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Bladder spasms/pain after cath. removal
My first day after taking out catheter and I’m not a happy camper. I’ve been able to urinate OK, every 3 hours or so and not much blood coming out so that part is OK. What concerns me is the increasing pain when I do urinate. It keeps getting more intense each time.
When I had my TURB (3-4 mm. single tumor), a few days ago, the doctor said he had to dilate the urethra to get the instrument in there. Bleeding from that procedure stopped later that afternoon.
I’m fine between urination bouts (very little pain) it’s just hits when I start urinating. The last time I almost passed out. I quickly sat on the toilet and put my head between my legs for about 10 minutes, cold sweat. When I was strong enough, I rolled to the floor and put my legs on a chair. After 10 more minutes I made it to the bed and took my BP: 79/53. I repeated it about 10 minutes later and it had gone up to 110/72, then 115/78. I called the urologist on call and he said that he wasn’t worried as long as I was peeing. He said that it could have been a reaction to the pain from the dilation on Wednesday.
I should say that I took some Pyridium a couple of hours before and the doc. said to keep doing that; it should help.
I did a search on this site and couldn’t find anyone with the same problem. Anyone heard of anything like this? Maybe my bladder isn’t emptying enough and that is causing the spasms?
Almost time for next urination……wish me luck!
Bob P -
11 Replies
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Bob and all, Glad your feeling so much better. I agree it is best to let the cathetar do it’s job. Reflecting on my prior post op TURB’s, my least amount of distress after a TURB was when my doctor ordered the catheter to be in place a week because of those “deep bites” taken during the TURB. In a couple weeks, the scab falls off and you may have bleeding again. I only had that bleeding episode after a couple of weeks with my last TURB. (different doctor) I did not have any catheter after that last TURB. AHA!
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Well, today I was a happy camper!
My first day:[list]
[*]peeing yellow (not pink), and
[*]using original manufacturer’s equipment, and
[*]no bleeding from tip of penis, and
[*]no cathether, and
[*]no bladder spasms, and
[*]no leg bag at work, [/list]
Yippy! :)
Bob P.
P.S. If I had to do it over, I would have left the catheter in for more than 3 days. Untill bleeding stopped and bladder wasn’t so sore. In-other-words when the bladder had healed itself 70 or 80%. About 6 full days, in my case.
It was just too angry and raw after 3 days to serve as a holding tank and let me know it no uncertain terms! Now, it says that it is willing to compromise and start functioning again with only an occasional twinge to let me know who’s in charge. 8-) -
Don,
Yes, there is a small balloon that can be de-flated with a syringe (which I have) or the end cut off and drained before removal.
Bob P -
I thought that there was a small ballon on the end of cathiter in bladder that had to be deflated. But I guess your URo would have told you. Good luck. Don
Hanging in there!
Rosie, et al.
Well, I got some good news today: Path. came back: Ta, G2. So I’m celebrating. But now, of course, I have more questions from all you lovely, helpful people:
The Doc said that he cut deeper than he thouht he was going to (just to be on the safe side). Also he said he hadn’t planned on a cath. but he had to dilate my urethra (still bleeding from the tip after a week) so he was forced to send me home with a catheter. The catheter doesn’t bother me at all once it’s in place (just the pulling when you stand up or sit). I even went to work on Mon. and Tue. urologist said I could yank (gently) it out on Tuesday if I wanted. But I’m not quite ready.
I’m convinced that what caused all the pain was the bladder filling up and putting pressure on the “raw” area sending it into spasm.
Rosie, I’m guessing the 4th time you had your TURB it was the deepest resulting in all that “pain, spasms, etc.” (just a guess of course).
So I wonder: Is there a rule of thumb as to when the bladder heals itself? Even 40 or 50%? after a deep cut of a 4 or 5 mm. tumor? And the spasms subside? Or do you just have to endure the spasms and they eventually get better? Probably different for each person.
When I apply pressure on the lower abdomen, where the bladder is, I still feel a dull pain. Better than a week ago, of course. I’m wonder if this is a good guide to bladder healing? No pain = healed bladder?
From your suggestions, it seems Ditropan would help the spasms but my urologist didn’t like the idea of me using ditropan without a catheter. He says it slows down the emptying and can cause problems.
I’m leaning towards extracting the cath. tomorrow AM and see what happens. I’ll try and drink lots of water and hope that helps. If I start to get the bad spasms again and the urine shut down, I grabbed a catheter kit from work and I’ll insert it back in. My urologist said he doesn’t want my bladder to get distended since the surgery area is pretty thin.
Thanks again! Sorry to go on so long!
Bob P.
Bob,
I have had 4 TURB’s and gone back and forth in my decision to go home with a catheter. On my second TURB, I had no choice (I thought) the doctor kept it in with instructions for it to remain in place for a week. It was quite a different experience from the first time that I had one in overnight. It hurt terribly all the while. It was probably because the initial tumor was so large 4cm and near the area where the cath rubbed. The third time, I returned home with no catheter but lots of bladder spasms which were handled fine once I did take the medication as prescribed. The 4th time, no catheter taken home but tremendous spasms, bleeding, pain and clotting after two weeks. What makes the difference? Wish I knew. The only thing that helped me (besides taking all the medication as prescribed) was drinking lots of water. I think we often think we don’t need to take those pain pills when it says “as needed” or other medications that state a range of number to take like “take 2 to 3 times a day.” I have learned to just take it all to the max prescribed. I don’t need to be a hero, victim or martyr, as soon as I have any problem, I call my doctor the surgi center after care number this is provided in the release form and instrutions.
Thanks for the advice. What a night. I got 1/2 hr. sleep. Spasms got stronger (eventually constant) and urine output got weaker (eventually zero) so it was off to ER at 7 AM to have another cath put back in and 400+ ml. removed. Urine culture was negative.
And they did start me on Ditropan (generic) and it seems to be helping. Of course when the catheter is in place, I don’t seem to get spasms anyway.
OK, enough complaining…but it’s good to know others have had similar experiences; I thought I was the only one.
Bob P
I have no idea if this will help, because, I had no bleeding or pain after TURB’s, but I was urinating too frequently for the condition not to be spasms, so I invested in a homeopathic remedy at the Health Food store. I think it just says “For Bladder Irritation”.
When I start noticing that I am urinating more often than everyone else in the office, I take a few. It does SEEM to help.
Rosemary
Age – 55
T1 G3 – Tumor free 2 yrs 3 months
Dx January 2006
Bob, I also had bladder spasms after TURB. My doctor prescribed oxybutynin which is a substitue for Ditropan. Hopefully your doctor also prescribed pain pills, antibiotics and instructed you to drink lots of water.
My Uro gave be detriol XL Did not seem to help me. But we are all diferant > Don
Hanging in there!
For what it’s worth, on my very first TURBT 14 years ago I had exactly this. It was agony but it did gradually subside and I think by day 2 or 3 it was a lot more bearable. But I know exactly what you mean. My blood pressure plummeted and I nearly passed out. It put me off catheters completely but I never again had the problem you describe to the same degree. I can’t remember the name but they can give you anti-spasmodic drugs.
tim
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