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Posted 1/24/2011 1:40 PM (GMT 0)
The catheter has been out 3 weeks now, and I'm generally pad free, but do have some leakage when I cough, sneeze, etc. What beverages or types of beverages should I avoid while trying to regain continence? Thanks in advance.
Posted 1/24/2011 1:45 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, Fllytyer, sounds like you're doing well.

I guess the most obvious drinks to avoid would be any that have a known diuretic effect, like coffee and tea.

I don't find a connection there in my personal experience.  I'm sitting here drinking my morning cup of Joe as I type, and I'm sure I'll have several more, but if a person is having problems with continence, coffee, tea, and caffeinated beverages would probably be good to avoid.

 

Posted 1/24/2011 1:56 PM (GMT 0)
Coffee, carbonated beverages and alcohol are the things I've heard not to drink. I power down more coffee than I'm willing to share here in the mornings and drink Fresca like it's going out of style with no ill effects so it would appear that effects vary.

Haven't done alcohol for a very long time as the side effects for me is worse than a bit of leakage so I can't speak with any experience there.

Dave in Durango CO
Posted 1/24/2011 2:02 PM (GMT 0)
Of the 18 months I "enjoyed' incontinence, I heard it was best to avoid: fruit juices, coffee, carbonated beverages, known diuretics, green tea, etc. After I read all the info from many sources, I asked myself "what's left?". Milk and water.

Over a period of at least 8 months I actually did testing myself with a laboratory grade 2000 gm capacity Mettler recording all input and output. I have daily leak data for every day since my catheter came out 18 months ago.
I found that the most significant factor to leakage was fluid input. Period. I found no measurable effect due to the type of drink.
If I drank a 200 ml of water or 200 ml of juice or tea or mountain dew. I would leak the same amount.

Jeff (one week post catheter removal after sling surgery and only leaking 15 ml / day!)

Post Edited (Worried Guy) : 1/24/2011 7:10:39 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/24/2011 2:47 PM (GMT 0)

Worried Guy said...
Of the 18 months I "enjoyed' incontinence, I heard it was best to avoid: fruit juices, coffee, carbonated beverages, known diuretics, green tea, etc. After I read all the info from many sources, I asked myself "what's left?". Milk and water.

Over a period of at least 8 months I actually did testing myself with a laboratory grade 2000 gm capacity Mettler recording all input and output. I have daily leak data for every day since my catheter came out 18 months ago.
I found that the most significant factor to leakage was fluid input. Period. I found no measurable effect due to the type of drink.
If I drank a 200 ml of water or 200 ml of juice or tea or mountain dew. I would leak the same amount.

Jeff (one week post catheter removal after sling surgery and only leaking 15 ml / day!)

My uro gave me a list of foods and drinks to avoid and then commented that to be totally compliant one would have to go on a bread and water diet.  I too have found that volume of intake has a greater effect than what I drink.  I think caffiene has some ill effects, so I've cut back on that.

Posted 1/24/2011 2:57 PM (GMT 0)
Coffee, Orange Juice, and anything carbonated (Coke, beer, sparkling wines) are killers for me. I had to give up coffee completely, and a beer after 9pm means waking up wet. The News Year's libation was also a really bad idea.

All these for me are "immediate impact" - no question.

Posted 1/24/2011 3:36 PM (GMT 0)
I was told nothing with caffine, including normal type teas, no kind of fruit juices - as they can all irratate the bladder, and no alch. of any type, and nothing carbonated. Better off drinking straight water during that time, though products like Crystal Light can take the edge off.
Posted 1/24/2011 3:43 PM (GMT 0)
Previous posts seem to have covered my own list of what to avoid.

As for waht you can drink I seem to remember that many months ago we had a discussion here about the merits of camomille tea (assorted spellings).

Also if you don't want to give up on fruit juices drink, then dilute it. Or if you don;t like watery juice then drink half the normal quantity of juice and then drink the same amount of water to dilute it in the stomach.

Also there are a few foods to avoid that can make the bladder over react. I can't remeber the list, maybe someone else can, but I also seem to recall it's as well to avoid spices as well.

To help get through the night without a flood (but with the odd trip to the bathroom) you may want to avoid drinking anything after about 8pm, or even earlier.

Do not however reduce you daily intake of liquids below what your body needs.

Alf
Posted 1/25/2011 1:51 AM (GMT 0)
I would love to see the studies that show this effect to be real. You guys have no idea how many glasses, mugs, cups of liquids and how many loaded pee pads I weighed daily on my Mettler balance - to 0.01 grams!

Maybe my bladder did not have a discriminating palate, but it made no difference what liquid I put in my mouth. I all dribbled out into my pad.
The only relationship I could prove was volume in = volume out.

I was even able to determine my kidney thruput function at 75 ml/ hour.
If I drank a 250 ml cup of coffee I would begin to dribble it out in 30 minutes and 3 hours later it would be done. Ready for the next pee pad experiment.

Jeff
Posted 1/25/2011 2:05 AM (GMT 0)
Jeff,

Officially my study is not very scientific, but here it is:

If I drink a carbonated beverage (Coke, beer, or sparkling wine) after 9 pm, I will wake in a puddle the next morning. Period. It happens. Every time. Unless I am up really late, and then I will realize I sopped a pad without warning. Before 9pm, I'll be peeing until midnight - not much but painfully often.

Coffee hits me with the mini-spurts about two hours later, and they go on for a few hours. No coffee, it happens a lot less. Clear enough that I quit coffee. When you get to GFMPH weekend, I'll explain why that was a huge decision.

Orange juice - more than an ounce or two - two hours later I'll hurt so bad I have to sit to pee.

15 months from DaVinci, no change.

 

Posted 1/25/2011 2:50 AM (GMT 0)
I drank a ton of coffee, and endless diet coke. I avoided booze for no better reason than it seemed like a good idea.

I dryed up right on the schedule I'd been given.

One great bit of advice I was given was that I would regain control. That it might be six weeks early, or it might be six months late. If I decided to worry and fuss about it, it wouldn't make a smigin of difference to the date I was dry --- so I may as well go with the flow (sorry about that, but I couldn't resist.)

Sheldon AKA Sleepless
Posted 1/25/2011 7:24 AM (GMT 0)
I think the problem realtes to the chemistry, or more relevantly the acidity.
If you drink things that make your urine acidic this can irritate the baldder, particularly the scar tissue around the neck of the baldder that is trying ti stay shut.

On the other hand I recall that having acidic urine can help reduce bladder infections. (I think you'll find that a woman sufering from cystitis may be drinking the opposite stuff to a man trying to improve his continence after RRP.)

Caffeine is the problem with coffee and colas, I switched to decaff before I was diagnosed so I'm okay there I think, also I've been sleeping better without caffeine.

Alf
Posted 1/25/2011 12:16 PM (GMT 0)
Hey 142,

That is great data and the start of a study. I see a Mettler balance in your future. ;-)
"If I drink a carbonated beverage (Coke, beer, or sparkling wine) after 9 pm, I will wake in a puddle the next morning. Period. It happens. Every time. Unless I am up really late, and then I will realize I sopped a pad without warning. Before 9pm, I'll be peeing until midnight - not much but painfully often."

What happens when you drink an equal volume of water after 9 pm? Remember you have to drink the same amount as you would Coke. One can is 355ml.
Let's say your bladder alarm is set at 300 ml and your kidneys process like mine at 75 ml /hr. You drink the 355ml can of Coke at 9:00. Somewhere around 1:00 your kidneys would be at the alarm level and out it comes.
You have to try the same volume but with different fluids. I did it at night and during the day. I experimented with NyQuil and without, antihistamines and without, Caffeine and no caffeine, etc... 18 months.

I should have applied for an NIH grant.

Jeff

Wasn't there a commercial that went "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."?
Posted 1/25/2011 2:32 PM (GMT 0)
Jeff,

I have a set of pills that I take as I go to bed each night, so the volume question is established.

Pee, take pills with about 250 ml of tap water, off to bed. (I don't take the pills if I am out having that beer - ).

I'm up between 5:30 -6:15 daily, first pee is usually 300ml (measured).

During the day, output is 150-200ml at a desperation "full".

This has all been stable for the last 7 months.

Posted 1/25/2011 8:21 PM (GMT 0)
Hey 142,
Oh baby! Another data taker! You even know your desperation full point! I love it!
That's exactly what's needed.
With a few more measurements you can compute your kidney output, in ml/hour.

Are you plotting your data, too? My wife made me take it down off the refrigerator. Women!
Jeff
Posted 1/25/2011 8:33 PM (GMT 0)
Jeff,

No serious statistics for me, but I did spend too much time studying engineering before I went off to other disciplines, and too much with engineers as I demanded practical fixes so real fumble-fingered humans could use some of the first computers without having to take yoga training first.

No wife / better half here, so I decide what goes on the fridge door. But my media is an old fashioned notebook. Paper kind, that is. And yes, I use pencils.

David,

My phone doesn't even have texting or email turned on, much less one of those little green android guys buzzing around. Good luck with that!

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