Chronic Foley - intermittent leaking

I have had a Foley catheter since mid March. I have NO incontinence whatsoever, just urinary frequency that is "off the charts."  (FYI, I'm only 46 years old, have been seeing an awesome urologist.)  There is nothing medically "wrong" - I've been tried on numerous meds, biofeedback, had benign bladder biopsy years ago.  Strange as it may sound, I absolutely LOVE having the catheter.  My quality of life has gone up exponentially, otherwise I have to pee between 6-8 times per hour.  Problem is, after 3 weeks from when I first got catheterized, I started to "leak" from the bladder, but most urine goes in the leg bag, no problem.  I've gone in to the urologist and have had a larger size catheter placed about 4 times (currently I have an 18 french).  I'm fine for a couple of days, THEN this "leaking" happens. I've been wearing "Poise" pads which helps tremendously.  Why does this leaking happen?  I do those "kegel" (sp?) exercises.  I'm about at my wits end.

[Dr_Veena]

Hi,
      How are you? Leakage from a foley’s catheter on having it for a long time could be due to infection, irritation of the urethra and sagging of the muscles. I would suggest that you get a urine analysis with culture done to see if there is any infection.
Also, a trial of removing catheter and see if frequency had decreased is also a good idea.
Discuss with your doctor regarding the above mentioned possibilities and follow his advise.
Best

[rmprdl1964]

Hi,

I have had a foley in for a year and 2 months now and at times have urine leaking past the catheter. My doctor has given me  Buscopan to help against bladder spasms, and I have also used Detrol LA prior to the catheter and still use it now.
I usually use pads to deal with the leakage. changing the catheter to a larger one does very little difference.
For the last 3 months I have had a suprapubic catheter, which seems better, but I still leak through the penis.
Pads or protective underwear are used to deal with this.

God bless,

Ron

[ontheway2hell]

Try going down a few sizes inc balloon size14/16 fr 5-10cc max.
ive been using bard bio cath in 16fr 10cc and been realy fine forget its there.hardly any leakage/bypass

[KevUro]

I agree with oneway2hell.

I have been working in Urology for 13 years now and have been reading about and discussing this with my patients ever since.  The advise I give to someone with a leaking foley is the following:

Limit caffeine and alcohol intake
High fibre diet for soft stools
Do not rush bowel movements.  Take it easy, do not strain.
Limit lifting and straining in general
2-3lts of fluid daily unless contraindicated by other conditions
Balloon infill, if possible, up to 8mls.  I have noticed that it tends to irritate the trigone region less and still keep the tube in place despite the micro leaks it suffers over time.
A larger sized tube does not necessarily help.  In males it sometimes makes things worse coz it tends to block the bulbourethral glands.
Discuss anticholinergics with your health care provider if none of this helps.

[cheriesc]

I am 41 and was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis 20 years ago. I have had an indwelling foley catheter for 4 years, but recently was in the hospital because my catheter kept falling out, 3 times in 1 month, the doctor said the balloon can be up to 30cc. Since the balloon kepy falling out with 10cc, I ASKED the nurse to inflate the ballon to 20 CC'S. She was not sure as they usually only do the balloon higher than 10cc, but I said I had discussed it with the doctor and decided to ask for it to be inflated to 20cc, incase it eventually has be inflated larger again. I NO LONGER LEAK!.