www.incontinentsupport.org

Hi everyone,

I am new here although I have been a lurker for a while now, Im Steven I am 29 and I ISC for almost a year now.
I initally had problem with retention and had catheters in for weeks on end, I am still waiting for a diagnosis but in the mean time ive had problems cathing, I should cath 4 times a day but I havnt really been able to stick to this.

The problem is that I will be fine for a few weeks and then I will have weeks were I cannot get the catheter in as it is to painful which in turn leads to more problems (pain,spasms and some leaking), sometimes I think it would be less painful to have a foley left in for a few days to give me a break but I dont think this would really be an option.

I am also waiting for a colonoscopy due to bouts of bleeding,chronic diarrhoea (4 years now without a break, I have been given medication to help this but the complications I am left with makes it not worth it) and to top it off I have had a couple of episodes of bowel inco at the height of it.

I would appreciate any input and your point of views on the cathing situation.

Thanks for reading

Steven,
I'm sorry I cannot help you on the use of catheters as I do not utilize them. I can however, maybe give you some guidance on your bowel issues. My guess if you're having frequent diarrhea for the last 4 years, you could have none other than IBS. Due to your frequent stools, you may have a hemorrhoid which could cause rectal bleeding. I'm not a doctor and I'm not trying to make an internet diagnosis. I'm just going off of my own case. I too have IBS with chronic diarrhea. I have some small hemorrhoids that really do no harm so I don't do anything to correct them. But they do cause some bleeding after a bowel movement. Especially if my bowels are really active. The hemorrhoids have been confirmed on my colonoscopy and are caused by frequent stools. I feel that a colonscopy will do you some good and maybe give you some ideas as to the cause of your bowel troubles. And bowel incontinence is not unheard of in IBS. I get bowel incontinence issues quite frequently. Frequent diarrhea is a good contributing factor to fecal incontinence. What other tests have you had? Are you seeing a Gastroenterologist? My Gastro doc did a CT scan of my abdomen region, blood tests, stool tests, and a colonscopy w/ endoscopy as well. Keep us posted.

Hi Don,

Thanks for the reply.

Currently I am not seeing Gastroenterologist, I have some other underlying conditions and my doctor said she would arrange for the colonscopy, this will prob take some time as their is a long waiting list.
At the moment the diarohea seems to have settled somewhat, on the other hand I have very bad bladder spasms at the moment and I have been unable to insert a catheter for the last two days, I am able to void somewhat on my own and I am leaking a fair amount so I have not become overdistended yet.

If things are not back to normal in the next day or two I think I will have to get in contact with the continence nurse and see what they make of it.

I will keep you updated...

hello steven,

i am also fairly new here and years ago i used to isc and also encountered the pain you describe.

just a thought that it could be when you insert the cath the pain may be trying to get it past the sphincter muscle. some suggest using Instillagel to lube the catheter before hand.

i sadly failed with isc and due to my bladder size was changed to spc catheter which is reversible.

as for bladder spasms you can get different types of meds to stop these.

hope that your continence nurse will find a solution for you.

mike