self catheterization

[Eadgbe]

I'm 8 days away from completing my 45 radiation treatment. The side effects have not been pleasant but now the beam is more focused on the prostate. I am having a problem emptying my bladder and for the last week have been unable to sleep for more than 2 hrs at a time without waking to pee. My Dr. recommended that I learn to self-catheterize. Because of a traumatic event 50 years ago where I was cystoscoped, the thought of this freaks me out. I have questions:

1) will my urinary retention improve after I finish my radiation? (I can handle it for awhile). My Dr. said it takes 2 months to recover from 2 months radiation.

2) If I were to start using a catheter, would that diminish my ability to pee or empty my bladder going forward? IOW - would I have to use the catheter for the rest of my life?

3) I am taking tamsulosin twice daily. Are there other drugs that might improve my emptying my bladder?

TIA.

[Tall_Allen]

1) It gets worse before it gets better. Urinary retention can be life-threatening if your bladder bursts.

2) Just until inflammation goes down

3) I found that 1 silodosin worked better than 2 tamsulosin for me. But there are about a dozen different alpha-blockers now- ask your urologist for samples. Find one that works for you. You can try a Medrol dose back to quell inflamnation. I took NSAIDs too.

[Eadgbe in reply to Tall_Allen]

Thanks. A couple of aleve helped me get a stream last night. I'll ask about silodosin and other alpha-blockers tomorrow.

[conbio]

I had 24 sessions of EBRT and then brachy. Was getting up every 2 hrs to pee as well. What a friggin' pain in the butt. I was taking tamulosin 2x a day - switched to try silodosin, but that made things worse. What helped was taking both doses of tamulosin at bedtime.

Slowly things settled down and I'm back to normal. But it took a few months after treatment ended for me getting a normal night's sleep. Best of luck.

[dixiedad]

I'm taking Gemtesa. It relaxes the bladder muscles. Helped me a lot. I can usually sleep the night through.

[Hidden]

I had the 27 IMRT does of radiation but I also have stage 4 CKD. I had been getting up several times a night to pee before the radiation and now I get up every two hours to pee with a fairly full bladder. In my research, I discovered that the body "normally" secretes a chemical called ADH (anti diuretic hormone) that tells the kidneys while you are sleeping to slow down on the pee making. It said this chemical isn't produced as much with older people.

[V10fanatic]

Take this issue seriously. I had 25 doses of IMRT 2 weeks after my HDR Brachytherapy. A couple weeks in I woke up highly agitated because I had not peed during the night. I ending up calling 911 and in the ER they emptied well over a liter of fluid. As TA stated, if your bladder bursts your in serious trouble. I wore a Foley for a week, and then I had to self catheterize for a few weeks more. It's not pleasurable, but gets the job done. I also was prescribed steroids which helped a bunch!

I've had no lasting issues from it as far as I know.

[LUMC_Survivor]

Heck, I was getting up every 20 minutes to pee. Doing so was absolutely excruciating. Urologist was an absolute muppet, didn't bother to investigate. He never once checked to see that his radiation treatment had literally cooked my sphincter lining, that was only determined within two hours at a different hospital.

There are some good opinions here, but you could also seek a second medical opinion. I should know, I was married to one!

[maley2711]

Waking up every 2-3 hr has become the norm for me for at least 6 years now. I haven't asked for help, and none has been offered,though both uro and RO were informed of my habits!