Suprapubic catheter question.
Does too much activity when you have ... - Advanced Prostate...
Does too much activity when you have a suprapubic catheter cause the bladder to slough more tissue which plugs cath and causes spasms?
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Stressbaker
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I look forward to seeing replies to your question because it has been my own theory about my husband's 2-year struggle with blockages/clots that developed 4 or so years after IMRT to pelvic area. It seems every time he overexerts himself it gets worse.
I am not sure I understand the question. What do you mean by “more activity” and what does “slough more tissue” mean.
I have had an SPC for 5 years and have never had a blocked catheter or any other issue. Now I should say that I operate mine via a flip/flo valve so my bladder operates as a normal bladder, filling up over several hours and then being emptied when full. Thus it gets a full “flush” several times a day. I can understand that there may be problems if the catheter is directly connected to a leg bag so that the bladder never fills and I would imagine atrophies over time.
Sorry, just not sure exactly what the problem is.
Chas
I do not have a SC yet and hope to avoid it. I slough tissue and clotted blood but have never figured out when it is more or less likely to happen. I got some 20 fr flushing catheters which have very large lumens and can pass rather large clots. I live far from medical care and prefer to do simple things myself, like minor surgery catheters etc.
My husband has recently started golfing and hiking again with his SPC and soon his cath was so plugged he couldn’t flush it out, which resulted in a trip to the ER. Resulted in many painful bladder spasms. He is just wondering if the extra activity caused the bladder to slough off tissue more than with no activity, which caused the plugging of the SPC.
Your husband's experience conforms to what happens with my guy. The urologist has never mentioned this, even, but I have observed after more activity than usual, he gets the sloughing / blood clots. too. My guy is 78, has to self-cath 4xday + depends. Uro said permanent Foley woud follow when this stops working, but I'd like to explore the supra-pubic. At this point my husband is extremely limited in his mobility -- standing/ walking means lots of leakage. ..
Question for anyone..... what caused your need for suprapubic catheter? Stricture from surgery or radiation? Something else?
Yes. Stricture from radiation 8 years ago.
As I understand it's caused by radiation damage to healthy tissue that forms scars that over time can build up & slough off as clots, etc. Not enough information out there about "radiation cystitis," as it's called. It does appear to be a delayed side effect from the radiation to pelvic area, which my husband had for a recurrence 18 months after the radical prostatectomy.
I’ve had spc since Dec. 2019. Used leg and bed bag with no issues until July 2021 when I started using a plug daytime and bed bag at night. No issues until about a month ago when I started having episodes of mild bleeding and a few clots every 3 to 5 days. Urologist says it’s normal with the radiation damage to my bladder. He said to only worry if bleeding is continuous. I’ve been thinking the incidents of bleeding may be related to activity, particularly lifting heavy items, ie bags of mulch and buckets of garden debris, but I haven’t tracked it closely enough to be sure. I’ll keep closer track for a while.
A bit of background: I had 8 weeks of radiation in Jan. - Feb. 2016. Self cath after that with no issues until spring 2019. TURP was little help and then I developed fistula to the pubic bone which led to massive bone and muscle infection. Horrible few months incapacitated until two surgeries December 2019 to debride infection and repair fistula. Left hospitals with spc and 8 weeks home antibiotic infusion. Slow but complete recovery. Active and healthy until recent bleeding, which is worrying, but not limiting.
Cut down on the Hula Hooping.............
Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.
j-o-h-n Wednesday 03/30/2022 10:36 PM DST
I have had repeated issues with blockages forming in the radiation damaged urethra and resulting ER visits. I might have a suggestion, at least it helped me a lot. Eat more fibre and specifically several prunes each morning. Find a balance that keeps stool very soft but not diarrhea.
My theory, the urethra runs very close to the rectum. So hard stool can cause straining and the tube to move around and dislodge scar tissue leading to bleeding and plugging.
No downside to adding fibre. Worth a try to see if it helps. Good luck
My husband has had a suprapubic catheter since August 26th. It seems like he really can’t do anything without creating clots. He also has a lot of fatigue. Is this normal?
I don’t know what normal is. My hubby has had an SPC since last Thanksgiving. He is now on a schedule of going to the hospital to have the tube changed every 2 weeks. Since starting to go that often he doesn’t plug up any more. He doesn’t seem to have fatigue specifically but because of constant discomfort and pain he is extremely inactive. Most men go 4-6 weeks between changes.
Hmmm it has been 6 weeks since he had it put in, maybe it’s time for a tube change. Hubby also deals with constant discomfort and pain.
