Self Catherization: Issues and Problems
Posted , 44 users are following.
Self catherization (CIC) is a proven and tested method of emptying your bladder completely. And while most people find it an easy and painless procedure, understandably some have problems, especially in the beginning. This thread then deals with problems and issues people may encounter with CIC.
For those not self cathing, or for more general information on the topic, there is an ongoing thread here:
2 likes, 1488 replies
ken19524 jimjames
Posted
Hello all,
Thanks to all of you who have contributed to this forum, especially Jim. When I got home from the urologist's office with a bunch of catheters about a month ago, it was a little upsetting. But when I found this forum and started reading everyone's experiences and helpful suggestions, it calmed me considerably. The information that I got here has not only made me feel more positive about the catheter situation, but has helped educate me on various options and techniques.
I'm 65 years old and have had progressively more noticeable symptoms for the last couple of years. I had an operation to remove multiple kidney stones a few months ago, and I think that procedure may have made my symptoms worse. When I went to the urologist's office and cathed for the first time, I was shocked to see that I had retained 400cc.
My urologist had scoped me about a year ago and said that my prostate was growing up into my bladder, and that a bipolar TURP would be the best treatment. My prostate size is about 45 grams. Not huge but evidently the large median lobe is the issue. After doing some research on TURP, I've decided that I want to hold off on that procedure as long as I can. So, with that in mind, I'm planning to cath while I research the alternatives. Next month I have an appointment in Springfield, Illinois to see if I am a candidate for the Rezum procedure.
So in the meantime, I'm cathing 3 - 4 times a day after voiding naturally with the Speedicath standard FR16. Typical volumes are 150 - 300, with 200 as an average.
Again, thanks to you all. I greatly appreciate all your inputs.
Ken
keith42667 ken19524
Posted
Hi Ken. We sound a lot alike but with some differences. Same age. I too left my urologist's office with a box of catheters - they just gave me an almost full box if magic fr12 non-hydrophilic I think they were. This was about 2 1/2 months ago. I also refused surgery. They offered me Green Light laser. The preop surgery I went to I informed them of my newly found ability to self-cath, and they were OK with it. They told me they wanted to me to do something about my BPH however, if they were going to condone it. I haven't been back or called them. I don't feel badly towards them. I'm just in a "wait & watch" mode.
You said you were retaining 400 cc. When I first went in for an ultrasound on my bladder I was retaining @1600cc or more. Of course I was supposed to drink several ounces of water for the ultrasound about an hour before, so that was ontop of what I was already retaining. I was having very bad overflow incontinence, especially at night, and was solving the problem by buying Depends. I wasn't aware that a mans body could retain that much urine and not know it. Actually, it was manifesting itself more than anything in "morning sickness", not lke a pregnancy of course by just a sick feeling and no appetite. I would have to releive myself by the clock during the day quite frequently and still had overflow. I still am angry with my GP here in my small area whom went to see about my incontinence but he didn't have time or the intelligence to put 2 & 2 together I guess, and sent me for a bladder test sooner. He thought it was too much coffee and that if I stopped drinking that I'd be fine.
Anyway, your 3 or 4 times cathing with volumes of 150 - 300 seems a little low. Either you are having pretty good NV (natural voids) before cathing or you're not drinking many fluids. Its ok to drink water now that you are cathing and have the ability to keep your bladder well under 400.
keith42667
Posted
ken19524 keith42667
Posted
Keith,
Too bad that I just received another shipment of the 16s. I think I'll contact them and ask for a sample of the 12s. One thing that I found is that I can bend the long catheters in half and put them in my pocket so that I can go into the restroom at the local Lowes and be a bit less noticeable. The bend does make the catheter a bit less stiff but other than that, there doesn't seem to be any problem doing that. I had tried one of the catheters that are intended to be put into your pocket, but I found that the sleeve that supposedly makes it easier to handle - didn't. Yes, it does allow you to hold the catheter along its length without touching the inner tubing. And the lubrication is nice too of course. But it just didn't work very well for me. Or maybe I just need to keep trying. I do have several more samples of them, but the successful pocketing of the long caths gave me a better option, I think.
Ken
jimjames ken19524
Posted
Hi Ken,
Have you tried FR 14 or even FR12? What about the coude tip version designed for navigating prostates? Your natural voids aren't bad, but for rehabbing the bladder try and keep total bladder volume below 400ml. That would be the total of your catherized volume and the natural void just preceding it.
Jim
cartoonman ken19524
Posted
...and Keith, if you had the 14s (and they worked!), you could ROLL them up and put in your pocket, without kinking. That's my preferred approach, and it's worked for 3 years now...
I'm not thrilled about even trying the 12s, as I can get the 14s in (sometimes with patience added...), and emptying 300cc takes half a minute already; can't imagine how long I'd be there with a 12... JimJames, any knowledge about that?
jimjames cartoonman
Posted
I guess your life is more action packed then mine. I don't feel I'm missing all that much with the extra 30 seconds FR12 takes
Remember, one of the reasons many of us got into this mess is that we either "held it in" too long and/or habitually rushed the voiding process when we were younger. So, my advice is to use the smallest size that works, and smell the roses, or in this case, whatever bathroom refresher you happen to be using 
Jim
cartoonman jimjames
Posted
We have now entered the philosophic portion of the program...
And yes, riding my Kawasaki Mach III across the Canadian plains in the summer of '70, I just hated to stop to pee or for ANYTHING! "Get yo' moto' runnin'..." and all that...
ken19524 jimjames
Posted
No, I've not tried anything smaller than the 16s. They do have the coude tip, so that works OK for me. If the 12s and 14s are more flexible, I'm probably better off staying wtih the 16s. At least right now they are working fine for me. But before my next order comes in, I will be asking for some samples so that I can check out the smaller diameters.
Just this past few days, it seems like my NVs have been getting easier and my catheterized volumes are lessening. At least for now...
keith42667 cartoonman
Posted
Oh, so one can roll up the 14 and not the 12s? Depends on brand doesn't it? And are you talking non-hydrophilic? I like Coloplast but I don't think I would trust a hydrophilic one not to leak if I doubled it up. The 14s that got ordered after my first Uro visit were Coloplast fr14 non-hydro. I liked them because they drained fast but with 12 I liked the idea of using my detrusser muscles a little to speed up the flow and also exercise. Can't do that with a 14. It makes no difference.
I just requested and received some speedicath flex coude from Coloplast. Very generous; they gave me about a dozen of them. I just tried one and I think I can get used to them. They are 14s because that is the only size they had from prescription; but I'm glad I didn't change that. It actually went in quite easily. I just need to get my routine down to where I put the cap over my penis with my non-dominant hand so I can feed it in with my dominant hand. Seems awkward but so did CIC as a whole for awhile.
jimjames keith42667
Posted
So here's the thing on "rolling up" the Speedicaths. It might work OK with the straight ones that I believe Cartoon uses, however if you roll up or bend the coude model, good luck in keeping the tip oriented correctly as it goes in!
Jim
cartoonman keith42667
Posted
I've never tried the 12s, Keith, but I'm sure they roll as easily, or more so. Never worried about them leaking, and have never had one leak in my pocket (or anywhere!). Speedicaths are my go-to's; Simple to use! And those detrussers work for me with the 14s...
cartoonman jimjames
Posted
I haven't used a coude since that damn' box sent by mistake, Jim, but I believe if you note where the mark on the handle is relative to the bend of the tip, you can get that sucker in with the proper orientation...
jimjames cartoonman
Posted
@cartooon: I believe if you note where the mark on the handle is relative to the bend of the tip, you can get that sucker in with the proper orientation...
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The "mark" works fine as long as the catheter is nice and straight. Once its been bent or rolled, it doesn't always line up. Ouch!
Jim
ken19524 jimjames
Posted
I'm going to start a related discussion here about diet and supplements for BPH. Had anyone had particular success with any supplements? I've tried saw palmetto, and now I'm taking the Urinozinc Proflo. In addition to that, I'm also trying lycopene, bee pollen and lately, lecithin, I've not noticed any side effects whatsoever, but the success of these has been rather limited. I really do think that the Urinozinc was helping noticeably until the kidney stone operation a few months ago. I should also mention that I'm taking Tamsulosin as well.
I haven't been measuring my NVs, but I have been keeping a log of the post-NV volumes.
I mentioned diet above because I have been eating a fair amount of peanut butter for breakfast until I read that peanuts can possibly make BPH symptoms worse. I just stopped my morning peanut butter on english muffin routine a few days ago so I can't make any definite statements yet.
Ken
jimjames ken19524
Posted
Ken: I haven't been measuring my NVs, but I have been keeping a log of the post-NV volumes.
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Yes, post-NV volumes (PVR) is the more commonly measured but in fact it's total bladder volume, not PVR, that largely determines how stretched (flaccid) your bladder will become. As to eliminating certain foods for bph, I think the many articles (often contradictory) on the subject are overly generalized and not very scientific.
Jim
Jim
ken19524 jimjames
Posted
Jim,
I'm sure that you're right about the non-scientific aspect of foods. However, I've been avoiding peanuts and peanut butter for the past few days just to see how it affects me.
I really hesitate to mention this next thing....
I have been taking various herbal supplements to see if they would help my BPH even a little.
So the last 2 - 3 weeks, I've been taking bee pollen, lycopen and lecithin. All three available at a reasonable price at Walmart. These are in addition to some other supplements. I don't know if they have made a difference in the size or shape of my prostate but what has happened is that my semen volume has been multiplied many times. All my life I've been a 'dribbler', but this past couple of weeks, when I masturbate, I shoot several long streams. This has never happened in my life, so I'm truly amazed. Like I said, I've never 'shot' any semen before. And I don't know what else to attribute the change to but to those supplements. I swear that this is entirely true.
Ken
jimjames ken19524
Posted
Well, I'm on the way to Walmart. Let you know
Jim
frank74205 ken19524
Posted
Ingredients for shrinking -prostate Glycine,—-LGlutamic Acid,——LAlianine. have you heard anything about this? There is a prostate supplement called Prostavol that has these ingerdients.Have you heard about this pill?
frank,
ken19524 jimjames
Posted
LOL! I'm sure that these supplements work differently for everyone. But for me, it has been a very surprising change. The thing that has been so hard to understand is the slow urine stream, but a very strong ejaculation. And after, oh, about 50 years of just a small (likely very normal) amount. I suppose that I should be concerned since it's so different. But I'll just enjoy it for a while until I have a chance to talk to my urologist in a few months to see if it's because of the supplements, or something else.
ken19524 frank74205
Posted
Frank,
No, I've not heard about those ingredients or about the Prostavol. But there are so many herbal remedies aimed at us men with BPH that it's hard to keep them all straight. And it's certainly hard to know which ones will actually work and which ones will just empty your wallet. I THINK that I get some benefit from the Urinozinc that I buy at Walmart, but I'm not ready to write a glowing recommendation for it. And BTW, I was not taking the Urinozinc during the time that I noticed an overnight increase in semen output. So it was definitely not the reason.
Ken
ken19524
Posted
However, speaking of 'zinc', I do recall that I thought I was coming down with something recently and also used some zinc lozenges which are supposed to lessen the effects of a cold. But zinc is also supposed to be a 'nutrient' for the prostate. So perhaps the zinc also contributed to the increased volume. Or a combination of these supplements. Obviously I don't know for sure, but just wanted to share this because it's been such an interesting phenomenon.
ken19524
Posted
Ken
keith42667 ken19524
Posted
I like the discussion. I really like the idea of shrinking the prostate w/o side effects rather than cutting, burning, shoving, etc. the prostate aside. But I'm afraid its not possible yet. One would think that there would be something that would do this; something natural or injected or something. What a stubborn problem! Maybe the human animal just isnt meant to live this long.