Bladder control - how?

I had surgery ~2.5 weeks ago, catheter came out last Wednesday (4 days ago). As I presume is normal, I have little to no bladder control. I'm going through 10 to 12 pads a day at this time.

How does bladder control come back? Is it something that just "happens"? Will I use my keagals to control my bladder? I try exercising my keagals now and it's still a bit too sore (#20 catheter) to do anything realistic at this time. Is there anything else I should be doing to promote bladder control?

To clarify: I'm not expecting things to work now - I'm just trying to understand this process as it happens to me...

AstroNerd -

Bladder control is different for everybody, but IN GENERAL, time and patience seem to be the most important factors, followed possibly by exercise. Some guys say kegels help, some guys say lots of walking helps, some guys get back to general exercise as soon as possible (be careful - don't push too hard, too soon), some guys don't do ANYTHING and achieve good results.

You have internal swelling after surgery. Some guys have reported good control at first, and then heavy leakage a couple weeks later after the swelling goes down. What seems to happen frequently is, sometime between 10 and 20 weeks, you will have a sudden and dramatic improvement - sometimes all the way to dry. At that point, I think kegels and exercise help - but once again, everybody is different. I went from 5-7 heavy pads a day down to 2-3 light pads a day right around the 15-16 week mark, and I'm down to one very light pad a day now.

Pain down there (for me it was butt pain) is a problem in the early days. I probably lost 6 weeks of doing any exercise at all due to butt pain.

All you can do now is to try to stay "tight" as you stand up, walk around, go through your normal routines. "Tight" generally means squeezing your pelvic floor (kegel) as much as you can. Many guys, including me, experienced the frustration of sqeezing as hard as we could and still leaking as you walk down the hall in the early weeks. Then you have sensations of really needing to go, and you get there and just dribble.

Some people recommend staying away from alcohol, spicey foods, acidic foods like tomatoes - anything that might irritate your bladder.

All of that is normal. Time and patience are the most important factors. Sometimes the frustration is overwhelming - but you WILL get there.

Good luck,
kcragman

Chris...

I had da Vinci surgery Oct.31, '08; catheter out on 11th day and dry every night since...with the exception of dreaming one night I was using the bathroom and dribble a couple of drops before waking up.  To be on the safe side, at night, I wore the jockey type Depend Extra underware for abt 4 weeks and during the day I wore the regular Depend Guards(pads)for men, normally one pad p/day.  In the 5th week I switched to the regular Depend Guards (pads) for men at night and day time, still normally one pad p/day; then abt at 10 weeks, I switched to an ultra thin pad. 

Just last week, 13th week, I stayed dry all day and now today I'm trying it with "NO PAD", and so far...DRY!  What most of the guys and gals are saying here on the forum, the average is 8 - 12 weeks and I fell right in line with those times.  Very very thankful for the dryness and healing process I have had and I hope and pray the same for all.  

In addition, I also feel as if the old "ED" is on the wane and some degree of yesteryear is returing.

MY prayers to each and everyone of you...

durantlion

I was using 10-12 pads for the first couple of months, maybe the first three.  It was very frustrating.  Then, about month 3 - the leakage dropped quite a bit.  My Urologist told me most of his patients don't see improvement until between 3 to 6 months post-op.  I'm now using, on average, 1 to 1.5 pads per day. I just came back from an agressively active - walking in heat, over tough terrain - vacation in Mexico and could have gotten by on 1 pad a day.  I have no leakage overnight.  2.5 weeks is a very short time post-op.  Give it some time, frustration and all.

Dear Chris,
Pete has been incontinent for two years, and in Sept had the AUS installed....It is finally beginning to work better. He uses two pads a day and two at night, What has really helped is a medication the Doctor ordered..called Detrol.....It seems to help the bladder spasms. Diane