I had first phase of J-pouch surgery in November 18. I’ve had a hellish time attempting to recover - I struggle to walk and make it to the bathroom unassisted some days; just sometimes too weak. Lots of fluid leakage from my rectum still, so I have to often go “poop”
One of my big struggles.. I CANT PEE! I have been warned by my surgeon it is a side affect that’s really common, but I can’t really feel my bladder that well at all so peeing is impossible. I can sometimes feel it in my urethra but I still can’t ger it out. Sometimes I will sit on the toilet for 10-15 minutes straight and just can’t release any urine. Any suggestions? I try running water and deep breathing but sitting in the toilet for these extended periods of time is friggen exhausting and I need to empty my bladder to prevent any worse issues.
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Are you drinking enough water? Since you’ve probably peed a bit since November: is it sometimes normal? When you do pee, is it always a struggle? Do you think you empty your bladder fully?
Scott F posted:Are you drinking enough water? Since you’ve probably peed a bit since November: is it sometimes normal? When you do pee, is it always a struggle? Do you think you empty your bladder fully?
sometimes it’s easier to pee than others. I try to dry a variety of fluids throughout the day and keep my bag contents thick so I’m not continuously just losing fluids.
But since surgery it’s always taken Atleast a few minutes to let the pee down, but I can’t get it out after two days and I can feel SOMETHING I think, so I’m trying so hard to get it out. I try to sit there and let it out as long as I can to make sure it empties but I honestly have no way of knowing
You might be getting dehydrated, especially if you are reducing your fluid intake to try to make your output thicker. When you do pee, is it dark colored or light colored?
Scott F posted:You might be getting dehydrated, especially if you are reducing your fluid intake to try to make your output thicker. When you do pee, is it dark colored or light colored?
Honestly I don’t get the chance to check my pee colour because I have a lot of butt leakage so it mixes together before I get the chance to look. And for the last two days I haven’t even been able to pee to check it. But I feel as though i need to pee in my urethra, not my bladder. And I’ve been trying to drink constantly to hopefully force it out but I’m almost worried it’s stuck and drinking is making it worse
and today I haven’t gotten the chance to get up and go to the bathroom ( it’s really getting hard for me to move around without someone basically carrying me. I’m degrading quickly I swear) so I’ve been even been here in diapers all day trying and still can’t
Two days without peeing starts to be risky for your kidneys. It sounds like you’ve got something pretty serious going on, and you need medical attention. I don’t know if you’re better off calling your doctor or heading into an Emergency Department - it kind of depends on your doctor. Although EDs tend to know nothing about J-pouches, they’re likely to understand your ileostomy. They can easily place a catheter to distinguish between urinary retention (the pee getting stuck) vs. not producing enough. I hope you feel better soon!
Scott F posted:Two days without peeing starts to be risky for your kidneys. It sounds like you’ve got something pretty serious going on, and you need medical attention. I don’t know if you’re better off calling your doctor or heading into an Emergency Department - it kind of depends on your doctor. Although EDs tend to know nothing about J-pouches, they’re likely to understand your ileostomy. They can easily place a catheter to distinguish between urinary retention (the pee getting stuck) vs. not producing enough. I hope you feel better soon!
See easily place a catheter sounds like an easy fix but I have severe anxiety and honestly couldn’t let the nurses recatheter me after I was awake. I tried but every time they came near me I had a panic attack and started screaming and it was horrible. I have terrible issues with it; I always feel so horrible and apologize profusely the whole time because i feel like a total idiot but I’m a horrible horrible oatient
I had that problem too after the first surgery. It could take 45 minutes to pee. I was given flomax and my problem completely went away after a couple days. For the second surgery, I started flomax that day and didn't have any problems.
Kangaroo posted:I had that problem too after the first surgery. It could take 45 minutes to pee. I was given flomax and my problem completely went away after a couple days. For the second surgery, I started flomax that day and didn't have any problems.
What is flomax??
Flomax is a pill that helps relax the bladder, thus making it easier to pee. It's usually only given to men, but I'm female and it worked well.
Many years ago, I was thrown off by my horse and suffered a double spinal fracture (fortunately with no nerve damage). I was kept in a hospital bed for a number of days and was unable to urinate. None of the techniques the nurses tried to make me “go” worked and they had a catheter ready for use. Then a PT came with a corset so that they could get me up walking. After she put the corset on, I felt an urge to urinate and was successful. I strongly suggest that you discuss using a corset with your surgeon before trying it. Perhaps some external pressure on your bladder would ease your problem.