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Update as of today, (Wednesday june 18) got home from the 34 hour shift at work on Monday night after getting next to no sleep for a full day and a half. I was tired and cranky. I had the usual nighttime frequency 2-4 times getting up to go pee........I was still exhausted on Tuesday but we had guests coming for dinner so we spent the day getting the house ready for company. It's been hot, so I wore just a pad during the day yesterday, which seemed barely adequate for the job. However, it was too hot to wear a full diaper. So last night I had a minor bowel incontinent accident after dinner as my guests were leaving......wouldn't you know it, I was only wearing a pad, so I ruined a pair of boxer briefs.....I hope that was a one time thing.......I showered up and got cleaned up fairly quickly. I got dressed ( in a diaper this time) as I was I bed, the wife came in and told me the as going to put a foley in me before I went to bed, so I could get a full night's sleep. So here it is Wednesday afternoon and I still have the foley in. I'm probably going to just wear it to the urodynamics testing on Friday morning.......

Friday June 20....so urology office cancelled my urodynamics testing today......I'm so disappointed I was looking forward to having it over with......on the bright side, they are going to do the cystoscopy and the urodynamics on Tuesday, in one shot, it'll be all over and I'm hoping for some answers....but I have a 38 hour shift at work to get through between now and then, and I have been pretty miserable.....my wife put a Foley catheter in me again on Tuesday night so I could sleep, after I got home from work. This isn't a great solution but it is working, I am falling asleep easier, sleeping through the night, and waking up feeling reasonably well rested.....I can honestly say that I love this foley just for that!!!! I don't, however see it being a real long term solution for me as it has been for some of you folks......in the meantime I have enough catheter supplies to get me through a few more days, then I either need to raid the urologists office or have the doc write me a prescription for them, as it is the only thing that seems to work right now for what is believed to be OAB........but none of the OAB meds have worked so far.....when I am not catheterized I am wearing diapers, or a pad/pull-up combination to work......I had a minor bowel incontinence event the other night while I had house guests.......that was not too good......one more thing I neglected to mention is that I have been referred to a neurologist for a neuro consult, but that's not until August....so, gotta live with this until then.....

Hang in there until you get the testing done and find out what is wrong.... Then you can fall apart.. Interesting option with the Foley catheters. You are able to use one and sleep through the night. Be glad you have those available to you! It is not like you can run down to the CVS and pick those up.. And you have someone that knows what they are doing to enable you to use it without hurting yourself.
Myself, I have more testing next month on the 8th. So I will continue to "wait and see"...

Scott

Update as of Monday June 23: well, I'm at work for a 38 hour shift....I was pretty active with the bladder problems last night. Running to the toilet 4-5 times in the night. I am wearing the depends underwear for men with a depend pad for extra absorbency. Incontinence has been on the lighter side. I am trying my 3rd OAB med, Enablex.....I'm experiencing the constipation and dry mouth pretty severely......I'm done with medications and I feel pretty good about that. I'm not going to take any more. Tomorrow is it for those.......I'm going to live medication free......as far as OAB meds go....I got a prescription for Foley catheters from the urologist, and found a medical supply place to work with. My Insurance. The insurance company paid nearly $800 for catheter supplies while my out of pocket was like $23......pretty good I think. They don't cover diapers so, I'm on my own for those. I got a smoking deal on some diapers on eBay that should last me quite some time.
The urologist appointment is on for early tomorrow morning as soon as I get out of work. I have the cystoscopy AND the urodynamics testing tomorrow, I'm pretty nervous about it all. I want some answers but I am ready for the fact that there may not be any clear answers. I may just be managing this condition. He said that there may not be any fixing it, he was pretty frank about that. So we'll see what happens tomorrow.

PB&J32,

I hope your exams went well today and I look forward to your report.

Tuesday June 24: so today I had the cystoscopy and the urodynamics test that we were talking about earlier. The cystoscopy I have had before so it was a repeat procedure. The urodynamics I have not had before so that was a new thing and it was relatively unpleasant but I kind of expected that. What really had me reeling as I left there today was that they told me that both tests appeared to be completely normal......I am floored, and disappointed......I knew the cystoscopy would be normal, I've been through it already......but the urodynamics I expected to have some answers......the only answer was that it appeared as though nothing was wrong. Which makes me feel like a total head case. Have I been imagining things for the last four months??? I couldn't have been??? Wearing diapers and having catheters inserted for absolutely no reason at all??? I sure don't think so......but it would appear that the testing that was completed today is suggesting all that.......I know I was up 5 times peeing in the night two nights ago.....that's not made up........I know I leak and dribble after I pee.......I don't know.....,this has me second guessing myself.....the doctor is supposed to review and interpret the testing tomorrow......hopefully I'll hear something. He already told me he thought I was nuts when he read my chart, until he met me in person and he thought I was legit.....now he's going to be like, I WAS right, This kid IS crazy!!!!! Anybody else got anything else to add or similar experiences!??

It should be noted that no answer is still a legitimate answer for those tests as they rule out much more sinister underlying causes. For OAB a lot of times there may not be a reason nerves and detrussors firing off unexpectedly. This is why they will prescribe meds, offer excercises or possible surgeries to help reduce symptoms. I wish you had gotten a more concrete answer, but this does not mean you're crazy.

Wednesday June 25: I'm done with meds. I've been on 3 so far and all they've done is cause constipation and dry mouth without ever acting on the real cause of the problem.....the detrusor muscles maintained a steady flat line throughout the entire test......so they obviously aren't acting up.......at least not during the test where anybody could see them......I'm still waiting to hear from the doctors office to see what their interpretation of the tests were.....as far as I know they were all completely normal...... I feel like they're going to tell me there's nothing wrong with me and to just get on with life......I'm so discouraged......

Wife put my Foley catheter back in yesterday afternoon so I could sleep and I slept fantastic last night. She even let me sleep in real late this morning. It was almost 10am when I got out of bed......I felt awesome when I got up.......the latex catheters that they gave me at the urologists office seem to irritate my urethra.....the silicone one I had inserted in the ER was in for 5 days was comfortable and I had no issues......can anybody weigh in on this??? Silicone vs. latex???

Latex does seem to cause allergic reactions in many folks; however, it's so cheap that medical practices still use it. The better catheters are more expensive, so, if you need them, and you do, you need to insist on them. My experience with Foleys is pretty much limited to the one I had in me following my sphincterotomy in 1999. When they work, they are a godsend; when they do not work, agony often results.

The Foley catheters that the prescription paid for came today and are 100% silicone......she's going to change this catheter out later for me. The end of the urethra at the tip of my penis is pretty sore because of the catheter chafing it, which didn't seem to happen with the silicone catheter that I had in for 5 days......I had free run of the medical supply store when I purchased stuff so I bought the higher end foley stuff. Silver coated Silicone catheters etc.......the catheter trays were huge money but insurance paid for it all.....except for $23......oh well......if they'll pay $779.00 I guess I can pay the other $23 our of pocket www.edgepark.com those folks were a class act and vey helpful.....great to deal with, and fast shipping