Questions To All The Intermittent Self Catheter Veterans
Posted , 9 users are following.
Hello,
I will probably have to enter the CIC club from next month. I have ordered some Lofric hydrophilic Nelaton 12Fr catheter from eBay since those are not available in where I reside. A traumatic catheter experience in March this year caused me to have a penile stricture. Plus, I have primary bladder neck obstruction. A major one. Both of these issues combinatorially have made it extremely difficult for me to urinate. It takes me like 3-4 minutes to start urination when my bladder isn't full and 30-60 second when I feel my bladder is full. Not to mention, I always have like 70-120 ml of retention. I underwent Urethrotomy in March, 1 week following my traumatic catheter experience. I feel like Urethrotomy wasn't worth it at all. If anything, it has made my condition far worse. If I ever have to undergo urethroplasty at some point of time in my life, it could probably be fail because my doctor caused further scarring in my penile urethra. The thought of it really haunts me. I'm sorry, I digress.
The purpose of my CIC is both to empty my bladder and dilate my stricture. How do I go about going that? Where do I start? Do I need more lubrication than the one hydrophilic catheter provides?
Thank you.
0 likes, 25 replies
chris15677 hamza1995
Posted
I am using Coloplast SpeediCath Flex 2 S/loop CH12.
Easy to use and never a problem but can feel it when it meets the prostate pressure area near the bladder entrance.
I keep getting repetitive UTI's so am more or less constantly on antibiotics.
It takes about 3 days after antibiotic treatment to return and it shows in the clarity of my urine; it goes from clear to cloudy in 3 days and it stinks. The sediment can sometimes look a bit flaky, like tiny snowflakes.
I also take tamsulosin, which doesn't seem to have side effects. I've been taking it for years.
The urologist at Kettering hospital told me years ago I should have a TURP; he told me again last week but I am reluctant.
keith42667 hamza1995
Posted
I'd like to ask.
I've been doing cic for @5 years. For various reasons, I recently visited my Urologic clinic to sort of check in. They want to do a urodynamic test(s) on me. I've read how the procedure works and I don't want to go through that ordeal. It seems to me that since cic has been working so well with me - no UTIs; no problems emptying etc. - that a urodynamics test is unnecessary. If my problem was a weak bladder that cannot push out the urine, I wouldn't have any pressure in the catheter right? Or is this view wrong?
I have also been promised an MRI this time; my old Urologist retired and I now am assigned to a new doctor probably 1 third my age. My last doctor never offered me the MRI. Will the MRI show me anything? I know I have a blockage but I never have found out much about the blockage. Am I right to reject the urodynamics test on the grounds that I have noticed improvement in my bladder and my bladder nerves over that last 5 years. But I cannot get out any natural void at all unless I let it build up to several liters of urine - which I never do because I cath before that happens. Any advice?
hank1953 keith42667
Posted
Hi Keith,
I was offered urodynamic testings and I turned it down on the following basis. Most urodynamics testing focus on the bladder’s ability to hold urine and empty steadily and completely. Since I have been cathing with little natural void for years, I know that I would have failed the test miserably and it would be a waste of time and it will expose me to UTI's. Hank
keith42667 hamza1995
Posted
Hi Hank. Thanks for responding. It's good to see some of the old crowd still posting here.
Not sure why you are saying you would fail miserably. I was under the impression that cathing can rehab the bladder hopefully. I also have been cathing for at least 4 years and would fail the first part where they just want me to void naturally. I cannot get any urine out at all naturally now. I attribute that to keeping my bladder relatively empty. I'm sure if I could tolerate having 400 ml now before trying I might be able to get out a small bit. But I rarely let it get to that much because some feeling has come back in my bladder. Once in a while I still have 450 ml. Not sure why that happens. It wasn't until I read the instructions my Uro doc gave me that I realized how involved the urodynamics test is. 60 to 90 minutes. I know JimJames recommended getting one and its the first thing my new doctor wants to do. But you're correct that the main focus of that procedure is to test the ability to push out the urine and try to discern how bad the bladder is distended. So you're saying that due to doing cic for so long your bladder has lost it's ability to do good on that test?