www.incontinentsupport.org

Last week I saw my urologist and he feels I should stay with a Foley catheter as I have retention and cannot urinate on my own. Since I been using the Foley catheter I physically feel better and I go out in public a lot more.
He said he does not give out prescriptions for then lightly but in my case it is the best way to go.
He also wants me to start to change my own catheter every four weeks.

It would be interesting to find out how many people on here use Foley catheters for incontinence.

Lyle

Lyle,

I do not use a Foley cath but my mother had a Foley for many years. She had MS and used a Foley for at least 10 years prior to her passing. My father changed her cath but I'm not sure how long between changes. I've not discussed using a Foley with my doctor. I'm not certain I want to use one due to all the UTI infections my mother went through over the years due to the cath. I don't retain urine. My bladder just pretty much releases small amounts throughout the day. I'm glad the Foley is working out for you and that you are able to get out in public more often.

DDS:

I am sorry for the loss of your mother that is always hard to handle.

You are right there are a lot of UTI’s when using an indwelling catheter.
Most urologists including mine will not right script for them just to handle incontinence when there are safer way to go.

I would not recommend a Foley to anyone there is way too many problems that goes along with it.
In my case I do find them much easier to use and comfortable most of the time. They give me a lot more freedom. Using a catheter is about as normal as one can get.

Lyle

I've tried a Foley. My bladder spasms so hard that it forces the urine out around it anyway and it's PAINFUL when it does that and I leak anyway.

Deen_ad

Was the catheter prescribed by a doctor?

What was the reason for using a Foley catheter?

2lyle

hi,

i was offered a foley catheter years ago but rejected it due to been in a relationship. years after i was then offered an spc catheter.

in respect of those bladder spasms, your body will treat a catheter as a foreign body and will try to reject it any way possible hence the spasms. it is like any foreign body, your body will tell you by giving pain etc.

there are medications which can be used to dull the spasms but it can take quite a while for your body to adjust, in my case i thought for a year before things finally settled.

if care is taken with catheters then infections can be kept to a minimum.

mike

Hi Mike

You are right your body dose treat a catheter as a foreign object and there are medications that can help with spasms.

In my case I never got spasms I have no feeling my bladder is flaccid the nerves that control it don’t work.
But I can understand people that do get spasms.

I am surprised your doctor offered you a Foley if you are getting along without it I am even more surprised he offered you a supper pubic or SPC catheter a supper pubic is let’s say a lot more invasive.

Like you mention taking care of a catheter is most important you can’t go too far with keeping it clean. Even with the best hygiene you will still get infections.

But on the bright side the new generations Foley help fight infections.

Incontinence is the pits

2lyle

lyle,

my last message was responding to Deen_ad with the bladder spasms, my self i have had a catheter in since 2008

just to let you know that i had a lot of tests around 1999-2000 and it showed my bladder was in retention which is why they wanted to put a foley catheter in. unfortunately things were not explained fully and i thought every thing was okay.

in the end i had a problem with night and day time retention, daytime i would not go to the toilette for many hours. don't really want to go into night time issues with retention as it brings back horrible memories for me.

i did spend quite sometime under a consultant trying to get things working trying different methods but over 4 years ago a surgeon then put a camera in me and when i came to i found i had a spc catheter, this was agreed if serious problems were found.

one thing if you are told that you may have bladder retention, my advise to anyone is not to ignore and hope it will go away like i did as you could end up stuck with a catheter for many years to come.

my diagnoses is irreversible incomplete emptying.

michael

Mike: It sounds like you have been put through the mill also.
When I was diagnosis with a flaccid bladder with retention I was told to self cathedral and I did for 3 years. But my neuropathy has effected my hands to the point making cathing difficult.

From there my doctor gave me my options which were few so we decided on a Foley catheter, right or wrong I have used them for a year and half now.
I suspect in time I will also be advise I need a Supper Pubic put in I am not looking forward to that.

I don't know if it is from self catching so long or what but a Foley catheter has not bothered me much I don't get spasms or most other problems associated with them. I do get sore where it enters I am told that is normal.

How is a Supper Pubic catheter any problems?

2lyle

lyle,

when i saw a surgeon years ago as mentioned he wanted me to have an indwelling catheter but back then sadly i was not given an alternative catheter to use like SPC. this has disastrous results. luckily for me i found a new surgeon who took me down the route of intermittent but to be honest i found it just too painful.

in the end as mentioned after fresh scans i was then fitted with a SPC catheter.

like any catheter they come with problems, it took more or less a year for the thing to settle down, when i first had it put in i had to contend with bleeding and soreness, it turns out that the catheter rubs on the inside of the bladder for a while and it was this part which was horrible, any way as time progressed my bladder toughened.

i have had my share of infections but they too have slowly dwindled.

it seems with these SPC catheters that if you are new to them you have to go through some kind of stage to get your body to adjust then after that they seem to become part of your body. most of the time you seem to forget it is there till it is time to change and clean the thing.

michael