Quality of Life - Frequent Urination

Hi Rose - I have similar patterns, especially if I have a couple cups of tea during the day. I don't have an answer, but I have a different take on it all which helps. Still having my original equipment and with all I've read here, I'm grateful and stop and view it as a natural marvel each time any of my bodily functions work - be it urination, bowel movement, orgasm, or even a good sneeze (almost orgasmic). BTW, I would never stifle a sneeze. In fact under the right conditions such as if I happen to be on the floor playing with my grand kids, I'll enhance a good sneeze by doing a sommersault for follow through. I'm 67 and they think I'm crazy, but I don't care - I appreciate everything that still works every time time it works. best, brewster

Just a small report.

I tried not drinking anything after 7:00 PM and the night went much better.

I went to bed about 11:00 and got up at 5:00. I only had to get up twice over that time period, and one time was right before the alarm went off. That's twice in 6 hours, but I may have gotten a block of 4 hours sleep in there somewhere.

Now, I feel much more like seizing the day!!!

Thanks my friends for the input and support.

Rosemary

Thanks you guys for so thoroughly discussing these issues with me. I have read your posts carefully and will give the issues a lot of thought before speaking with my Doctor about the problems when I see him on the 15th.

I, as most people on this forum generally do, am beginning to have my cystoscopy anxieties. Once he takes a peek in there and if all is well, I will discuss these problems in detail with him.

Warren, I am thinking that Vesicare will not help me since, as you say, these are not spasms. No point in adding insult to injury with the added discomfort of constipation.... Tonight, I think I will try not to drink anything past 7:00 and see how it goes. Last night, I was up every two hours...

Paul.

Thanks for sharing your story. I am glad that your tumor was small. One day of bleeding seems like nothing at all. I bled for months, thinking that it was vaginal. I had a "whopper" tumor according to the anesthesiologist. My first TURB took a long time, an hour and a half, I think....

As far as apnea goes, I'm pretty sure that I have it. If I don't, then given my family proclivity for it, I've missed a good chance.

Thanks to all for the wonderful input. I will post here again when I have some news to report.

Best regards to you all,
Rosemary

Rosemary..did you do a fasting glucose test? Pat

Dear Rose,
Voiding infrequently increases the risk of UTI because it allows bacteria that have entered the bladder to take a foothold rather than be washed out, but I have never heard that there is any reason ignoring an urge could cause bladder cancer, and it doesn't make sense to me as an hypothesis. Ignoring an urge doesn't make a great deal of sense either since there's no reason to be uncomfortable, but the point at which an urge becomes urgent does vary. Case example: when my urethral stricture was inflamed, it made my bladder irritable, but urinating caused so much pain and aggravated the situation so that I did learn to ignore the urge to a point.
It is possible that anxiety about the urge has you going the minute you have a bladder sensation. You might make an effort to retrain yourself, but focusing on it might make you have to go more. And frankly, unless the urge is there, it can't wake you from your sleep. On the other hand, if your sleep is disturbed for another reason, you might then find it hard to get back to sleep without going. The answer there is to deal with what's disturbing your sleep.
Thirst is another matter which is individual. Good bladder health demands adequate fluid intake, but you might be drinking more than you need by habit. If you drink more slowly, and your drink is good and cold, it may quench your thirst with less. It might also help to swish the first few sips around your mouth to wet the entire membrane.
Regarding Vesicare: I've never taken it, but I've taken Detrol, and it definitiely constipates me. When I have to take it, I take Senokot prophylactically. That's probably not desirable for long-term management, but if you have to be on Vesicare long-term you might do well with a fiber supplement and a stool softener or Miralax and an occasional Senokot to move things along. The thing is that Vesicare is for overactive bladder - bladder spasms. If you gotta go because your bladder is full, an antispamotic is not the answer and won't eliminate the urge. Unless you are really not able to hold as much as you used to, the answer seems to be with producing less urine.

Losing weight can help but not cure sleep apnea. Here is a link to some info:

www.sleepfoundation.org/site/c.huIXKjM0IxF/b.2417415/k.6729/Do_I_Have_a_Sleep_Disorder.htm

I opted for the UPPP surgery which is does not usually have a good long term success. For me, it may save my life. Here's my story.

On Dec 13 '07, sixteen days after my UPPP and septoplasty surgery, on my first trip to the bathroom I found blood in my urine, lots of it with clots. I had an appointment with my doctor within three hours. The "dip stick" test was off scale with plenty of bacteria present. Prescription for Levaquin AND a referral to a urologist. One week later I see the urologist, nothing unusual in the urine culture and while I had bacteria it didn't grow. He thinks maybe it was a reaction to the surgery and strong pain medications causing a small squirt of blood caused by extremely constipation. Does an ultrasound on my kidneys and bladder, nothing. Come back in a week and we'll do a cystoscopy just to make sure. Surprise! A very small superficial tumor in my bladder. This is on Dec 26, TURB on Dec 31. Pathology report comes back as Ta Grade I. WHEW! We'll see you in three months. The urologist said that he can almost become complacent and not do the scope (I wondered why I needed it) with one day of hematuria but that in cases like mine he might find something in 1 out of 150 people. The tumor was very small, about the size of the tip of my little finger.

So, did the surgery and pain medications trigger the hematuria? We don't know except I have only seen blood that one day. My ENT told me to drink nearly a gallon of fluid a day to keep soft palate moist but I had noticed that I had not been eliminated quite as much as my intake. Maybe it stressed my tumor causing it to throw off some blood. It may have been present but I never saw it, never any other symptoms. I consider myself blessed to have found mine so early.

Anyway, sleep apnea is nothing to mess around with either as it can cause life threatening problems as well. Your family history may warrant further investigation. Here is something else to think about. If you do have sleep apnea the CPAP machine will help you get more restorative sleep by allowing you to get into stage 3 and 4 sleep which is where the body does its repair work. It may help in the bladder cancer battle.

Many thanks to all who post here. I have learned so much and you offer so much support!

God Bless!
Paul