I didn’t see if this was addressed earlier in the thread, but have you gone to another urologist for a second opinion?
Keep up updated, please.
Update: So, I’ve been wearing a pissbag for just under a week now. It’s a standard Foley urethral cath and they’re looking into the possibility of fitting me up with a continent stoma which, if I understand the procedure correctly, is something that would suit me quite nicely. I just have one problem and, since we have some very knowledgeable contributors in this thread, I thought I’d post the question here. My question is this:
JEEEZUS MOTHERLOVIN’ TITTY-FUCKIN’ CHRIST ON CIABATTA I HATE THIS FUCKING CATHETER!!! Hate it! Just hate it to fucking death. I was expecting it to hurt. I was prepared for that! Oh, if only it hurt! But no, I wasn’t that lucky. The little fucker outsmarted me, gave me something I didn’t expect. It itches. I mean, constantly, with every step, it evokes a delicious, exquisite agony of boring, burrowing deep-rooted itching that drives me to absolute distraction. I swear, the relief I get from scratching it? Better than sex. Seriously.
Is there anything I can do about this? I’m already meticulous with my hygiene. I’ve started taking two showers a day as a matter of course, and I always make sure everything is sterilised. Is this normal? Are there any remedies? Cheers.
You have my sympathy, oh yes, you do. Standard disclaimer - I’m not a doctor, you’re not my patient, call your urologist, etc. Meanwhile, I’ll give you some ideas based on my experience.
Where does it itch? The tip of the penis? The inside (i.e., does it feel like your whole urethra itches)? Do you have an “itchy” feeling all the way up in your bladder? Your urethra may simply be irritated from being catheterized, especially if the urologist had to dilate you to get it in. If this is the case, you WILL heal and it will stop itching. Sadly, I have no remedies for the meantime.
You mentioned that you’re taking extra showers - do you have crusty stuff collecting where the catheter exits the penis? Gooey stuff? A bit of yellowish crud is normal (in my experience). I think it’s just mucus that would normally be washed out during urination.
Does the end of your penis look red or swollen? More than a little crud? Could be an infection. Your urologist can culture anything you might be growing and prescribe accordingly
What color is the catheter? If you have a yellow-ish one, it may have some latex content. You could be reacting the latex (latex sensitivity are relatively common). If this is the case, your urologist should be able to outfit you with a latex-free catheter (they exist).
Also, 9 out of 10 for profanity and invective. “Christ on ciabatta” is both unusual and an excellent use of imagery, evoking the sightings of Christian religious figures on tortillas, toast, and other bakery products.
Have you talked to your doctor about the itching? Did it start immediately when they placed the Foley, or after a couple of days? Has the Foley been withdrawn and reinserted, even an inch or two? Has it been replaced with a new one? What is your changing schedule? Who is changing it - you or a nurse?
The three possibilities I can think of are allergy, infection, and possibly the wrong size catheter. Using the wrong size more commonly causes pain than itching, but nerves are weird, and what makes one person’s nerves send “pain” signals causes “itch” in others. It could be a cath with latex, although those are pretty rare nowadays. Even if you haven’t been allergic before, you could have developed a latex allergy now. Infection would be the most likely culprit if you see any unusual discharge, see redness and swelling and if your penis feels hotter or colder than normal to the touch.
Definitely need to bring this to the attention of your doctor. The longer it’s been itching, the sooner you need to talk to him. Try calling the office - it’s just vaguely possible that he’s used to this, not worried about it, and will prescribe you something for it over the phone and save the office visit. Maybe an antihistamine, maybe a urinary tract analgesic like Pyridium (which turns your urine Gatorade orange, so don’t be alarmed.)
Incidentally, intermittant self-catheterisation is probably a non-starter for me. Last Friday I had to go to my ER because I had fallen into complete and total urinary retention. I mean, not a drop was coming out of there. Anyway, a nurse tried teaching me how to self-catheterise. Didn’t work. Then we tried again, this time with a smaller, pre-lubed catheter. Still nothing. I was getting them in about 6 inches but kept butting up against a blockage (about which more later). And all this time I was getting fuller and fuller.
Then the nurse tried catheterising me with the same sort of tube. She couldn’t do it. Anyway, she scurries off to get a doctor. I dunno where she went to get him but I was left sitting there for nearly a full hour with a bladder which felt like it was approaching the size of a basketball, but she eventually found one (a doctor! In a hospital! Imagine that) and he tried having a go. The doctor (the fucking doctor!) couldn’t do it, and now I was stuck in complete agony because my bladder was now fully distended and was probably bigger than a fucking basketball by then. This doctor makes an emergency call to the urology department, comes back in the room and tells me they’re sending their “Top man”. I’m serious, he really said that, like Indiana Jones!
So I sit and I wait, and wait, and wait. I’m near tears by this point (doesn’t take much) and in my desperation I take a catheter that had been left on the side and I try again, but only succeed in cutting myself, as the catheter comes out slicked in blood. Lovely.
Anyway, in comes the “Top man” and I have to say, in grudging admiration, that he lived up to his billing. He was brandishing what was obviously a very heavy duty cath. I mean, this thing was a fucking snake. The kind of thing you might see being brandished by a masked man in a hardcore gay bondage film. By this point, I don’t give a fuck and I let the man get on with it.
Oh. My. God. I’ve never felt pain like it. Not to get too graphic, but it felt like someone had poured boiling acid straight down my urethra. And when it hit the bladder neck, I literally screamed like a great big girl. A girl with a receding hairline, and a cock. But then, oh sweet blessed relief! They hooked me up to a bag and within five minutes it had filled up with a liter and a half of warm, shimmering, yellowey-orangey piss! A liter and a half! That’s almost three pints! I was amazed. It was definitely a personal best.
They took that catheter out the next day but unfortunately I still couldn’t piss under my own power. Again, they tried showing me how to self-catheterize, and again I failed. Again, I went into retention and again I had to through the rigamarole of having a half-dozen doctors and nurses queue up for a shot at catheterising me. The lucky winner that night was a young asian junior doctor named Gupta, although I never worked out if that was his first name or his last name, who, after literally saving my fucking life with this procedure, found himself on the receiving end of my, shall we say, overly effusive gratitude. I got out of bed, pulled up my jeans, and gave him the biggest hug I’ve ever given anyone, all the while shouting “I love you, Gupta. You’re a fucking angel on earth, and you don’t get paid enough!” He’s only a little fella. I lifted him clean off the floor! I don’t think he minded, though. He knew it was meant with love.
I’ve been wearing a catheter ever since. The only interlude was a cystoscopy I had on Wednesday which revealed no blockages, swellings or strictures of any kind that might explain my original retention. However, the exam did reveal that my muscles in that area are unusually tight, and have a tendency to spasm violently in the presence of foreign objects, which would explain why I, and so many trained medical personnel, had such trouble catheterising me.
I’m due for one further appointment, this time with a team of specialised nurses who will unite under one banner in a quest to teach me how to skewer myself with silicon tubing without kicking up a stink about it. After that, they’re gonna start drawing up plans for the stoma.
So yeah, in summary: fun week.
Yep, right at the tip. And only when I’m walking about, too. I’m lying down at the moment and it’s fine
i did, but only on the first day. Since then I haven’t seen any.
Not swollen, and no crud, but definitely a little red. Then again, I’m having to nip off to the nearest bathroom every ten minutes to scratch the bastard, so I suppose that might be par for the course. My doctor’s had a look and didn’t seem concerned, given the circumstances.
It’s a grey one. I think it might be silicon.
Why thank you kindly, good sir :). May The Lord continue to communicate His will to man via the medium of baked goods.
My husband had a “piss bag” when I met him. He had also had a number of prior long-term girlfriends he had had plenty of sex with.
You are correct, there are quite a few women who would run for the hills at the first mention of “piss bag”. There are also quite a number of us women who can cope with the issues involved. You are doing yourself a disservice with the notion that such an “appendage” means you will never have sex or a girlfriend or a wife. Yes, it’s an obstacle. It’s not insurmountable.
My husband used an external catheter, sometimes called a “Catholic condom” (there’s a hole at both ends). The rubber sleeve rolled over his dick and the lower end was attached to a tube that drained into a bag he wore strapped to his leg. He has since changed to intermittent catherization. He did, at one point, require a procedure to dilate his urethra which had scarred up over the years due to urinary infections, but that’s another matter.
Alright, that’s second hand, but -
- He has been able to get erections all the years I’ve known him
- He removed the thing to masturbate and when we have had sex
- Our sex life has been quite happy these past 23 years
I understand that at the moment this is all still very new to you and you’re going through a lot of adjustments. One reason the pissbag wasn’t that much of an issue with hubby and me is that HE was so matter-of-fact about the whole thing. When you find a comfortable/tolerable solution to your current problems I hope you can relax about the social issues a bit. They won’t disappear - there are some people out there for whom it’s a show-stopper - but I hope you find it much less an obstacle than you fear it to be. However, right now, your urological problems and health are important. Research your options and try to find the optimum one for you. Good luck and best wishes.
i have told my doc and, while he wasn’t sure what it was, he’s given me some antibiotics just in case it’s an infection. It started about a day after they replaced the Foley and, during that time, I wouldn’t be surprised if it had withdrawn an inch or two purely by virtue of the fact that I’ve been walking around.
My doctor said that the catheter was designed to stay in for three months, so there’s no changing schedule to speak of.
i’m not sure what the cath is made of (although I have a feeling it might be silicone. I think I remember seeing that on the packaging) so it may well be a latex allergy. I’ve got another appointment with my GP on Monday so I’ll be sure to raise that possibility.
Thanks, as usual, for your very useful advice. It’s really appreciated.
Broomstick: thank you very much for sharing. It’s made me feel a lot better. I’m definitely very neurotic about the possibility of being rejected over this. I have trouble dealing with rejection anyway, and a full time bag would only make it more likely. I’m very gratified to hear first hand testimony which shows that it needn’t be a complete impediment. Thanks again 
Even if you have a catheter you do not need to wear a bag. The end can be fitted with a Flip-flow valve. You open this when you feel full.
I wore a Foley for 3-months. You can wank any time you want to. They dont fit your tube so tight that the spunk cannot run down the outside.
Actually I like wanking with one in.
Brian.
Ugh. I hate urologists. Since suffering a spinal cord injury just about 13 years ago, every single urologist I have every visited (with the exception of one-my current urologist) has told me I need to use a catheter. They have told me this despite the fact that I do not need a catheter! In the time that I have been paralyzed, I have never suffered a UTI or had ANY bladder or kidney issues (whatsoever). I think doctors are SO programmed to assume that someone with a spinal cord injury NEEDS to cath that when someone comes to them presenting a case where they aren’t cathing, it automatically means they are doing something less-than-optimal.
But I feel more-than-sure that I am doing what is best for me. The only concrete reason any doctor has pointed to when saying I need to cath is when looking at how completely I empty my bladder. But this is an area of contention amongst different doctors; with some saying anything above 75ml remaining in the bladder is too much and could lead to problems and others saying as much as 150ml (or even more) is tolerable. Either way, I know that I have been healthy all this time, so why fuck things up with a catheter? I CAN feel everything, so I am in no hurry to stick a tube up my dick.
Money, money, money. That’s Big Cath for you.
PS. Post 31? Best bump ever.