bladder spasms

Don't know for sure - I never really had those. I was advised that they might happen, medication was available if they got too bad, and they should pass in a few days if they happened. Of course, your husband is nearly a week out...

Seems like getting something prescribed would be appropriate if the Doctor that would be doing it thinks so.

My general advice is to drink as much as possible. Keeps the urine as dilute (less irritating to the bits that are healing in there) as possible and helps to flush things out the hose - also walk whenever possible (I was told it helps the healing process .vs. lying in bed, so I didn't lie in bed too much.) It's not a lot of fun to walk with the catheter in, of course.

Stop any caffeine or alcohol..These can be major bladder irritants, as is the catheter itself..

Ditto on walking and drinking plenty of water...

Having spent a total of 1 1/2 years on 21 diff caths, I have and still do, experienced thousands of bladder spasms. What my doctor always had me on, was Ditropan. It's a generic very cheap drug, that overall, really helps with the spasms.

Most urologists don't like patients being on it too long, as it can retard the process of gaining continence. In my case, since I had constant chronic strictures, that wasn't the issue.

Even though my bladder has been disconnected and by-passed for life, I still have a dozen or so bad spasms per day, lasting from a few seconds to 2 to 3 minutes at the time.

Good luck, but I will vouch for the effectiveness of Ditropan. Seems like a re-fill was around 3 to 4 bucks tops.

david in sc