Re: Symptoms Much Worse At Night

On 28 Sep 2005 05:23:39 -0700, "kap" <stevkaprel@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>I started having urinary problems about seven years ago. About 3 l/2
>years ago, I began to have "almost" acute urinary retentions at night
>(almost completely blocked but going away in an hour or an hour and a
>half). A month ago, I had my first AUR and catheterization.
>
>All of the "almosts" and the AUR occured at night. I am always ok
>during the daytime, except for frequency.
>
>Is this experience typical? Does it suggest any kind of syndrome in
>particular?

I have had similar experiences. My problem is that my flow becomes
slow when my bladder is nearly full, and flow stops altogether when it
is too full. Very nasty... in other words, when I need to pee the
most, I can't pee at all.

In the first years I had retention only during the day, caused by such
things as having to drink 4 glasses of water for an ultrasound. These
days my problems are more at night... probably because I have
developed some degree of urgency that ensures I pee in time when I'm
awake (and I defy the radiologists by not drinking all that water
before ultrasounds), and because my bladder size has become less. That
latter fact means I get up two or three times during the night... but
because I'm asleep, I might get up a bit too late, when my bladder is
over-full. Then peeing is very difficult or (occasionally) impossible.

When I'm critically full, typically I can (with great effort) produce
a few cc's but can't sustain flow. So it stops after maybe 5-10 ccs.
Then I temporarily feel great relief and no need to pee any more...
even though I'm still critically full, with an aching bladder. I have
to wait about 5 min before I can produce another batch, hopefully with
more volume than before. In this way, with each 5-min session, I can
increase the flow stepwise and rescue myself. This requires about
20-45 minutes total.

Sometimes I just can't produce enough in these intervals to equal the
inflow from the kidneys... and then I go into complete retention,
unable to produce even a drop.

So then it is time to go to emerg for a catheter. But my experiences
there have been bad... each time having to wait 2 hours or so for
relief. By then I have more than 1 liter in my bladder, and it is so
over-stretched that the capillary blood vessels are bleeding and there
is risk of permanent damage.

Nowadays I do self-catheterization (against the advice of my first
uro) ... no waiting and much less stress. If you want to do this,
better ask your uro about it or do it at your own risk.

My prostate is ~150 cc. I take Flomax and it has helped quite a bit to
reduce the incidence of retention.

Ed
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Symptoms Much Worse At Night
    ... I can't pee at all. ... >> In the first years I had retention only during the day, ... and because my bladder size has become less. ... >> My prostate is ~150 cc. ...
    (sci.med.prostate.bph)
  • Re: Symptoms Much Worse At Night
    ... I can't pee at all. ... > In the first years I had retention only during the day, ... and because my bladder size has become less. ... > My prostate is ~150 cc. ...
    (sci.med.prostate.bph)
  • Re: Symptoms Much Worse At Night
    ... My problem is that my flow becomes ... >>> In the first years I had retention only during the day, ... and because my bladder size has become less. ... >>> My prostate is ~150 cc. ...
    (sci.med.prostate.bph)
  • Would it be possible to resolve acute urinary retention by stimulating the prostate?
    ... A catheter relieves the condition, ... invasive and poses the risk of bladder infection. ... The last couple of times I have been catheterized for retention I ... urine flow began both THROUGH the catheter and AROUND the ...
    (sci.med.prostate.bph)
  • Re: My BPH Story
    ... Were you ever checked for retention? ... I NEVER allowed my bladder to get full. ... the catheter had been removed that I kept a log. ... visits to urinate, day visits and total for the 24 hour period. ...
    (sci.med.prostate.bph)