Hi everyone
Hope you are all coping with this wet and windy weather we are having.
Just a quick question for ladies who self catherisation please. I have been doing this for about 4 months now and doing everything the nurse told me, taking extra care with cleanliness before starting, but in the last month I have had 2 uti’'s. I have taken a sample to gp and take n the appropriate antibiotics, but do any of you know any tips to stop keep getting them please.
Pam x
That was happening to me too. I now take a low dose antibiotic each night. Not ideal, but was recommended by my urologist and it has done the trick. Sarah x
Thanks Sarah, I will mention this at my next appointment if they dont.
Just so frustrating as I know I have been following all the instructions to the limit.
Pam x
I am naturaly not a girlie made out of all this nice I am a boy made out of puppy dog tails and What are little boys made of?
What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails
And puppy-dogs’ tails
That’s what little boys are made of
What are little girls made of?
What are little girls made of?
Sugar and spice
And everything nice [or “all things nice”]
That’s what little girls are made of[1
I had UTI after UTI AND often on changing an indwelling catheter ended up in A&E due to bleeding so now have a supra pubit catheter and I think only four UTI’s in five years. Food for thought. I started self catheterising and then indwelling and now SP best thing ever . Don #justsayin
I was the opposite to Don. Very few UTIs through 5 years of ISC. Had an SPC installed, had 3 nasty UTIs, never seemed free of them. After 6 months of the SPC I saw the urologist, she offered to remove the SPC. I said ‘yes please’, she whipped it out. After I’d got rid of the last UTI, I haven’t had another one and I’ve been back doing ISC for the last 13 months.
I’ve tried all the things like cranberry juice and D-Mannose, but since I don’t get UTIs anyway, it really seemed like a waste of money.
What I do is keep very clean, try to avoid using public loos, but carry hand gel with me, so after I’ve sat on the loo, use antibacterial gel. When I’m out I don’t use wipes anymore before catheterisation, I just go straight in with the catheter. When I’m at home, I use Huggies (pure) wipes everytime. At home I use Lofric catheters. But out of the house, I use Speedicath because they are less flexible, so it’s easier to get the right spot everytime. (So I’ve overordered on one type of catheter, then kept some back and swapped to the other kind, just so I always have both types available.)
I am a little bit OCD about bathroom cleaning. And handwashing. And towel washing. So I know that my loo is clean and I’m not likely to be getting germs from the home loo and am very careful when outside. I’m lucky in that there are only two of us living here, so it’s not difficult to keep the bathroom fairly clean. (Even though my OH is a man and incapable of cleaning the bathroom! I do know that some men are very good at bathroom cleaning, but mine is not!)
I’m fairly certain that some people are just more prone to UTIs than others. For example, my mother keeps her bathroom about as clean as I do mine, but she’s plagued by UTIs. So it’s not necessarily anything you are or aren’t doing.
Sue #justsayin
Hi Don
Glad the SP is working well for you, I felt that ISC was the best of all options for me, and am keeping my fingers crossed that this is just a ‘blip’. I follow all the instructions that the urology nurse told me to do, so I suppose it is wait and see, MS is a right pain, as you well know.
Hope everything is ok for both you and Heather, extra hour in bed on Sunday…woohoo.
Pam x
Hi Sue
Thanks for your reply, I will keep going, it’s still early days I suppose. I do follow all the instructions and it’s only me and hubby, so cleanliness shouldn’t be the problem, in fact I think I go OTT. I use the Speedicath because I found the Lofric too bendy, and as I have a tremor, found the sturdy one better for me.
As I have to use a mirror I try really hard not to use loos outside of home, I tend to worry about taking too long (as I am quite slow doing it) and others having time wait.
I shall be glad when it gets to the point whereby it becomes second nature, and I suppose that comes with practice.
Thanks again
Pam x
Hello Pam
Once you feel that you are comfortable with doing ISC with a mirror, ie, when you get the idea of what it might ‘feel’ like (depending on how much feeling you have downstairs!) and what your hands are doing, you could try to do it without a mirror, over the loo. The first time I tried without a mirror, I was astonished at how easy it was. Actually easier than with a mirror.
And that in turn may make it easier and in turn, make it easier to avoid ISCs.
As far as keeping people waiting, I have had to adopt an attitude of ‘so what’. If it takes me a while, then so what. Other people might take just as long. And you just take as long as you need to regardless of time. Let’s face it, able bodied people don’t seem to mind using disabled loos!
Just keep going and you’ll get there. Speedicath apparently has the best low friction record of all the catheters. So you’re doing exactly the right thing. Practice makes perfect (so I’ve been told!)
Sue
i can do it without a mirror!! i’m proud of that. sometimes use a speedibag too which helps me see how much i’m retaining and is good for testing for UTI. no more peeing in a tiny bottle.
Thanks Sue for your very reassuring reply, it will get easier I am sure, I must dig deep for my patience.
You have said the same as my husband tells me about not getting stressed if people have to wait, in his words that’s tough s**t!
Pam x
Hi Carole
At the moment I can’t see me saying that…but never say never. If I do manage without a mirror I will definitely be shouting it from the rooftops!
Well done you, you should feel proud of yourself.
Pam x