Ended up at A&E on Monday- urine retention. Excruciating and terrified me. I’m diabetic & am on a shed load of meds for various things.
Please can someone please please explain why retention happens and how the Drs can a) identify reasons for it?, b) stop it happening again?
Part of the trauma of this is my father died of renal cancer when I was 12 years old; he also had urinary retention at one point - I recall how excruciatingly painful it was for him, his being taken to A&E by ambulance and my having to find my way to my aunties house alone, not knowing if she was in or not.
Sorry for rambling.
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Bagpuss21
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I've included an article that will give you some answers and a direction to go in order to ask questions of your doctor. Hopefully, you are seeing a urologist for this. If not, I'd suggest it. At this point you don't seem to know if this is acute or chronic. It does make a difference.
Make a list of all of your medications and the time of day you take each one. This could impact some health issues and have it ready for any new doctor you meet with.
In the early days after my diagnosis the urologist thought I might have that issue and he scheduled me for a bladder ultrasound. They performed the ultrasound and then had me go to the bathroom and empty my bladder. I then went back on the table and the tech checked again to see if I had been able to empty my bladder. When I spoke to the urologist about this and asked for an explanation, his answer was to rule out urine retention and look elsewhere. Urine retention was ruled out and he put me on a generic form of Flomax instead. It can be scary unless you take action.
Yea. I contacted my GPs asking what a TWOC entailed - they refused to answer, saying DNs dealt with it. DNs refused to discuss it, claiming they hadn’t had a referral so couldn’t/wouldn’t discuss it. Urology can’t give any answers as a) I haven’t been seen or assessed yet and b) it’s the 1st time this has ever happened to me. So a lot of unknowns there.
Yes they have. Their discharge note said I’ve an appt at the surgery tomoz for a TWOC - the surgery say there’s no such appt for me with anyone there until mid May for the DSN. DNs say I’m not on their system whatever and can’t tell me anything about TWOCs as they have no referral for me.... A&E discharge letter says they’ve referred me for DNs to do the procedure. So I’m now faced with nobody willing to take the thing out.
I am appalled that no-one is taking responsibility for this, and so sorry that you are in this situation.
It may be that the hospital should have arranged something before discharging you, but I think the person who needs to take control now is your GP. You need to make a telephone appointment to speak to the GP tomorrow - he can liaise with the hospital or DN's to make things happen.
I've just read that you can leave these in for 3 months before changing, which is maybe why nobody is seeing the urgency - but I'm sure there is a very valid reason the hospital want the TWOC to take place tomorrow, don't let them fob you off.
What I ended up doing is getting a copy of the discharge letter from my GPs and emailing it to the DNs myself. They accepted this as a referral. The DN I spoke to said this happens routinely from that hosp (they’re sick of it too, I think).
I now have an appt for the TWOC, they’ve emailed the GPs with a list of equipment needed and the DNs have explained exactly what happens. (The DNs sent that email at 10:30. As of 17:45 the GPs said yea they’d received it and acted on it. When I rattled off exactly what the DNs said they’d asked for, no the GPs suddenly hadn’t done anything about it and promptly got it dealt with... egg on their faces!).
I trust they did Urine and blood teststest and ruled out diabetic or other ketoacidosis and kidney failure. If producing urine but have full bladder one of other causes is medication side effect. Look up the side effects of each you take. If Male enlarged prostate, or neurogenic bladder. Or if have history of server back pain a while back that resolved itself but now have pain going g down leg past knees, may be due to spine issues issues and nerve compression. You would need MRI to rule out.
They did bloods (all ok), assessed for sepsis & DKA, nothing found in any of all the tests they ran. They *think* it might be diabetic neuropathy, or side effect of meds at the moment but I’m waiting on further assessment by urology
If you have had very well controlled BG in a tight range hopefully not the neuropathy. Which h meds are you on?. It would also behoove you to take complex particularly b 12. Hope your fears are some what allayed and you are peeing
Don't know - my daughter is a type 1 diabetic and often struggles with passing urine, but so far always managed it. Definitely notices its worse if constipated, as fatbuddy says.
Hi, I too suffered from urine retention. In fact it may have contributed to my ckd by causing a back pressure to the kidneys.I now self catheterize four or five times a day... Freaked me out at first but you get used to it...hope this helps.
Hi Bagpuss21. So sorry to hear that you experienced urinary retention. My husband, a diabetic type 2 now on dialysis, also experienced urinary retention after a a brief surgical procedure which interrupted the signaling between brain and bladder. (This, by the way, is not uncommon and is referred to as post operative urinary retention - POUR.) Of course, this is not what occurred in your case. But, in either situation, the intent is to restore function. In our case, a urologist performed a pressure test to measure bladder strength in voiding. He noted that diabetics, over time, do lose nerves and sensation and it was important to know his status. If the pressure test showed significant issues, he recommended a type of "clearing or widening" procedure to help things along. Thankfully, in my husband's case, there was some decrease in sensation and pressure but not enough to create major concern. So that doctor then sent him home still wearing a foley (pee) catheter as he thought things over. Upset that he was still sporting a catheter, my hubby conferred with another urologist who simply removed it and told him how to self-catheterize himself if needed. That urologist also recommended against any widening procedures as that could produce other issues. As luck would have it, hubby could pee quite easily! And was given the prescription Flomax to help matters along. (Often those on dialysis no longer urinate, but my husband can still do that and continues to do so on his own as of today.) Now, the whole reason for addressing this subject is this. Please do not walk around wearing a foley catheter for more than a few weeks. My husband had his for over three months! And he contracted two utis during that time - one severe enough (smelly and turgid) to bring him into an emergency room! And both utis were treated by antibiotics. But then those treatments also wiped out all his healthy digestive flora which led to horrible c-diff (a super bug) leading to extreme diarrhea. C-diff is quite infectious and difficult to treat. So, please be aware that urologists (in the US anyway) tend to be very busy and appointments are continually delayed etc. (Many urologists are being sued over poor follow-up on caths in my nation.) In any event, please don't let them do that to you in your country, have them follow-up with you in an expeditious manner. In my personal opinion, getting that cath removed is an important primary step to regaining a quality life. (If necessary, self cathing is the better option.) Wishing you success in getting a great outcome!
I assure you I loathe having this thing in, am completely embarrassed and avoiding going out because of it. It’s destroying the little confidence I had - I don’t even want to sit in the front garden because people might see it - although I always wear trousers.
I’ve already got a UTI because the students inserting it made a total mess of it! I’m in my 40s, the last thing I want is a permanent catheter!
My husband and I completely understand. My dear husband stopped taking walks, was worried about the bag dislodging, and more. We even ordered special leg straps from Amazon to keep things secure. He was so disgusted and upset. I just now asked him if he would have preferred self-cathing over the foley cath. And he instantly said self-cathing is best. And added everyone should be taught to self-cath at the outset since the risk of contracting utis and c-diff is far lower and freedom of movement is well worth it. He also stated that while self-cathing is a bit uncomfortable at first, it isn't painful. Trust you'll soon regain function and lead a carefree life!
I was a nurse (MH) almost my whole working life, and nothing prepared me for ever having to wear a cath! I feel so self conscious, upset & disgusted by it.
I do believe students need the opportunity to practice what they’re learning but I tell them politely that with all my health issues I prefer the Dr or anesthesia to do it . I’ve had septicemia been on ventilator almost died so I don’t have students do blood draws ivs or fluid removed from my lungs I just tell them it’s nothing personal but I’d prefer the doc
I had urine retention a couple of years ago. Very painful. Went to ER and they sent me home with catheter for a few days. Also took prednisone for a few days. Drs. Say they don’t know the cause. They gave me Delauded, for pain, knocked me down for a couple weeks.
TOO MUCH SODIUM. That is what caused mine. Plus when I ate the aloe plant thinking I would cure my ulcer.The latex in that shit will ruin kidneys. BUT CUT THE SALT.
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