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Can't pee at all

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Posted 9/16/2017 12:10 AM (GMT -5)
So I had my foley out this morning, no incontinence, not a drop. Throughout the day when I pee'd I had to force it. Now it is bedtime and I can't pee at all. Doctor said if I don't go after a few more hours to come and have my foley reinserted. Anyone else have this problem?
Posted 9/16/2017 1:01 AM (GMT -5)
That happens sometimes. I had the opposite problem but I know that sucks.

Welcome to the forum, by the way. Sorry you're having trouble but glad you found us.

One thing we see sometimes is guys who have bladder irritation, or bladder spasms, that have them convinced that they have to go even if their bladder is empty. They feel like they have a full bladder all the time but when they try to pee they just get a squirt. It feels to them like they have to go but they can't go, when, actually, the reason they can't pee is because they don't have anything in their bladders. Make sure you drink plenty of water while you are waiting to see if you can go. If you still can't pee it's time to go get help.
Posted 9/16/2017 3:51 AM (GMT -5)
I had to get cathed after the biopsy to clear blockage, blood clot. I hope are resolved by now. Denis
Posted 9/16/2017 4:02 AM (GMT -5)
Since I wrote my original question, I have now been able to pee again. But it still is difficult and sore. So tell me more about bladder spasms, what causes them, when will they go away?
Posted 9/16/2017 7:41 AM (GMT -5)
77, if I remember correctly I was told that the foley goes into you bladder,and the bladder try's to get rid of it as it is a foreign object,
Also as someone has already said you may not have enough water in your bladder,but it will still give the feeling that you have to go,if for any reason you feel your bladders full and y can't go seek medical attention asap
Posted 9/16/2017 8:27 AM (GMT -5)
Hello Clematis77,

Glad you managed to finally void. I assume that the reason you had the foley was because you had surgery to remove your prostate. If that is the case then you have stitches where your surgeon sewed your urethra onto the neck of your bladder. The junction has healed to the point where your doctor thinks it can hold against the pressure of a full bladder -- the stitches are upstream from your urinary sphincter -- but it is still healing, things tug and hurt and there are stitches that can be prickly. The suture material they use to stitch your urethra back together will eventually be attacked and destroyed by your body but that takes something like three months. In the meanwhile they can be irritating.

This irritation can give the sensations of having to pee all the time and can cause an occasional bladder spasm -- like a charlie horse in the muscles in your bladder -- and those are quite painful and do feel like you desperately have to pee but can't. I've only had one bladder spasm, as I was waking up from surgery, but I remember how much it hurt.

The good news is that all of this stuff gets better as you heal. The bad news is that it takes a while. You should be mostly better after three months, pretty good after six, and back to your new normal (whatever that is) after a year.

Do, of course, complain to your doctor about all this. All of his patients will have the same complaint but it's not your job to keep life interesting for your doctor. That's why he gets paid the big bucks.
Posted 9/16/2017 10:41 AM (GMT -5)
Thanks Peter. Your answer contains the level of detail I crave - wish my doctor had pointed this stuff out.
I had stage 2 PC, a radical prostatectomy Sept 6 - midline incision - pathology report says I'm clear other than the prostate itself. Things were going really well until my catheter came out - then this spasm stuff pops up.
Posted 9/16/2017 11:06 AM (GMT -5)
Welcome to HW,
Complain to the doctor when this happens. If it gets too bad, a trip to the ER might be needed. Retention is nothing to mess with.

Glad you're doing better and great news on the pathology report!

Andrew
Posted 9/16/2017 9:59 PM (GMT -5)
Never take retention issues lightly. They can become dangerous, as well as painful. Due to endless stricture issues, I was on my original cath for 63 days. I was on a total of 21 caths for 1 1/2 years. Including 51 weeks on a Suprapubic cath, which required an operation. I had 6 operations to open me up, but they all failed. In the end I had Urostomy surgery (major), and since 2010, I pee out of stoma into a plastic bag. Without it I am totally incontinent.

I still have daily bladder spasms, even nearly 7 years, even though nothing can enter or exit my bladder. I estimate I have endured between 3,000 and 4,000 of them. It never gets easier. Had several today, each pain level 8-10. Longest one lasted over 2 minutes.

Be careful of ERs. I went to one that damaged my bladder neck further, when they used too big a cath against my doctor's direct advice.

Good luck
Posted 9/17/2017 8:40 AM (GMT -5)

Purgatory said...
Be careful of ERs. I went to one that damaged my bladder neck further, when they used too big a cath against my doctor's direct advice.

Just for that reason I always wear a medical alert bracelet any time I'm out of the house. It states that I have an artificial sphincter implant and should only be cathed by a urologist. Some guys even get a tattoo to that effect over their pubes, though EMT's I've spoken with say they wouldn't even notice that. Also many medical professionals had never heard of an AUS.

Not that this only pertains to AUS implants. I suppose that anyone with an other than standard urinary system could encounter a similar problem.
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