Willl my bladder recover??

[Kara23]

I am scared my bladder won't recover from this retention. Is this just a phase of IC or am I going to have to start cathing myself forever???


Kara

[ICNDonna]

Very few people have to cath themselves full time. And the fact that you are able to urinate with a warm bath is a pretty good indication that it's temporary.

What medications are you taking? Sometimes a medication that hasn't given any problems at all can react, especially if you add anything to it.

I wish I could help you more.

Donna

[Kara23]

I have been taking Elmiron for a year,and Elavil for 9 months. Same dose the whole time. The things that started me down the road to retention were the Sudafed and the dye free Benadryl. I have not been the same since.

Thank you for replying. The cath experience for me has been 1 huge nightmare, one that I don't want to face unless I absolutely have to.

Intersim goes in on March 9th and I pray that it makes my IC life a little more comfortable.

Isn't it absolutely amazing what we humans have to learn to adapt to??? At least we can still hear and see and smell....


Kara

[Ruthie]

Kara,

You poor lady, I am so sorry that you are experiencing all of what you are going through. Ouch, been through the retention thing with the last flare, Levbid caused me terrible retention, and the pain from the IC was unbearable, felt like I had battery acid in my bladder...So sorry that benadryl may have been the culprit. lets hope it was the sudafed. That stuff causes me to have horrendous flares.. Has your urologist tried any bladder installations?

hope you feel better soon...

Ruth

[This message has been edited by Ruthie (edited 01-28-2001).]

[Ruthie]

Just wanted to add, my bladder recovered from the flare from H#LL, so hopefully yours does too.

(((healing hugs to Kara))))



------------------
Ruthie : )

[Kara23]

Ruthie,

I'm doing much better today. I could pee a few times at work. I am getting the interstim implant on March 9th. So, no I haven't tried any bladder instillations and I don't plan to. The Elmiron controls most of the pain I go through....but there are always those occasional flares that are the worst and nothing can help them... I know that I will be afraid to ever have a cold again and I'll never take Sudafed again.


Thank you so much for your support
All of You!

love and hugs

Kara

[DebbieB]

Kara:
So glad to hear that you are feeling better today..
It is so hard when you are not feeling good and you really get worry and stress out too!!!
Got my finger crossed for you Kara..
March is not that far away now!!!!

Hugs Debbie

[rhonda]

I'm glad your feeling better. You know retention is one of the things the interstim is approved for. That's why I had it and it made a BIG difference in my life!

[ICNAsstMgrDiane]

Kara,

Did you let your doctor know that you are having a problem with retention? Also, is the uro doing the stimulator?

Also, how long after you had the trial did the retention begin? Are you sure it was from the medications you took for the cold?

You need to let them know, because the stimulator helps you to cut down on the amounts of time you urinate. If you are having a problem with retention than after the permenant implant you may be having more of a problem.

Diane

[Shelleynz]

Hi Kara
I haven't had any experience with Interstim and in fact don't even know if we have it here, BUT I'm sorry to hear that you're having a bad time, but pleased to see that you're getting good support from others' here who understand it.
Belated thks. for helping me out with my q. about Elavil on the Ads Bd. last week.
Shelley

[Teri]

Kara~I suffered from retention before my interstim and I go thru periods that I still do. My uro told my hubby and I will probably have periods of time that I will have to self cath for the rest of my life. I have to be very very careful with my meds because if a side effect is retention I WILL HAVE RETENTION....thank GOD I don't have to cath like I did before my implant
tons of hugs teri

[Sandy]

I had the same problem with retention before the interstim and I am also the clone of Teri. I still have to cath sometimes and also it is hard to get out of the habit of cathing if you can beleive that. I think Teri understands that one. Elavil causes retention and my phychiatrist switched me to Nortryptyline 25mg which has less anticholonegeric (sp) side affects. When I have a flare I still suffer with retention but now it is only about 75-100 ml before the interstim it was 300 ml. I still go thru alot of times where my bladder feels like it has not emptied to the point of where I feel comfortable so I will cath and I conly get 100 ml out. I had the interstim put in 7 months ago and have had three adjustments. Last one was last week so things are starting to improve slowly. But remember to drink plenty of water to keeps thing diluted or it will irrate the bladder if there is urine sitting in there. That is what I find and if I have to cath then I have to cath, but better than being in pain. I also take Ativan(Lorazapam) if I have had to cath alot in a short period of time because it feels like the urethra goes into a spasm and I feel like I have to pee and I KNOW there is nothing in there because I just manually emptied it. The Ativan calms that down for me.
Hope this helps
Sandy (Toronto, Canada)