Incontinence

All- I am about four weeks out from nerve sparing surgery. Dry at night and into late morning, but pretty much "drip" when standing or walking around in the afternoon early evening. Seem to gain better control after about 8 pm. Similar experiences ?

Thanks... Yes , he was pretty clear, though it's always better to hear directly from those going through it. Since most of my issues are with walking , is it preferable to do the kegels standing?

Hello Riggy,

Please know that the majority of men regain their continence naturally and with exercises over time.

It is important to know and remember, there are other options available if you wind up in the minority.

Best wishes,

John

Post Edited (male_sling_problems) : 10/27/2012 9:11:45 PM (GMT-6)

Thx, I stopped drinking any alcohol, and any coffee , a couple weeks before surgery, just have a cup of decaf tea in am now....don't plan to start up on either until I'm much drier.

Thx, keep me posted of your progress, I will do the same....start back at work next week. Are you on the thinner pads yet, I'm on the pretty large depends ones, 9 oz, I believe.

Riggy

My first 4 weeks, wern't a drip but more a stinking tablespoon full squirt. It would happen when I laughed, not when I coughed or sneezed, or when I twisted my torso, sitting or standing, but mostly when sitting on a hard surface and twisting. The getting up to stand squirts stopped after two weeks. I learned to concentrate on tightening the muscle before I stood up. All squirts were pretty much gone by 8 weeks out. It seemed that the squirts stopped about the same time as the small pain/discomfort in squeezing the muscle stopped. I am guessing it took that long to exercise enough flexibility and strength in it to work properly.

My only squirts now come when I am sitting on the floor and twisting and reaching out for something. And those are getting less and less.

You just keep working at it. It will happen. My only other advice is to avoid full bladder conditions at all costs. You see a bathroom, use it whether you have to or not. If you are like me, you can almost pee on command now with the obstructing prostate gone.

I wear a Depends Real Fit that look and feel like briefs then I wear a heavy pad inside it. It is easier to just change the pad and the Depends catches any overflow. I have tried real briefs but I always seem to get them a little wet. Being with customers, I always want to avoid any odor. Sometimes I may be with a customer over 1 hour and I can't get free to change a pad.

Good luck,
Bill

Riggy,

If you are expecting observable progress in 4 days, you are presumably also waiting for the Great Pumpkin tonight (say hi to Linus for me.) They are about as likely. In another month you might notice progress - or, if you have the luck I did, you might actually get worse. In 3 months you will probably have progress. Don't stress over it on a day-by-day basis. A FEW people have some sort of "the faucet shut off suddenly" experience - most don't. Figure out a system that works for you (I found "male guards" in briefs 200% better than the full diaperish things, for me) and use it, without worrying about it too much. Someone else here mentioned using guards in an athletic supporter and boxers as working better for him.

I definitely leaked more when walking for a long time, and I walked anyway, because overall healing progress from lots of walking was a generally agreed upon phenomenon, and unhappiness with dribbling was just part of the deal with that for quite some time - long after I was "mostly better" when sitting still or walking slowly, I'd dribble like crazy when walking fast. When possible, I did do better walking in the earlier part of the day when control was better in general - but that often did not fit my schedule.

Some folks can't manage to hold it even when sitting still - so you haven't got it as bad as you could (neither did I - many folks in our local group were at 7-8 pads a day for quite some time, I've been 2 at most.)

Riggy,

I am four and a half months out of robotic RP and I still leak quite a bit off and on but I seem to be improving and am guardedly hopeful.

My biofeedback tech told me that coffee was to be avoided but that tea was mostly OK. It is much less acidifying than coffee. I was glad to hear that since caffeine is my antidepressant of choice these days.

IronReb was talking about the positions and movements that make him leak. With me the most reliable move to make me leak is lifting up my left foot to put it through the leg opening in a new pair of Depends. No matter how empty my bladder is I always pee down my leg when I change my underwear. But, as I said, I am hopeful and soon, with any luck, I hope to be able to put on a new pair and not have them slightly wet before I pull them up.

I have a thread going about my theories about why I leak, why I am improving, and why it has taken me a bit longer than other guys. I am pretty sure my notions apply to me. Whether they apply to anyone else I have no idea. It's a bit early for you -- at four weeks you sound pretty typical -- but if you are curious:

www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=35&m=2543063

This is a great thread. I just got DaVinci surgery 2 weeks ago and have been changing pads & Depends like crazy. Funny thing is at night I can pee pretty well but during the day the urine kind of just seeps out and drips.

FWIW here it looks like I just gotta be patient - it's still early.

I used to grumble about having to give a lot of money to Kimberly-Clark when my daughter was in diapers and pull-ups, and now it's karma for me (Depends are made by KC).

I have been leaking the same amount since my cath came out 5 weeks ago.  I was using a least 4 depends a day and one at night.  I can get up two or three time a night and urinate a little.  During the day I cant keep any in my bladder, just goes straight to pad.

I just started to use a pad with my depends and this makes changing a little easier.  I only remove the top 1/4 of the back lining on the pad so the sticky it will not tear the depends when removed.   This system is a lot better than having to remove my pants and shoes every time I changed depends.

Gary

Congrats on your PSA...3 to 6 months may be right for a lot of people, it took me about 8 months to get off the pads though I still dribble occasionally..I am bapout a year and a half in now and I still have days or nights where I havd to change underwear a couple or three times a day...Not counting like right now I have a cold and any gutterel cough makes me leak.. and the profanity laden expressions to go with it lol...

I have to make myself do kegals...and they do help..I guess I'll be doing them forever but I put pads back on this week because of the cold...

Good luck and as you know all of us are different...I consider myself 99% dry now and based on where I came from in the weeks just after I'd say that is a good number....except when I have a cold or throw up....I'm peeing all over myself then brother..It is still better than the alternative i'm guessing and I try to keep my sense of humor..Really what choice do we have...I can swing a golf club now without peeing now so yay...

Oh yea...progress..I creeps up on you.  Just keep hammering away at the kegals..You'll seem like you're inching along and them boom all of a sudden you see improvement you can measure for yourself..... then you worry is it a dream lol...fun stuff.. 

Post Edited (hawkgfr) : 12/28/2012 5:44:54 PM (GMT-7)