New catheter user - advice please

Hello! Yesterday I had a catheter fitted as Im not emptying my bladder properly. I’m waiting for the contenience nurse to come out in a couple of weeks to show me how to self catherterise. The problem is that i constantly feel i need a wee. Its a uncomfortable feeling. To make matters worse I actually wet myself twice yesterday and ended up in tears telling my husband I wanted to give up before I’ve even started! How can I wet myself when I’ve had a catheter fitted?!

I’d really appreciated any help/tips/advice on this. Thanks

hi kas

self catherising is tricky at first.

the urethra is a bugger to find. (i spent many an hour desperately searching)

but it gets easier.

i do it in the shower where i feel relaxed.

have you been given any medication to calm your bladder?

betmiga is the best and it has saved me a fortune on tena lady!

persevere because it’s worth it.

carole x

Hiya

Sorry to hear you’re struggling.

When you say you had a catheter fitted yesterday do you mean a Supra Pubic Catheter or are you self catheterising?

Shazzie x

i wondered that too shazzie.

at least we both replied

carole x

yeh, me wondering too.

if you are wetting yourself and wonder why when you have a catheter fitted, then I reckon it must be an in-dwelling urethral catheter, or a supra pubic catheter.

But with both of these you dont exactly self catheter…?

unless you are emptying with the valve…and not on permanent drain into a bag…?

I have never done the self catheterising myself.

You can by-pass with both types of catheter. It`s happened to me a lot over the years.

It can be caused by a kinked tube, a build up of debris in your bladder, a uti, or a blocked catheter tube.

Hope you get sorted hun.

Dont give up, it can take some getting used to, as we all go through these times.

pollx

I was wondering too, nearly answered then thought one of you SPC users would understand.

Is it an indwelling catheter until you learn to self catheterise? If so, it’s a strange way of going about things. If you’ve got an indwelling and you’re leaking, maybe on Monday you should get straight on to your continence nurse and figure out what’s going on.

Normally when people aren’t emptying properly and it’s decided to start them on self catheterising, they leave you as you are until you start ISC. And if you’ve got continence problems, they’ll sort you out with pads and maybe even bypass the ISC and head straight for SPC.

Kas, can you straighten us out as to what kind of catheter you’ve been given? Then maybe one of us who has experience of that exact thing can try to help.

Sue