Pain when I catheterize

[joeven]

Hi,

I have had my my Indiana Pouch for over 4 yrs now and use a the clear plastic type cath to drain my bladder. I cannot use the softer red cath in my stoma as I can't get it in me. Anyway, my problem is that over the last year it has become very painful to cath myself. Not fun at all! My Dr indicates scar tissue has developed. He can stretch the passage way but say there is a risk of more leakage. I do use lidocare with some minor relif.

Does anyone have any suggestions how I might solve my pain problem.

Thanks in advance for you assistance.

Joe

[Charles_in_Tx]

See the previous discussion and look for the post by MDG:Here's a link that might help.

http://www.uoaa.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7086

[squid56]

Hi Joe,
I alos use a stiffer clear plastic catheter for my pouch- I use Mentor coude ones. Since you know it from scar tissue has your doctor ever discussed leaving a Foley for a few weeks to keep it stretched? It may help to break up the scar tissue, at any rate it is just a thought. My uro has me do this periodically for different reasons. You can try asking yours what he thinks of that. Mine is 16 years old.

[joeven]

Thanks for the tip. I will discuss it with him. Sounds like a great idea. Do you have the same pain ssues when you cath? Does leaving in the foley cath seem to help with the pain? Does leaving in the cath for that time period hurt your ability to be continent? How often do you do it and for how long? To function normally I would guess you strap a bag to your body? I hope you don't mind me asking these questions as I have no experience with keeping in a foley catheter for any lenght of time. Any other suggestions you may have regarding this matter or others relating to our situation will me much appreciated.
Thank you very much,
Joe

[Carl W]

You might try going down a size on the cath. I had been using a 14 fr with much pain, and switched to a 12 fr. Much less pain, and still drains fine.

[superauntie]

You might try a different catheter. I use LoFric Plus hydrophillic catheters in my mitrofanoff stoma when I empty my bladder, and they work really good. They have a coating on them that's activated with water to make the outside of the catheter slippery, so its easier to insert and less painful. They are also made of soft but firm material that's PVC and latex free.
Another thing you might need to do is go to a lower French size. I had to do this when I had my mitrofanoff surgery. I went from a 14 fr to a 12fr.

Jessie

[rikki]

i find i have trouble when i wait too long to cath. also if i have a lot of trouble getting the catheter in i lie down to get it in. of course you will need to cork the catheter because it is hard to pinch it closed and stand up at the same time.

[superauntie]

i find i have trouble when i wait too long to cath. also if i have a lot of trouble getting the catheter in i lie down to get it in. of course you will need to cork the catheter because it is hard to pinch it closed and stand up at the same time.

Another thing you can do if you lie down to cath is to attach the funnel end of the catheter to a leg bag. This way, nothing drips when you stand back up or transfer to another chair. Bard makes really good leg bags in all sorts of sizes.

Jessie

[blueslover]

I occasionally get pain when I cath. I use a little bit of lidocain that my uro gave me. I sueeze it in just prior to cathing and this helps a freat deal. it comes in a special sryinge. You might check into it. I use it when I have to dialte my pouch.