Flow test

User

Posted 21 Feb 2023 at 15:11

Hi, sorry but I didn’t know the best area to post this. I had a flow test last week and since then, my bladder has not been right at all. Prior to the test, the only things I had encountered were a gradual reduction in urine flow over a period of time and I was starting to need to pee a bit more at night sometimes. However, since the flow test, I can barely go more than an hour or so without needing a pee, when I go, it flows well but there’s never a huge amount as I’m going so often. Can flow tests damage the bladder? I’ve been on Tamsulosin for 3 days but I don’t know of thats anything to do with it, I thought that was meant to calm things down a bit, not make things worse.

User

Posted 21 Feb 2023 at 17:54

Do you mean a flow test (where you just pee into a funnel), or a urodynamics test, where catheters are inserted to fill the bladder?

If it's the latter, it might be you picked up an infection during the process. Ask your GP to test a urine sample. This might be something some pharmacies can do too (although maybe not on the NHS).

User

Posted 21 Feb 2023 at 18:04

It was a pee into a funnel flow test.

User

Posted 21 Feb 2023 at 21:22

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

It was a pee into a funnel flow test.

Fred, I can't see how a simple flow test could make any difference. I had lots of flow tests and it didn't influence my flow rate.

Did you change anything else in your drinking habits. It could be a urine infection. My flow tests equipment was always sterile and there was no contact with any equipment anyway.

Can't comment on the personal use of the medication, but two people I know who use it have halved the number of times they get up in the night.

Thanks Chris

User

Posted 21 Feb 2023 at 21:44

Anxiety can cause these symptoms Fred

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 21 Feb 2023 at 22:02

To add to the anxiety point. Forcing yourself can disrupt brain patterns giving false signals to go. It's usually caused by frequent forcing and sometimes called an overactive bladder. The GP gave me some training sheets but also sent me for prostate cancer tests. The Urologist said you can have overactive bladder and not cancer.

Edited by member 21 Feb 2023 at 22:03 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 22 Feb 2023 at 07:21

Thank you. I wasn’t too concerned that the equipment or procedure itself had caused any problems so much but prior to the test, my bladder was incredibly full, much more than it it usually is so I wondered if waiting longer to pee had stressed it in any way or something. I have in the past 24 hours increasingly come down with a horrid cold so that might explain some of the way I’ve been feeling, anxious though yes, thats a good point. I have also been drinking water and avoiding tea and alcohol so perhaps the water is passing through quicker.

Edited by member 22 Feb 2023 at 07:23 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 23 Feb 2023 at 18:40

Fred , nothing is impossible.

Thanks Chris

User

Posted 23 Feb 2023 at 19:12

It is harder to generate pressure to pee with a full bladder than an empty one. Usually you don't need much pressure but with an enlarged prostate you may need increased pressure.

This is what lead to my episode of retention and later the diagnosis of cancer.

The physics is interesting. The bladder muscles can generate the same force wether the bladder is very full or near empty. However the surface area they are working on is large with a full bladder and small with a near empty bladder. The pressure in the bladder will be the force the muscles can generate divided by the area they are working on. So once a bladder is very full and if the ureter is partially blocked it can be impossible to generate enough pressure to pee. Visit to accident and emergency is required.

Look up physics "two balloon experiment" to see demonstration of higher pressure in a smaller balloon contrary to what most would expect.

Dave

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