Urinary Incontinence
 

Urinary Incontinence is a very common symptom of MS. Mine is caused by nerve damage.

I am getting a Supra Pubic Catheter on the 9th of October. I'm very excited and ready for this as I am so tired of dealing with the hassle and inconvenience of this problem.

Has anyone else resorted to surgery to fix their incontinence issues?

Incontinence is one of those areas that many hesitate to discuss, but will discuss before discussing any sexual problems...it is such an important part of our health and self-esteem.

I was having urinary incontinence issues and urgency...these two do not play well together...lol...I now see an awesome Urologist. He quickly figured out that my bladder was spastic. I now take YET another pill, but it has helped, no more incontinence. I still manage my trips to the bathroom...I try to go every 2 hours or so, since I really can't tell when I have to go until it becomes a near emergency anyway. I save money, discomfort and embarrassment...I no longer have to buy pads for bladder leakage. It's funny, I still carry 1 in my purse, I have a fear the medication suddenly stops working...I told the Boy Scouts of America that I was better than any boy in there scouting organization in our area in the late 70's (no Girl Scout troops). I am always prepared. lol

Three cheers for getting your surgery! I'm an abnormality I suppose though since I would far rather discuss sex with my doctors (even male ones) then anything at all concerning the bladder and bowels, including simple gas :o. I even asked the neurosurgeon (male and first appointment) straight up, with my mom sitting beside me, if there were any positions from the karma sutra I might be able to try during the 2-4 week recovery period. But it took me over a year to tell my female neuro I was having issues with the odd dribble.

I'm not to a point yet of requiring more than a panty liner but my doctors will likely hear far more than they want to about my sex life long before I might speak to them about needing depends or wanting to try a medication to help. Which is messed up, and I know it is, but for all I lack a filter in most any other subject under the sun, to where no one who knows me thinks I can be embarrassed or uncomfortable talking about any subject, bathroom habits...that's one that just exists outside the realm of my very very large comfort zone. And still I cover even that up with brash jokes.

All the same, I truly hope the surgery goes well for you :hug: it might unnerve me a bit to discuss it in depth, but I can well imagine the trouble of dealing with it even just physically.:hug:

Suprapubic Catheter
 

Yes, Kitty, I'm female and I got my Foley catheter several years ago so I have plenty of experience. I wanted to get it because like you I was having some pretty uncomfortable leaking. It was getting to the point it was too hard to find the bathroom in time. I also went through times of wearing pads or panties to help out.
Yes it will alleviate those all-too-common trips to the toilet, although you need to remember that you will also have to empty a bag so you can't be away from a toilet for say, 12 hours. I find the most inconvenient part about the catheter is that you do you have to have a leg bag or you can get something called Belly Bag. I would highly recommend that you order at least a couple of belly bags because they are much more convenient if you're going to be away from home and want to wear clothes that that would give you enough room to have the bag in the front. Tight jeans just won't do it; they never have enough room for the abdomen bag to grow without feeling too obvious, but you can control that by drinking a little less fluid and of course by changing your bag to a leg bag. I kind of skipped using an actual leg bag because the Belly Bag worked out well enough for me by going to a restroom and emptying the bag in the toilet, but now that I am immobile I use a bed bag which my caregiver empties for me. After I have been out wearing my belly bag and get back home I removed a belly bag and replace it with the bed bad and just rinse out the Belly Bag very well and allow it to dry and then store it for the next time you want to wear it. A warning for you Kelly bags are much more expensive than leg bags and the Medicare don't believe we'll cover them so you have to order them and pay for them yourself but they're available online just do some comparison and pricing. You should be able to find them in range somewhere from $17 each to $19 or $20 but look around because I've always been able to find them at $17 or $18 each, and remember they can be reused.
Any more questions, feel free to ask and good luck with your surgery!
MsBluIs

Thanks for that suggestion! I'm going to ask about a belly bag because right now I'm using a leg bag and I can see that it's a little restrictive.

Until I can have the surgery I have a Foley but I'm looking forward to getting the SP catheter and being a little less tied to the catheter. You really don't appreciate the freedom of not having to babysit your bladder until it stops working correctly. :rolleyes:

Thank you all. You helped with questions I didn't know I had until I read this thread.

Urinary incontinence is a BIG deal and not often discussed. Kind of the elephant in the room.

I have had 3 bladder prolapse surgeries (unsuccessful).
Then I had surgery to correct the issue-again unsuccessful. The doc, a urogynecologist, apologized, telling me that 5% of surgery patients' surgeries are unsuccessful. Yay, I am one of them.

My neurologist has been pushing me to get botox injections. I know someone who had gotten them and it was successful.

:hug:Debbie:hug: I know how restrictive bladder issues can be. I had several prolapse surgeries all of which caused their own set of problems.

I just had a Supra Pubic Catheter placed today. Had surgery this morning and now I'm back home. Pretty sore but I have pain meds!!

I heard about the Botox therapy but my Urologist didn't seem to be too keen on that....at least for me......thought this would be a more permanent fix. I hope it works. And if you get Botox I hope that works for you. Incontinence is such a pain in the rear to deal with.

Remember when we were younger and never even thought about issues like these? I want those days back again!!! :hissyfit: