Yes...what you relate often happens. It did to me and as a home care nurse, I was told by many of my patients that it had happened to them. Sometimes, over time, this diminishes but you may need to talk with your doc about having something that you can take as needed for bladder spasms. This does not need to be a part of your routine. There are things out there to relieve it.


What size cath are you using? I used to get more spasms using a 12 or 14 guage straight cath but when they gave me samples of 8 and 10 to try...no spasms so my script is for 10s. They drain slightly slower but are more comfortable and there is not the urethral discomfort or spasm that there was with the larger sizes.

I am using a 14 now, and the uro/gyn just gave me a handful and told me to just wash them out and reuse 4 or so times before I threw them away....BUT everything I read says that I should not reuse a catheter!
I think I will ask for a size 10 to try; thank you so much!

There has been so much pressure on the insurance companies and Medicare because of the high incidence of infection with reused catheters, that almost all will now approve up to 3 new catheters daily or 120/month.

My experience has been that you can go to your medical supply store and ask for one each of several different sizes, buy them out of pocket (not costly) and see which works best for you then ask the doc to order that size with 4 boxes a month (30/box) with 12 refills. A copy of that script is then sent to your insurance (Medicare or Medicaid or Private insurance) and you are set for the year.

What I found was that as I trained my bladder to be empty by cathing regularly, I felt more urge to void when it was full and over time, I was only getting 20-30cc cathing after voiding and was able to eventually stop.

Marie Namey, MSCN from the Cleveland Clinic ,gave a talk once that I attended on this topic. She said the average bladder holds 200-250 cc (about a cup) before the urge to empty. An overactive bladder may hold half that before the urge to go (often with leaking) and a hypo active or underactive bladder can hold 300-500cc (nearly a pint) without the person feeling the need to go. Often there is not complete emptying and those persons will need to cath.

She also said that most men void about 10cc/second and women about 15cc/second so a good way to judge how much you are voiding is to count the seconds of the stream (1 one thousand, 2 one thousand...) and then multiply the seconds by the # of cc (male or female) to get the approximate amount you are voiding. If less than 150 cc with a real urge to void , you may have an overactive bladder that might require medication to relax it. If fewer than 100 cc, you might be retaining urine in the bladder and may need to cath. (30cc = 1 ounce).

I found this information has been helpful to many people. Hope there those reading who find it informative.

Cherie....
I just cathed again, and there was blood on the catheter when I pulled it out. Does that mean I am doing something wrong, or the size is wrong....or do I have an infection?
Thanks for all your help!!

I also have self cathed on and off for the past few years. I went through a period of around 6 months when I was unable to pass urine at all and needed to use the catheters every day but now it's only now and then.

I never did perfect the technique and managed to give myself several infections. Blood in the urine can definitely be an indicator of infection, but also of trauma. If your catheter is too big, than than can cause trauma, so can the way we use the catheter when we're learning. I always use the smallest bore than I can manage ... and for me that's a size 12FG

I take daily Cranberry capsules whenever I'm cathing to help prevent infections. They won't cure an infection once you have one, but they can help with prevention.... so can absolute cleanliness and lots of oral fluids.

If you notice blood again, or if you experience scalding, bladder pain, back pain, urgency or fever, please contact your doctor as you probably have an infection. In the absence of other symptoms, a few specs of blood probably won't hurt as long as it doesn't doesn't increase in volume or continue more than a day or too..

I hope that's helpful in some way.

Daisy,
I would tend to expect a little trauma because of the size of the catheter. Call the office today and ask for a script for 10 or 12 caths (before we get into the weekend), Are you lubricating the tip with some water soluable gel? That can make insertion easier and less traumatic.