Problems getting my catheter after 4 years of CIC
Posted , 11 users are following.
It has been almost 4 years now since I started CIC due to my very large prostate (300 cc). I CIC 3 to 4 times a day and still have a good natural void in between because I do not have a median lobe or other bladder neck obstruction.
Other than a few UTIs over the years I have never had any problem doing CIC - until a few days ago. I use the Speedicath 14fr coude hydrophilic catheters and always add a little lubrication to help. No other catheter has worked as well as these.
So a few days ago I must have nicked the prostate during entry. That is the problem when we get too complacent with CIC - every time is like a new time requiring full attention.
There was some pain and a little bleeding then. But now the problem is really getting bad. The prostate side lobes seem to have swelled up from the nick just enough to block my normal voids and make getting the catheter in difficult and painful.
There is no problem getting through the upper part of the urethra but as soon as I hit the prostate it is like hitting a wall. Every time I CIC now I seem to re-injure the original injury so there is a little blood when the flow starts. It quickly clears up and when I pull out the catheter there is always a little blood in the lower part.
So I don't see how this original little nick can ever heal when I keep irritating it and cause it to bleed every 8 hours. And there is so much discomfort afterwards too for a few hours.
I do not have a UTI as the urine is clear. But I worry I am in a catch 22 because I need to give the injury time to heal but I cannot do that because I cannot do a NV do the swelling.
I've taken some NSAIDs to try and bring the swelling down and that helps a bit.
Any ideas out there from your experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
0 likes, 61 replies
keith42667 Howard31850
Edited
I just want to say that I agree with you Hank, and to thank you for sharing that about a year ago. I used the speedicath fr12 hydrophilic straight end for a couple of years; also tried the coude tip one for two different periods of time. Always went back to the straight just because it worked for me and was less easy to nick my prostate (or whatever it nicked sometimes) and it was also quite a bit cheaper.
But after reading your post I switched to cure hydrophilic fr14. It drains quicker because its a bigger diameter and you're right.. its softer but the 14 is still stiff enough to easily insert. I still use the drop in method and it works very well for me. I can hang it with the adhesive on a wall and just juse one hand.
hank1953 keith42667
Posted
Hi Keith, I am glad that you are doing well and I was of some help. 😀 It's the reason that we are here, helping each others. Yes, the softer catheters like Cure can contort and fit into our orifices. While with stiff cathers like Speedicath hydrophilic, we often hit a wall because the catheters would not bend. When we try to nudge it in, it can cause damage. Hank
Howard31850 keith42667
Posted
Thanks keith for reinforcing Hank's suggestions. I filled out the form on the Cure web site requesting some free samples of the straight and coude tips fr14. But for now I can hardly believe that I am 80 hours w/o a single self-cath and peeing like a kid again! I've tried experimenting with jimjames on-off strategy in the past but this is the first time I got results. I guess 5000 is the magic number for me. It is sooo nice! Maybe I'll just have my prostate removed next year. All the best to you. Howard
keith42667 Howard31850
Posted
You must not have had much of a natural void in between if you're cathing 4 times a day. I can get a little bit out sometimes. Usually it's just a squirt but I feel that is enough that I don't use the alcohol pad, cause I'm dropping it in carefully. I always keep alcohol wipes with me.
So you laid off doing CIC for how long? Then you were able to get through several days without it? Or hours? I'm still afraid after 12 hours or so I will be so filled up (and may not feel it) that I'll have to cath. No two ways about it. But I haven't actually tried that. My urges are pretty strong sometimes but they will dwindle down to nother usually if I don't take care of it. Still something wrong there that I can go from feeling and urgent need to pee to not feeling it at all. Usually the feeling comes back though after a few minutes.
hank1953 Howard31850
Posted
Hi Howard, I am very excited about your urinary improvements after getting off catheters. I had similar improvements a year ago when I switched from Speedicath hydrophilic to Cure. Before the switch, I had little NV and almost completely retention and dependence on catheters. Now I can pee normal most of the time, with much less retention. My other problems of bleeding, ED, RE also went away miraculously. I don't really know why, can only guess that the Speedicath did something to my plumbing, maybe a sustained injury or a scar tissue or a cyst, which went away with time.
Hope things keep improve for you. Maybe you can get off catheters for good. 😀 Hank
Howard31850 keith42667
Posted
Prior to this bleeding problem I would CIC 4 times over 24 hours. I would first NV about 200 cc and then do the catheter and take out another 200 cc. Sometimes it was 250/250 and sometimes 150/150. My NV always seemed to be about half the total volume in my bladder.
I would adjust the number of CICs each day to try and follow jimjames 400 rule: not to have more than 400cc in my bladder in order to rehab it.
In between CICs I still had a good NV during the day between 100 and 200 cc.
At night it was different. I would awake around 3 am in terrible discomfort with around 800 cc. I could not pee a drop so CIC took it all out and then I would go back to sleep.
It seems if I have more than 500 to 600 cc in my bladder I cannot do a NV.
I always check how full my bladder is by pressing up against the kitchen counter. That seems to be a reliable indicator for me.
So now with my bleeding I stopped CIC altogether about 5 days ago and have been pleasantly surprised to see I have good NVs during the day. Last night I awoke a 2 am and peed out 300 cc on my own! I did not do CIC. Today so far I have peed out 2000 cc over 9 pees with good flow!!
I think stopping the alpha blocker (uroxatral) may have helped with my bladder muscle contraction since I stopped all drugs 5 days ago. I took one uroxatral pill last night but will stop it again .
Howard31850 hank1953
Edited
Good for you Hank. Do you still take any alpha blockers? I wonder if stopping mine at the same time 5 days ago has allowed my smooth bladder muscles to work again normally? Do you take another meds for BPH like the 5-AR inhibitors (Avodart).
So how often do you CIC now? I\ll let you know when I get the Cure samples.
So far I am 5 days w/o CIC and am doing really great! I would guess I am carrying a 200 to 250cc residual if I were to CIC but this is a good rest for my injury.
Still - what amazes me is the force with which the pee comes out! It really is like a fire hose - as if I had a turp or fla!
Good luck. Howard
hank1953 Howard31850
Posted
Howard, I have always been on doxazosin. Without it, my flow might be worse. I have not consider stopping it because I use it to control my blood pressure, better than taking a diuretic.
I now only cath once before bed so I don't have to get up in the middle of the night. It's always hard for me to fall back to sleep if I get up for any reason. I sometimes cath during the afternoon if I had consumed too much liquid that day. I can skip a cath if I go for a long walk but sometimes either I am too busy or lazy, or both. 😀 Hank