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Difficulty to urinate after foley catheter removal

I travelled to US recently to visit friends. The day after I arrived (after a long flight - 17 hours), I found it difficult to pass urine, and had to be taken to ER. I was cathetirized, and foley catheter was inserted. The doctor diagnosed my condition as BPH, and put me on 2 drugs (Folex and Avodart). After a week, the FC was removed. However, I still could not pass urine in the normal way (amount, flow etc.), and hence had to be recatheterized. I was on the re-inserted FC for a further 3 weeks, and it was removed yesterday. It took around 5-6 hours for a small amount of urine to flow, but I am experiencing an improvement in flow over the past 12 hours, where the flow and volume has started to increase gradually. Is it normal to have this sort of development after removal of a foley catheter? Do I need to do some excercises to regain normal bladder control and urine flow? Your response and advice would be much appreciated.      
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1616953 tn?1443835511
I want to share a similar experience but want to preface it with the caution that this was only what happened to me.  Its not intended to say this is whats happening with you but?  It could be.  I too had difficulty passing urine and it became bad enough that my Doctor had me self Cathing (Use a cath only long enough to drain the bladder say 6 or 7 times a day)  I was sent to the hospital to have Urodynamics testing.  This is a test to measure your urine flow.  Mine was zero.  The first doctor I spoke to said BPH and put me on some drugs and suggested I could have a TURP surgery auger out my prostate to make  it possible to urinate. I thought something wasn't right about the Diagnosis and talked to another Urologist who said it was "probably" BPH and TURP was probably the right procedure but if I was concerned I could have a biopsee (Spelzed?) done on my prostate to see if there was cancer present.  My GP who had run PSA tests yearly said this was a good idea because my PSA went from the same level for many years to spiking (Still not in a level that made anyone get too worked up but I've since learned that the velocity (Angle its at going up) is more important then a number.  So I had them check for cancer.  They found it.  I was offered "Watchful waiting" first which I feel still is the very last thing they should suggest because who among us wouldn't like to just do nothing rather then have surgery, chemo or radiation? I chose Surgery (Old school - no robots running Windows 10 hacking on me) and the prostate came out and my surgeon told me it was just about to explode spreading cancer everywhere and I would have followed two of my uncles and my step dad in getting the "bad" prostate cancer and being dead at an early age.  Bad cancer which... I think is more common then we are told.  It sure seems to kill a lot of my relatives anyway.  If you can't urinate "something" is blocking your urethera.  BPH?  I dunno... Be sure its not the scary stuff and don't procrastinate.  Get it properly checked and Get your PSA checked every year.  Its the only thing my mom made me promise to do and I'm damn glad I did and still am.  Talk to someone about self cathing.  I know it probably sounds dreadful but its really nothing after you get used to it.  Good Luck my friend.  
Helpful - 1
1 Comments
Wow, JamesC. That is a powerful post with important insight. Thank you for sharing your experience. You could save a life with that!  I so appreciate your story and feel moved by your eloquent way of talking about this.  This is the power of this forum. This personal experience literally could change someone's life. Thank you
Avatar universal
I am sorry to hear about your troubles following catheterization. Like Dr. Veena said, your difficulty urinating may also be the result of BPH. If you have any further questions about Foley catheters and other catheter products, I suggest consulting 180Medical. Their staff is experienced in dealing with such concerns.
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Avatar universal
Hi,
      Thanks for writing in. Yes, it is common for experiencing some discomfort after removal of FC which has been there for such long. Also, due to BPH there are chances of slowing of stream and increased frequency.
I would suggest to see a urologist if your symptoms worsen, to check if there is formation of stricture in the urethra.
Best.
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