per night, now 1-2X

Carlos
thanks for that link/article- it is excellent