Self-cathing (CIC) and Urinary tract-urethral Inflammation
Posted , 6 users are following.
I CIC 4 times a day and have reasonable natural voids in between. But I sometimes develop irritation in the urethra from the catheter that results in inflammation which makes it difficult to natural void so I have to self-cath more often which aggravates the problem. This is just irritation and not a UTI.
I take Advil which helps but was wondering what other people do for this problem. The inflammation creates a lot of pressure which makes me feel like my bladder is still full even after a CIC. And it makes sleeping very difficult. Thanks. Howard
0 likes, 27 replies
stebrunner Howard31850
Posted
Hi, Howard,
Don't know if this will be helpful, but learning to relax my pelvic floor helped reduce urethra irritation for me, especially getting through the sphincters. Also, I started to keep a food journal, which helps me connect the dots between what I'm eating and inflammation in my urethra and prostate. Alcohol, chocolate and spicy foods can make CIC painful for me (your triggers may vary). Over the weekend, I enjoyed some corn chips and jalapeno bean dip (yep, I knew better but man, it was good) When I went to CIC 2 hrs later, I couldn't get through. Tried 4 times, but it was too painful. I took some extra vitamin C (it is somewhat of an anti inflammatory) and waited another 2 hrs to let things settle down. Then I was able to CIC.
Stebrunner
Howard31850 stebrunner
Posted
Thanks stebrunner for the tips. How do you relax your pelvic floor muscles? I once got a chart of the muscle group and try to visualize the muscles before I CIC and then repeat "relax, relax" as I see them loosening up. It does help as you say.
I use to love eating hot food like Mexican, Cajun and Indian. But I also found that these foods would aggravate my BPH because they aggravated my colon/rectum so I had to stop them several years ago. I sure miss it especially while downing a few beers!!
Also it is important to control constipation. I had a big problem with that a few months ago that made it impossible for me to get the catheter in. It really freaked me out as that is my lifeline to keep away from the doctors. Anyway I got help here with advice to take MgO (250mg) twice a day and that had really helped me with CIC. Now if I can only find a way to get back to sleep after I CIC at 3am!!
Thanks and all the best.
Howard
stebrunner Howard31850
Posted
Hi, Howard,
I'm sending you a PM with the links to some YouTube videos that helped me learn to relax my pelvic floor. Early on when learning CIC, I realized that I was flexing or tightening my buttocks and lower abdomen in anticipation of pain. Jimjames suggested learning some relaxation exercises, which included some Yoga poses. It helped me a lot.
I haven't had problems with constipation, but can see how that would be a problem. Like you, I find I'm using CIC to keep away from the doctors!
Stebrunner
jimjames Howard31850
Posted
Howard: I once got a chart of the muscle group and try to visualize the muscles before I CIC and then repeat "relax, relax" as I see them loosening up. It does help as you say.
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This is similar to the yogic relaxation exercise I learned many years ago, scanning each part the body with the inner command to "relax, relax". With this, very important is to breath easy and slow because with the breath comes the release. I started doing this 4 years ago every time I self cathed but now it's sort of automatic. If five is baseline tension in that region during a normal day, I'd say when I first started CIC I was a 10 and now I'm around a 1 during the process. It does take a bit of time because you're going against the normal relfex to pain which is to tighten, but with training and then habit you can reverse that.
Jim
hank1953 stebrunner
Posted
Howard31850 stebrunner
Posted
Thanks Stebrunner for the link. I viewed it and it is very helpful. I started the visualization exercises after reading jimjames posts on this a long time ago. First I tried a physical therapist who almost destroyed my rectum in an attempt to have me get familiar with the different pelvic floor muscles. I strongly warn anyone to stay away from the PTs!!
So that was when I just went on line and found nice 3D animations of the muscle group and then memorized them and placed them in a white light in my mind just before and during cathing. Basically I followed jimjames protocol. But your link really helps a lot. Thank you.
My brother-in-law recently went into retention and had a Foley put in at the ER. His uro has him scheduled now for a turp even though no assessment has been done to find out the source of the problem. I begged him to consider CIC and told him if I can do it then anyone can but he will not even consider it. I sent him the link to jimjames story but he sent it back and told me not to give any advice!! Too bad but what can you do? You can lead a man to the catheter but you can't make him insert it! Reminds me of the FLA group that ran asap to Dr. K when they went into retention w/o a proper assessment. Fortunately for them it worked out ok but turp is a didn't crocodile.
All the best
Howard
Howard31850
Posted
meant "different" not "didn't".
Howard31850 jimjames
Posted
Here are my chip numbers:
1 serving of chips is 21 chips which contains 18 gm fat and 290mg of sodium. So my 10 chips would hen have about 150mg sodium ( I cheat a bit).
Next my sea salt is 590 mg sodium per 1/4 tsp. So I should then take 1/16 tsp of the salt to do your test. I can measure that ok.
How should I take the salt? Just put it on my tongue so it mimics the potato chip salt?
Howard
jimjames Howard31850
Posted
Jim
Howard31850 jimjames
Posted
jimjames Howard31850
Posted
And sleep like a baby! I've been having dark chocolate some evenings. This conversation is tempting me to get the one with sea salt!
Jim