Urinary Incontinence Support Group

Hi. First post here. I had to have surgery back in 2008 because my ureter had a blockage of about two inches, right above where it connects to the bladder on the left side. I ended up having to have the ureter cut (clearly) then reattached and my bladder tacked to the psoas muscle in my back (that part of the procedure is known as a psoas hitch, for those who haven't had it). Pathology lost the sample, so we never found out what actually caused the blockage (I had surgery for endometriosis two weeks before I ended up in the ER with kidney pain and had a stent put in the next morning- omg, the pain!!) but the working theory my RE and urologist went with is that at some point the laser must have arced during my laparascopy, even though my RE doesn't remember that happening during the surgery.

During the recovery from the PH, I was having bladder spasms, but being on the Detrol LA was controlling it fairly well. Back in September 2010 I had to go back to the urologist because I was having spasms and some infections (since the surgery, I have the symptoms of a bladder or UT infection, so I usually don't know if I have an infection, so I stopped going in all the time and hadn't been in in a year at that point). I think at some times I've been leaking a little too, though wearing panty liners or anything like that never got damp - not even my underwear would. It felt like I was leaking only the tiniest amount, but just the same, there should have been some evidence on the fabric or the panty liner?

I was given Prosed DS (I think it's DS, but I'm not sure) and it was SUCH a relief! It was the only thing that was controlling the bladder spasms - and these were just as bad as the ones I was having when I got out of surgery. Problem is the cost. It's incredibly expensive. I think I can get it covered now - new part D insurance - but now the spasms, for the most part, have disappeared again. Gone away as strangely as it appeared really.

Has anyone had this happen with bladder spasms? I'm only 26 - I had this surgery when I was 23. It's been a little discouraging to have this become an issue again.

But hi to all on this board!

Hi Greenlee,

Thanks for posting! It's always nice to see new people getting involved.

The extent of my bladder spasms are associated with my urge incontinence/overactive bladder. If my bladder is particularly agitated then spasms can get quite strong or frequent. That hasn't been the case for long while, praise God!

I've used Detrol LA to control my incontinence and it has been very effective for me. However, I am not a big fan of long-term med use, so I've tapered off my Detrol and have been managing fairly well with distraction techniques.

I have not heard of Prosed, but if it is extremely expensive then perhaps that's why! As much as possible, we try to stay within our insurance formulary preferences since 3 out of 5 of us take medications on regular (or fairly regular) basis.

As far as leakage, are you noticing odor? Sometimes I leak a little, though the dampness is minimal, sometimes I know that I've leaked because of odor. I should be more proactive about pad use, but I hate using things that I'm not always in need of "just in case". I hate pad use when I HAVE to use them, I certainly don't want to use them full-time when my need is sporadic.

Thanks again for joining us. I hope we can be of some support to you.

~Mary

There's odor, but I don't know if it's urinary or not, since I am always naturally "wet" as a woman anyway, so unless I have an infection, there's not a strong odor of any kind from down below.

I haven't been needing the Detrol lately, which is good because I've been horrid about taking my meds (bad, I know).

I'm really bad with meds, too. That's why I'm off my Detrol, too. As things get better, I tend to forget them; and as I manage to at get by without them, then I don't bother to restart them. I can't stand to take meds long-term. So far, so good.

~Mary

The detrol I take in the morning, so I've been better with that. Just about everything else has been stopped though, and it hasn't made a difference one way or another mostly. Though I miss being in control of my emotions