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PostPosted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 11:04 am 
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Joined: Wed Aug 19, 2015 11:49 am
Posts: 890
Location: Jacksonville Fl
BellyBag58 wrote:
ZERO!


That is in line with what I've experienced, and what people on other sites have said as well. At home or used personally there are extremely few problems. It really does appear that catheters have a much lower risk of infection than we've been lead to believe- with the exception of when done by nurses in a hospital which does have a high risk.

I can also say for me, a smaller 14 or 16 fr catheter feels like it moves around too much inside my urethra. This adds in friction on top of my already sensitive urethra, which just translates into pain. Having a larger catheter is more comfortable for me. Though when I do still need to use them, I use 20 or 22 fr size catheters, with a 5 or 10 cc balloon. (The larger balloons cause slight bladder urges even with it in and constantly keeping me drained)


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PostPosted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 2:55 pm 
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Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 9:57 am
Posts: 189
Location: UK
I don't know about where you are but in the UK people with an indwelling catheter are not treated with antibiotics if they have a positive urine culture and symptoms unless they also have a fever. This is because if you have an indwelling catheter you are likely to have bacterial overgrowth fairly quickly. I know I have whay feels like UTI symptoms quite frequently but as I don't get a fever thwy don't treat. This can be quite frustrating because I think my body just doesn't respond properly to infections. I can be quite sick and my body temperature stays slightly low or just moves to the normal range so no antibiotics. I'm sure my gut appreciates the lack of antibiotics but I'm not sure my bladder does. I take cranberry tablets daily which definitely helps the pain. If it gets bad I also take d mannose which binds to ecoli to help it leave your body. The pain and UTI like symptoms increase for me if my bag is due to be changed ( I always use a night bag) and also if I go over 10 weeks before a change. I have issues sometimes with my bladder neck spasming around the catheter and blocking it.


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 31, 2016 4:42 am 
With me the larger I go in size, the fewer bladder spasms I have. The 5cc balloon was uncomfortable, and leaked. The 30cc balloon works out great. No matter what size the cath is I can feel them moving around as I go through my day. I just accept it and go on.

I do appreciate input from those in the medical community but I take it with a grain of salt. If you're doing it correctly, why are infections more common in your medical facilities? Why does self catheter insertion not have the pain and injury associated with it being done at medical facilities? :?


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 31, 2016 7:07 am 
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Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2015 1:07 pm
Posts: 370
Location: Midwest
BB,
Welcome to the group, I myself use the Foley catheter now and have listened to all the horror stories about them. I myself have had zero UTIs so far, I know I will have one but, I take care in keeping it very clean. I don't use the belly bag I use the leg bag, it wasn't offered to me. So do you have to push to get the urine into the belly bag?


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 31, 2016 2:52 pm 
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Joined: Wed Aug 19, 2015 11:49 am
Posts: 890
Location: Jacksonville Fl
In the US, doctors love to throw antibiotics at you by the dozens. It's a big problem that's led to a lot of resistant bacteria.

For some reason my cultures usually come back positive even though I know I'm not sick. As such, I usually get put on a regimen of antibiotics before a surgery, and once for three months straight just to see if a chronic cough of mine would clear up. It's such a waste, but you have to go through with it or the doctors won't move on and do what needs to be done.


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 31, 2016 4:53 pm 
No, you don't have to push to get urine into the belly bag. The natural pressure from the bladder is more than what it takes to go up the short distance. This kind of bag for me is a life saver. Now I sleep 4-9 hours, run errands, go to work and have nothing to worry about any more.


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 31, 2016 5:13 pm 
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Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 9:57 am
Posts: 189
Location: UK
Personally I've had difficulty with even a leg bag in bed unfortunately. The urine just doesn't want to travel without the help of gravity and the stand on the floor. When I'm well enough to be in my wheelchair I may try a leg bag on my leg or I may just try and have it with a discreet cover hanging off my chair. Different if you're more mobile of course. It's good that the belly bag exists as an option. I wonder how common it is for people to have issues like mine with it not emptying in to the bag. I was up a lot of the night by passing painfully and regularly all because my bladder didn't want to empty in to a new bag. It's ridiculous but just a bag change means my catheter doesn't want to work!


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 01, 2016 7:14 am 
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Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2015 1:07 pm
Posts: 370
Location: Midwest
I will order one belly bag an give it a try for day time use and give it a try, it would be nice to have a larger capacity during the day, I change over and use a bed bag at night.


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 01, 2016 5:58 pm 
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Joined: Wed Aug 19, 2015 11:49 am
Posts: 890
Location: Jacksonville Fl
BellyBag58 wrote:
No, you don't have to push to get urine into the belly bag. The natural pressure from the bladder is more than what it takes to go up the short distance. This kind of bag for me is a life saver. Now I sleep 4-9 hours, run errands, go to work and have nothing to worry about any more.


I meant with me personally. I have had to push and strain quite hard just to pee normally. Hence why catheters were a good solution at the time.

Fyi, I've had SIX urinary sphincterotomies in the last few years. This has gradually opened my extremely tight muscles to where I now only have to push about half of the time (my external sphincter was removed enough so I can't hold it any more), and also enough to reduce how much I need to still push the other half of the time (my internal sphincter is weakened, but still does not always and automatically open up like it's supposed to). I have another surgery for it happening next year though. Hopefully this will finally get it.


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 01, 2016 10:11 pm 
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Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 9:57 am
Posts: 189
Location: UK
B Brian wrote:
For some reason my cultures usually come back positive even though I know I'm not sick. As such, I usually get put on a regimen of antibiotics before a surgery, and once for three months straight just to see if a chronic cough of mine would clear up. It's such a waste, but you have to go through with it or the doctors won't move on and do what needs to be done.


Yeah here in the UK they assume the culture will always come back positive past a few weeks of catheterisation so refuse to give out antibiotics unless you also meet the criteria of having a fever. Over all it's a sensible policy but there have been times I've been in a lot of pain in my bladder and urethra but not had a fever so not been allowed antibiotics. I think I just rarely have a fever. I think I almost always have a localised infection but thankfully it hasn't backed up in to my kidneys or ever become sepsis so it's all about discomfort. I wonder if I will end up more comfortable whenever I'm well enough to have tests done and hopefully a suprapubic but over all I guess 28 months without a serious infection is pretty good going. One of my friends has had life threatening sepsis at least 3 times this year from his urethral catheter despite keeping good care of it. His immune system seems to go from zero to sepsis in a few hours. I know there was another member on this board who kept having endless infections until he had a suprapubic so it does seem to be a bit luck of the draw. Mine are changed at home by district nurses.

I wonder if my NHS supplier does the belly bags. Do you know whay the capacity of them is?


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