I'm interested in conversations about and I want to talk about

Know exactly what you want?

Show search

Notification

Error

Incontinence issues

Email this conversation Print this conversation

User

Posted 08 Dec 2022 at 20:12

It has been 10 years since I had my Prostatectomy and despite having done my pelvic floor muscle exercises from the start and attending the gym to keep myself fit, I am still incontinent.

I have to use one or two incontinence pads per day. I guess this has become part of my daily routine now.

I struggle with this some days mentally and physically.

However I have problems with my pee flow rate and some urine retention.

My local hospital Urology department has suggested having a flexible cystoscopy to investigate if there is any scare tissue from when I had my Prostatectomy.

My concern is, if I have this procedure will it worsen my incontinence.

Has anyone here had a similar experience and what has been the outcome.

Any advice or experience would be much appreciated.

Many thanks,

Chris

User

Posted 09 Dec 2022 at 18:29

Chris, I developed a scar tissue stricture following RARP, I was 99 percent dry 4 days after catheter removal. As the stricture developed my flow slowed to 0.5/mls per second, my surgeon thought the stricture was helping my continence.

I had around 9 dilatations and 4 incisions into the scar tissue. I did recover my continence after the dilatations some times within a few days. The incisions took a bit longer. They generally went in with the camera so from my experience it did not have a long term effect on my continence.

I was going to have a urethral reconstruction and an artificial sphincter but salvage RT caused some damage and the ops were no longer viable.

Has you seen a physiotherapist for your pelvic floor exercises.

Thanks Chris

User

Posted 13 Dec 2022 at 11:43

Hi Chris,

Thank you for your reply.

Glad you recovered from your dilatations and incisions.

As I said my worry is that if I have any dilations it may worsen my incontinence.

Had a personal trainer and physio to help with pelvic floor exercises.

Regards Chris

User

Posted 13 Dec 2022 at 12:44

Hi Chris, I'd probably think long about further surgery but at what stage do you go from pads every day to doing something about it?

If they do the incisions and it gets worse are they offering an artificial sphincter. As long as there is a further solution is it better to try incisions for a fix than using one or two pads a day? I guess you've already thought of all that and it depends how bad your incontinence is and what else there is to offer but sometimes when someone writes it down if can help.

User

Posted 13 Dec 2022 at 21:04

Chris, don't knock yourself back too much. I am like you, if I didn't wear a pad there would be an embarrassing leak. So I wear one, and get on with life.

When I was recovering from prostatectomy, it was a big day when I reliably got down to two pads a day. That meant I knew I could safely get through the day with the one spare pad in my back pocket. To be fair I am now better than you most days, getting away with a single pad. However that isn't always enough and I just have to realise and change.

To some extent I know what creates risk of more incontinence - though don't always take action. This time of year is a danger, it is easy to get carried away at Christmas parties and drink enough that my bladder loses control.

Having said all that, urine retention in particular does need following up. Have you been offered tamsulosin?

User

Posted 28 Dec 2022 at 09:51

Hi J-B,

Get a bit hung-up on the incontinence sometimes.

What is Tamsulosin prescribed for ?

Thank you,

Chris

User

Posted 28 Dec 2022 at 18:04

Chris, tamsulosin is a drug which relaxes (widens) the urethra and improves urine flow rate. I was prescribed it when I first presented with urinary symptoms - before they identified active cancer. It worked for me.

As I predicted above, Christmas brought a bit more pad use than I usually have. Sometimes it takes a bit of thinking to realise what had led to my sphincters getting less effective late in the day; an example was realising it was decorating the Christmas tree that had tired the sphincters out due to the increased abdominal pressure when using core muscles to balance meaning they had had to squeeze harder. As expected Christmas Day itself needed a quick change after the effect of alcohol at lunchtime left sphincters leaky.

Email this conversation Print this conversation

Join the online community now.

Click through to become a member and gain access to support, information and real time replies.

Notification

Incontinence issues

Similar Topics

Join the online community now.