Hi everyone.
Just wondered whether anyone else feels like me at the moment. I feel as if I am starting to rattle with all the medication I am on:
Gabapentin for pain
Baclofen for spasms
Amitriptyline for MS hug and spasms
Buscapan for bladder spasms following Supra Pubic Catheter being fitted
Vitamin D high dose
Magnesium for night spasms
Think that’s it
Anyone else?
Have a good day.
Shazzie xx
Oooh good question Shazzie
Baclofen for spasms
Clonazepam for spasms and to help with sleeping
Amitriptyline for pain
Zopiclone (occasionally) for sleeping
Vitamin D
Calcium
Magnesium
Vitamin B12
I just started Cystistat treatment (not classified as a drug) for bladder urge
Thyroxine for under active thyroid.
Sue
Thanks for replying Sue.
You’re on a lot too. I am starting to feel I am full of tabs.
I seem to be taking something every couple of hours till bed time.
By the way Sue the Buscopan works really well for bladder spasms which causes me to bypass. Since I started Buscapan they have disappeared.
Oh forgot antibiotics I started on Saturday.
xx
Hi Shaz, since I came home from my cruise, I`ve been plagued with bladder spasms!??
I wet myself once whilst away, but had no spasms.
I`ve mentally fought off about 7 bladder spasms, yesterday, Saturday and today.
Wet myself this morning.
This despite using oxybutynin patches, and taking betmiga again.
The urine is clear and the catheter is flowing well.
Catheter change on Wednesday. I guess it`s ready for change.
It`s knackering trying to fight a spasm off.
Been to doc`s today for flu jab and also had urine tested…fine!
Right, my meds;
am
15mg lansoprazole…to stop acid reflux
50mg betmiga to calm bladder
oxybutynin patch mondays/fridays to calm bladder
1,000 glucosamine (not on script) for joints
cranberry tablet (not on script) to kep bladder clean
pm
75mg amitriptyline to stop nerve pain
2mg candesartin to control BP
300mg viazem to control BP
20mg atorvastatin to control cholesterol
That`s it!
Pollxx
I forgot Glucosamine!
I also forgot Castor oil gel caps plus Movicol for bowels (does that count as a drug?).
And sometimes D-Mannose (generally when I go on holiday as that’s the time when I’m most likely to get a UTI!)
Apparently I don’t have bladder spasms. That’s why the Botox didn’t work! The Cystistat is to reinforce the bladder wall lining. The idea is that urine can irritate your bladder, so there’s an urge frequency problem. I’ve only had dose one of 6 initial doses (one per week). If it works it’s once a month after that.
Bladders!!! That’s my new swear word!
Sue
That’s enough Poll. We can all rattle together
You poor thing. Bladder spasms are horrible and the wetting yourself is really horrible.
As you know, I’ve got a UTI. I was getting bladder spasms terrible. I was wetting myself 3 to 4 times a day last week. I was really tearful which isn’t like me at all. A district nurse came to take a urine sample and it came back as having a UTI. Thank god they found it.
Like you say Poll probably time for a catheter change. They changed mine 3 weeks after my last change and all is working ok now.
I really hope you get sorted as it is a real pain.
Glad you enjoyed your lovely cruise.
Take care sweets.
Shazzie xx
That’s terrible Shazzie, poor you. And you were so happy with the SPC. Hopefully the antibiotics will sort out those pesky bugs.
Wetting myself is usually the first sign of an infection for me. But it must be a bit of a shock to have it happen just as you’ve got used to the SPC.
I probably self test for infection about twice a week just lately (because of the urge thing).
Sue
Yes Sue it was a bit upsetting. I was really happy with the SPC then all of a sudden everything went wrong. I was in the same boat as I was before the SPC. Did you get a self testing kit from the chemist?
Shazziex
I get self test strips from Amazon. But you can get them from other places. Do a search for ‘urinalysis strips’. Prices vary (which is why I get them from Amazon, they seem the cheapest). The best brand is Siemens (or Bayer - they are apparently the same).
If you decide to start self testing this is how you do it:
You need strips that are either 8SG tests or 10SG tests, it doesn’t matter which so long as they test the things I’ve listed below (from Amazon, for some reason the 10SG strips are cheaper than the 8x! See: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Siemens-Multistix-Professional-Reagent-Strips/dp/B002E2OMN8/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1476107271&sr=8-1&keywords=Urinalysis+Siemens )
Start with a clean urine sample (i.e. a fresh sample, so when you’ve just attached a clean leg bag to your SPC or into a clean pot for anyone without an SPC).
Dip the test strip into the wee for a few seconds
Wait up to 2 minutes.
The coloured squares on the side of the canister show you what no infection looks like on the left hand side and go across to the right for a positive test. You read from the bottom up as the time taken for results is in that order. A positive result won’t necessarily be the colour of the square on the far right, maybe just the middle.
What you’re looking for is the results for leucocytes (which indicates inflammation), nitrites and protein (indicating infection), also possibly blood, but obviously there could be other reasons for blood appearing.
If you find you have pale pink leucocytes but nitrites and protein are normal, just drink lots of water through the day and retest the following morning. It’s possible that with an SPC you might find the leucocytes are up a tiny bit occasionally anyway.
When I’ve got a definite positive infection, generally it doesn’t take anything like 2 minutes for the leucocytes to go purple and the nitrites almost instantly go bright pink too.
Obviously, if you self test positive for an infection, you also need to get a sample to your GP to test and prescribe antibiotics.
The other thing to keep in mind is that you must keep the test strips completely dry. So either don’t keep them in the bathroom or keep them in a sealable plastic bag. If they’ve got slightly damp, you can tell by the leucocytes indicator being pink before you start. (So you’d get a false positive for leucocytes)
It sounds more complicated than it is. And it is reassuring if you feel like you might have an infection.
Sue
I’m on tizanidine for spasticity
20mg amitriptyline for pain
toviaz for bladder
fish body oil
multi vitamins and minerals
Bpropolis
milled flaxseed
david
Thanks Sue. That is so helpful. I’ll have a look on Amazon.
Does sound a bit complicated but my brain could do with a bit of exercise Lol!!
And thanks David for answering.
It’s fascinating how we are offered different drugs to help with the same symptoms.
Shazzie
I take 6mp and mesalazine for my crohn’s. I also take co-codemol, citalopram, prochloperazine, plaquinel, metformin, budeasonide, buscapan, salbutamol inhalor, and occasionally tramadol and oramorph when the pain gets really bad.
My doctor is going to change some of them in the next few weeks though. Will probs have to add in blood pressure tablets too xxx
No problem if you need me to rephrase how I wrote it. Sometimes that helps. Just pm me Shazzie.
Sue
Blinkin ek that’s a lot. Hope they do what they are supposed to do.
I tried reducing my Gabapentin and Baclofen a few weeks ago and boy did I know it the spasms were horrendous so I know mine are helping.
Take care.
Shazzie x
I used to take baclofen for stiffness in my legs and spasms in my feet. I don’t take them now, as the problems don’t last long.
I figured one less drug would be good.
Baclofen doesn’t have any effect on bladders, so I was told.
Pollx xx
Wet meself again!
Tramadol pain
Pregabalin nerve pain
Isobride mononitrate keep arteries open
Tablet for bladder
Tablet for tummy to protect from aspirin
Thyroxine
Simvastatin
Methotrexate as a did and immune suppressant
Folic acid to stop methotrexate making me sick
One day maby cut some off them out
Blimey that’s some list. Several of your drugs are to protect against side effects from other drugs.
Makes me think I’m lucky to get away with the drugs I take.
Sue
i take tecfidera x 2 a day
amitriptyline
trimethoprim - one at night to keep away the UTI
assorted supplements if and when i remember.
i stopped all my pain meds because they all have nasty side effects, to be honest the pain level is much then same
carole x
Hi Sue i do this mine are from Bayer its very easy to do.
One thing though. I did a test and it clearly showed I had an infection. I sent the test to my surgery and they text me to say the sample was clear of infection. So that was weird. I did it again in a new clean bottle, again it showed i had an infection, so i thought i would just take my antibiotics which i have anyway, and after a few days the symptoms and spasms stopped so did the burning.
I am now wondering what happened. Very odd.
Hi Sue i do this mine are from Bayer its very easy to do.
One thing though. I did a test and it clearly showed I had an infection. I sent the test to my surgery and they text me to say the sample was clear of infection. So that was weird. I did it again in a new clean bottle, again it showed i had an infection, so i thought i would just take my antibiotics which i have anyway, and after a few days the symptoms and spasms stopped so did the burning.
I am now wondering what happened. Very odd.