Bladder retaining more once again after radiation..

[FormulaRob]

Hi All,

Thinking of you all always

Curious about bladder retention after radiation. So prior to hormone treatment my dad couldn't pee.. literally just trickle.. extreme pain and discomfort but he battled out half a year like this sleeping maybe an 1-2 hours total a night. Hes a fighter.. he just did not want that catheter.

Anyways hormone treatment gave him a ton of relief, and then he did 5 weeks of radiation. Near the end of radiation as doctors warned him.. it will once again get worse before better.

Anyways it has been 2.5 months after radiation completion so well past the radiation side effect part.. and suddenly he is saying his bladder is suddenly retaining more once again. Not enough to bother him as he said it just means he needs to go a little more frequently but can still sleep through the full night without getting up (so pretty good)

My concern is .. why would it suddenly be retaining more almost 3 months after radiation? Scared to ask, scared to know but I need to ask.. any ideas? his next follow up is in August to see how well the treatment worked. He said he will ask at that appointment. I feel that is far away so definitely want to ask for any opinions here please and thank you

[Tall_Allen]

2.5 months is still part of the acute irritation phase.

[FormulaRob in reply to Tall_Allen]

Okay that is a relief, thank you as always Allen

[spencoid2]

I did not have retention shortly after radiation but later. Was most likely radiation cystitis (scaring after healing from radiation) and it got really bad requiring intermittent self catheterization. It was so bad that for while I could not get catheters in until I found the magic one. Then I did a week of castor oil "hot packs" externally with a heating pad for one hour each time. Within a few days my ability to urinate improved dramatically and I could suddenly insert catheters that just a week prior were impossible. I did the castor oil treatment on recommendation from a friend and fully expected it would do nothing. How could the oil magically find the right spot and fix it when applied externally. Well it did. The change was so dramatic and sudden that I don't think it was just a coincidence. This was years ago and I still have an almost normal ability to urinate. Varies day to day and hour to hour but is never as it was before the castor oil treatment.

As Tall Allen said your Dad's problem is likely acute irritation but be ready for the radiation cystitis if it does happen.

[FormulaRob in reply to spencoid2]

Thank you so much for the detailed response ! I I was worried that it mean something worse. I really thought that the healing from treatment was just a linear path but this makes it much more clear to me that it’s not the case. These side effects are brutal. Thank you for helping me understand my friend much appreciated as my mind is much more at ease for the time being

[Yearofthecow]

Has he tried an alpha blocker like flowmax(tamsulosin) to see if that helps?

[FormulaRob in reply to Yearofthecow]

yeah I believe he does have those pills. He’s actually good right now it’s just he’s keeping track of all changes. Although this is not super bad as it’s still WAY better than it was prior to treatment. Just wanted to know if it was cause for concern but it seems it is normal I am understanding now .. thank god

[j-o-h-n]

As the saying goes......... "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth" (that also should be applied to intended brides)...

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Saturday 05/06/2023 2:49 PM DST