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Posted 8/13/2011 8:21 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Everyone

I had my catheter removed on 27 July.

I was previously told by my Uro that one of the benefits of having my prostate removed would be that the frequency of urination would be significantly reduced. So far it has been quite the opposite for me. I am needing to get up at least 3 times during the night to urinate, which is worse than before my surgery. I have my last drink no later than 8pm and usually go to bed around 10pm.

Has anyone else had this problem and if so, did the frequency reduce with time?

Posted 8/13/2011 10:54 AM (GMT 0)
Bob,

I am now 9 weeks past my robot date and have been dry since week 4,  I found that the feelings of being full in my bladder is totally different than before the robot. I did not have an enlarged prostate so night time urination was not a problem before. In the first few weeks after I was not wearing pads at night I had to go  2 to 3 of times  but my bladder wasn't really full. Now  depending on what I drink in the evening I am down pretty much to once a night but still when I go not really full. I try to cut off liquids after 8 pm as well but if I drink a couple of glasses of wine I go maybe 2 times a night like last night. Since I am in the similar nightly pee pattern as before surgery I do not know if going is just from learned habits?

Terry

Posted 8/13/2011 11:03 AM (GMT 0)
"I have my last drink no later than 8pm"

 

Try changing that to 6pm to see if it helps.

I've always gotten up once a night before and after surgery. It reallly amazes me that if I look at the clock which I try to avoid - I get up within a couple of minutes of the exact same time every day...

Something to consider - instead of getting up the 2nd and 3rd time - see if you can roll over and go back to sleep.

Posted 8/13/2011 1:57 PM (GMT 0)
Great, not looking forward to this as I still have my cath. In fact the only positive so far, is drinking up to bedtime and sleeping thru the nite with the cath.
Do our bladders shrink after surgery? Maybe we need to re-stretch them by holding during the day?
Posted 8/13/2011 2:00 PM (GMT 0)
I had my surgery in April 09. I still have to get up about three times a night -which is 3 times more than before surgery.
Posted 8/13/2011 2:10 PM (GMT 0)
Startech, I do not think our bladders shrink we just has one less sphincter and a weak one at that to hold back the flood.
Posted 8/13/2011 2:20 PM (GMT 0)
YES! Never, ever had to pee durinng the night. And not that much during the day.... Now,,,,3wks postoperative, I have to pee very frequently,,,even during the night.... What's up with that

Nick
Posted 8/13/2011 3:42 PM (GMT 0)
I think that, after 10 or so days with a catheter constantly draining, your bladder just has to get used to holding fluid again. This, along with the healing process, takes time. Don't forget that they messed with your bladder neck while the robot was in there partying.

I'm eight months out from surgery and just starting to get through the night without having to get up. Patience, grasshopper.
Posted 8/13/2011 9:51 PM (GMT 0)
Bob,

I had my catheter removed on July 22 and, while definitely not dry, my frequency of nighttime urination has declined. When the catheter was removed I would end up going to the bathroom at least 3 times per night. I made it through the entire night last night for the first time. So hang in there, it will get better.

I have read that, based on one's kidney function, when you first lie down at night fluid may be redistributed causing the need to pee shortly after hitting the rack. That's usually the case with me so I get in bed and read or watch the tube an hour or so before going to sleep.

Just remember, all of us recover differently.

Good luck!

Wheeler
Posted 8/13/2011 10:31 PM (GMT 0)
Prior to surgery I got up 1-2 times every night for several years.

For the 1st week after the catheter was removed I got up 4-5 times a night.

That slowly decreased over 6-8 weeks and now I get up once a night about 4-5 nights a week and sleep all the way through the night 2-3 nights a week.

So be patient! Things may still get better.

Dan
Posted 8/13/2011 11:14 PM (GMT 0)
I had my catheter in for about 19 days...surgeon's schedule and amount of tissue removed. After that amount of time, it took about a week before my bladder was retrained. I was continent after 48 hours of cath removal, but really had to pee more often for the next week or two. Not unusual.
Posted 8/14/2011 1:39 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the replies guys.

I'm somewhat reassured that some of you have had my symptoms and eventually experienced improvement. It's the sleep interruption  that's bothering me  the most. Not too bad while I have been off work, but I start back tomorrow, so I'm hoping to start sleeping better as time goes on. 

Posted 8/14/2011 7:23 PM (GMT 0)
I guess everyone is definately different.  I am almost two years out from surgery and a little over one year out from radiation.  Before this started, I always slept the whole night thru.  Now I get up 2-3 times.  I have tried medication to no avail.  There has been no hope provided by the doctors.  I am having to learn how to work tired.  It could be worse.  I could be incontinent.  Squid.
Posted 8/14/2011 7:30 PM (GMT 0)
I am almost three months post open RP and my night time peeing has returned to it's pre-surgical state. No question that my bladder shrunk after surgery and I was having to pee like every hour...no incontinence to speak of but frequency was an issue. Now I get up once or twice a night which was about how it was before surgery. Hang in there..it'll get better.
Posted 8/14/2011 10:12 PM (GMT 0)
After my catheter was removed I had to get up 3 or 4 times during the night. Gradually, over time that number has dropped to none to maybe just one time. I don't remember exactly how long it took.

Bob
Posted 8/15/2011 12:47 AM (GMT 0)
Bob, had my surgery in July 07, radiation 08, totally dry from day 1, but get up at least 3 times a night to pee, still.

Mal.
Posted 8/15/2011 1:04 AM (GMT 0)
Bob:

I would get up once or twice to pee at night prior to RP - after surgery the sensation for need-to-pee has changed - including fear of peeing the pad - I get up 2-4 times a night - if I am stressed out from daytime events the freuqency is more -

I have a urinary bottle ( from pharmacy) that I keep up in the bedroom so if I have to pee I don't have to go downstairs - and makes it quick and easy so I don't really "wake up" - so right now, ( 21 months post-op) my pad use is one a day - changed just before bedtime - I am dry in the morning and just suffer about 25-40ml of stress incontinence pee during the day.

It is every easy to get into a knee-jerk reaction and pee each time you feel you need to - part of it is mental conditioning and part of it stretching the bladder back to pre-op size - and help strengthen the realigned sphincter (hoorah for kegels) to hold it in.

Take care - don't beat yourself up if accidents occur - it's only pee

hugs,
Bronson

Post Edited (tatt2man) : 8/14/2011 7:07:26 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 8/15/2011 1:47 AM (GMT 0)
I guess I'm lucky.  Prior to surgery last August, I would get up to pee once per night.  After surgery, nothing has changed in that regard.  Still get up once per night. 

One thing working in my favor, and a condition which might be overlooked,  is that I have sleep apnea and use a CPAP machine.  Prior to getting treatment for my apnea, my sleep was shallow and I would wake up frequently, and then go to the bathroom.  Once you're awake in the middle of the night, the tendency is to get up and pee. 

My older brother tells me he's up four or five times per night.  My theory is that he has untreated sleep apnea, which is causing him to wake up frequently, and so he goes to the bathroom each time he wakes up.  If he were in Stage Four sleep, the urge to urinate would be suppressed, but in his shallow sleep state, that's not the case.  Even though he has an enlarged prostate, I suspect that his frequent night-time urination results from his shallow sleep state, not the prostate.

So I see it as a chicken and egg question.  Does a sleep disorder cause us to wakeup up and so we pee?  In which case the PCa surgery is not the likely cause.  Or is it truly the urge to urinate that wakes us up, which could very possibly be connected to the PCa and surgery?   Or, it could be a combination of both factors.

I hope this makes sense. 

Posted 8/27/2011 2:54 AM (GMT 0)
I'm three days post catheter. How long did it take to even know you had to pee? I am soaking 8 pads a day. darned depressing.
Posted 8/27/2011 3:27 AM (GMT 0)
Sparkit - I suffered several UTIs (until I learned that a wet pad is bad, even if not "full"). I think it was a few weeks before I even had an inkling that I was tinkling (sorry, had to do that).

I was 7-8 pads a day and 1-2 depends pant per day for 3 months, then it fell to 3 pads per day (without the need for the pant).

I called it demoralizing.

Bob - if I drink a beer or Coke late (say 10pm +), I'll have to get up at 3 am. Always. but if I am cautious about what I consume, I can make a 6 hour night, presuming that I have a clear shot to the can as soon as I raise my head off the pillow. This being 20 months post surgery. Before surgery, I can't remember ever having to get up at night to pee.
Posted 8/27/2011 1:37 PM (GMT 0)

Sparkit said...
I'm three days post catheter. How long did it take to even know you had to pee? I am soaking 8 pads a day. darned depressing.

I can relate; I'm five days post catheter and still at 7 pads a day (2 of those at night). So, don't feel like the Lone Ranger. :-)

I'm just starting to get a small sensation I need to go, and a little control - several sprints a day to the bathroom - some successful, some not so much... Just have to wait and see I guess. In the meantime I keep on walkin' and keggeling.
Posted 8/27/2011 2:38 PM (GMT 0)
My experience has been that the sensation of the need to pee is totally different than before RP.  When I first got the Foley out I had no real sensation of the need to pee and I just made myself pee every hour or so.  I used about 2 pads in the day and wore depends diaper at night for 2 weeks as a pad at night was so uncomfortable. After the first week I was able to stay dry at night after I realized not to drink anything after 8pm. I still had to get up at least once at night to pee.  I have been dry now for almost 2 months but I still have such a difference in the sensation of a full bladder than prior to RP. I do enjoy the ability to now pee on demand anywhere any time and empty a full bladder in 10-15 seconds, probably the only good benefit of no prostate. wink
Posted 8/27/2011 3:05 PM (GMT 0)
When my cath was removed, I did have some night time urination troubles. I too made frequent trips to the throne. The trips did lessen, thankfully. Now two months after surgery I can hold my urine very well. There are no more night time trips after I last empty at around 10 pm. I'm not careful about the amount of liquid I consume before bed time.
Posted 8/27/2011 3:16 PM (GMT 0)
Cath out 12 days now. I am seeing some improvement. I notice now that I can hold it when laying down or sitting in a certain postion. But standing, its an open faucet unless I strain, can hold it until I get to the toilet.

So on lazy days, I drink, drink, drink and sit until I think I am gonna burst. Then do the penquin trot to the toilet. My doc wanted me to stop and hold as many times as I could while peeing. I modified that a little to stop, hold and walk to the living room and back to get used to holding while walking.

With a large prostate, I always got up at nite. Sometimes once and sometimes serveral times. Now, when I wake up-I try my best to roll over and go back to sleep. So far, that is not working. But I do hold as long as possible just for the excercise of holding. Love the strong stream and emptying.

Also-I got some baby wipes by the toilet. I do general cleaning often to avoid UTI.

Everyone is different, so dont give up.
Posted 8/27/2011 8:14 PM (GMT 0)
Guys, thanks for the reassurance. Penguin walk ... can I use that term? I wish that I knew what to expect after surgery. The doctors are great with everything until after one leaves the hospital. If they had told me that I will be leaking like a faucet or told me I will need a lot of pads I probably wouldn't have to seek ansers online.
My wife said that this is what the ladies go through with their monthlies. At least they have an adult to explain what to expect.

Post Edited (Sparkit) : 8/27/2011 8:55:41 PM (GMT-6)

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