Final diagnosis: Neurogenic bladder; what I should know?

[SpAzpieSweeTot]

Neurogenic Bladder Causes and Risk Factors​

An illness or injury can affect the nerves and muscles in your urinary system. This includes your bladder and urethra. Conditions that might lead to neurogenic bladder include:

• Multiple sclerosis (MS)
• Parkinson’s disease
• ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease)
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Encephalitis
• Learning disorders like ADHD
• A lack (deficiency) of vitamin B12

Some people have it when they’re born or shortly afterward. This can happen with:

• Spina bifida
• Sacral agenesis (parts of the lower spine missing)
• Cerebral palsy

Neurogenic bladder may also happen with nerve damage (neuropathy) from:

• Stroke
• Infection or tumor in your brain or spinal cord
• Poison from heavy metals
• Spinal cord injury
• Pelvic surgery
• Vaginal childbirth
• Diabetes
• Long-term alcohol use
• A herniated disc

Exactly. My point to Rory was, asking someone who had a brain bleed at 32, causing neurogenic bladder, if their bladder was normal before, wouldn't help Rory, who has CP, and who's bladder was never normal, because his brain was never normal.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you guys! I am getting a lot more information on neurogenic bladder and I’m slowly adapting to my condition. I made a huge accomplishment today and was brave enough to change in a public restroom. I’m still trying to develop strategies to acknowledge that I have a wet diaper rather than rationalize it by attributing it to body sweat or something else. I know deep down I probably wet myself but it’s still troubling my mind.

I have another question that you guys might be able to answer: Do you ever worry about the environment? Sometimes when I throw away my diapers, I kind of worry about the effect it will have in the long term.

Thanks so much again for all your support!

Rory

 

[Angelapinks]

Neurogenic Bladder Causes and Risk Factors​

An illness or injury can affect the nerves and muscles in your urinary system. This includes your bladder and urethra. Conditions that might lead to neurogenic bladder include:

• Multiple sclerosis (MS)
• Parkinson’s disease
• ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease)
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Encephalitis
• Learning disorders like ADHD
• A lack (deficiency) of vitamin B12

Some people have it when they’re born or shortly afterward. This can happen with:

• Spina bifida
• Sacral agenesis (parts of the lower spine missing)
• Cerebral palsy

Neurogenic bladder may also happen with nerve damage (neuropathy) from:

• Stroke
• Infection or tumor in your brain or spinal cord
• Poison from heavy metals
• Spinal cord injury
• Pelvic surgery
• Vaginal childbirth
• Diabetes
• Long-term alcohol use
• A herniated disc

The last condition is my problem, four herniated discs that are just getting worse.

 

[SpAzpieSweeTot]

The environment is a big deal, but even with cloth diapers, the ones you wash and reuse, it takes so much water to wash them, that the jury is still out as to which is more environmentally friendly. Don't worry about it.

Which diapers did you say were working for you? There are also medications that can help calm your bladder specifically. I know our pee urges can be ungodly painful, sometimes.

Try not separating the neurogenic bladder from your CP. You've always had both, but didn't know about your bladder. That's all. NB & CP hold hands, so often that the statistic is over 90% of the CP population has some from of bladder funk.

 

[Anonymous]

@SpAzpieSweeTot I got the Abena Abri-Flex Premium diapers and they seem to work well. It’s weird because it takes the whole day for the wetness indicator to turn blue but I’m trying to take care of my skin so I change 2-3 times/day.

Did you have a hard time acknowledging when you were wet at first? How did you overcome it?

 

[SpAzpieSweeTot]

@SpAzpieSweeTot I got the Abena Abri-Flex Premium diapers and they seem to work well. It’s weird because it takes the whole day for the wetness indicator to turn blue but I’m trying to take care of my skin so I change 2-3 times/day.

Did you have a hard time acknowledging when you were wet at first? How did you overcome it?

If it makes you feel better, those are pull-ups. It does make me wonder how you put on a new one without taking your pants off, which is why I recommend the Abena Abri Wing.

I could never really attribute it to sweat. I wonder if being unable to call it sweat is a girl thing? My sweetheart was the same way. Just knowing it's not your fault will help.

 

[Woncrinklz]

The last condition is my problem, four herniated discs that are just getting worse.

I have the same affliction. And Stenosis. Back surgery or no back surgery? Back surgery or no back surgery? That is the question. Crazy.
But so far, I know I slip every now and then, but I wear for personal entertainment.

 

[Angelapinks]

I have the same affliction. And Stenosis. Back surgery or no back surgery? Back surgery or no back surgery? That is the question. Crazy.
But so far, I know I slip every now and then, but I wear for personal entertainment.

I know others who have had back surgery and they are worse off now than before. I have a procedure at the Pain Clinic where they insert needles into the nerves like Accupuncture and when they hit the nerve they zap it with radio frequency to burn the nerve and kill the pain. It lasts about a year or so and this year would be my 8 th. or 9 th. time doing it. You need to be careful afterwards no to overdo anything that will hurt your back further like over lifting objects because you don't feel the pain and can do more damage to your back or discs. My back will never get better, only worse but to be pain free for almost a year is an amazing feeling after you suffer for so long. The doctor also told me this time he sees the beginning of Scoliosis or curving of the spine but still in the early stages.

 

[Woncrinklz]

I know others who have had back surgery and they are worse off now than before. I have a procedure at the Pain Clinic where they insert needles into the nerves like Accupuncture and when they hit the nerve they zap it with radio frequency to burn the nerve and kill the pain. It lasts about a year or so and this year would be my 8 th. or 9 th. time doing it. You need to be careful afterwards no to overdo anything that will hurt your back further like over lifting objects because you don't feel the pain and can do more damage to your back or discs. My back will never get better, only worse but to be pain free for almost a year is an amazing feeling after you suffer for so long. The doctor also told me this time he sees the beginning of Scoliosis or curving of the spine but still in the early stages.

I am sad you have so much pain. You have a huge point about being careful with doing things after the pain has been quelled! I know what you're talking about.
I screwed my back up at the age of 17 doing hard labor at a grocery store.
Nobody believed I had back pain due to my age. Eventually, after a "Never-do-it-in the-late-'80s-decade" worker's comp. claim, I had an MRI ordered to prove I wasn't pulling people's legs.
It revealed L4, L5 &S1 herniated disks with one that was really bulging worse than the others. I'm much more screwed-up now, but I lost the report. My doc. has it somewhere in his files. Lots of weird crap going on now. (No bucking-broncos for me!).

I was due for back surgery in 2013 or 14. But I ended up getting hospitalized with pneumonia due to contracting some strain of Valley Fever. I was ill for years after. Weakened. That the screwed surgery thoughts. Maybe for the better after what you and others I've heard said.
But now I get numbness running around between my shoulder blades when sitting, and when walking around the skin lower down on my back gets numb. Like pin-pricks or ravenous ants crawling on slightly dead flesh. Yeah. Gross.
I wonder if it is related to my "accidents" now and then? Who knows. My digestive parts are unpredictable. (many doctor stories too crazy to type now on that one).