VA

[WoodenBelly]

Fellow vets,

So how does the VA handle incontinence? I had a urine culture come back clean, they lab tested my prostate and checked labs for STDS, all good in the hood. As said in other posts they threw me Trospium and said to see me in October.

I just want answers at this point, I thought I was going to have other tests run and all this and that like one doc said they would , but over the phone they said Urge IC and a severe OAB. I feel confused and sick a lot and going on 20 lbs lost in a month although I haven’t done shit. I want to get well, I know y’all aren’t docs. I just don’t know the process or what’s going on, 3 messages and no response in a week. Only 33 so.. this sucks ass.

Curious about your experiences.

Cheers

 

[DOT]

What are your symptoms? Do you leak a little or have random releases? Can you provide us with more information on your incontinence?

 

[WoodenBelly]

Dribbles and streams after most urinations, well all.
Best way to say it is urge, I feel I have to go all the time. Even after I let out a full bladder, in 15 mns it’s full again.

Now I experience more streams, been wearing depends 24/7 for 3-4 weeks now because I’ve had a few night accidents. It’s like I’m awake but can’t move when I wake up and I just go for a minute, then I’m able to move to the bathroom. Same in day time every once in awhile, it’s like a silent killer and goes straight through me, then I can move.

 

[mickdl]

Hey WoodenBelly,

I understand that all of this sucks. How ever, I think that a diagnosis may take a while. The point is, that most of the doctors are only good in finding more or less obvious physical problems - and even there they perform sometimes pretty poor (for me it tooks 3 years until they found the real reason for my problem...). The good news is, that - if it is urge UIC - it can be treated pretty well with blader training, a change of diet and sometimes also with kegel. So if the doc‘s have no better ideas I would ask for a specialized PT. Medication may also help - especially in a first phase. How ever depending on the drug it may take a couple of weeks until a effects sets in.

For me it worked even with PBS pretty well, and I was able to reduce the episodes from may 10 to 20 at the beginning down to one or two - sometimes even non over the daytime. So if you wont to cure it, my suggestion is hang in there. Maybe also this forum is not the best place in this case. A good idea is to check for locale support groups.

 

[mickdl]

P.S. With the night time accidents this seems to be a problem. I also didn’t found a solution here ether and still need diapers. Mostly I wake up from the urge, but if I sit up or stand up I loose control in most of the cases.

 

[WoodenBelly]

Hey WoodenBelly,

I understand that all of this sucks. How ever, I think that a diagnosis may take a while. The point is, that most of the doctors are only good in finding more or less obvious physical problems - and even there they perform sometimes pretty poor (for me it tooks 3 years until they found the real reason for my problem...). The good news is, that - if it is urge UIC - it can be treated pretty well with blader training, a change of diet and sometimes also with kegel. So if the doc‘s have no better ideas I would ask for a specialized PT. Medication may also help - especially in a first phase. How ever depending on the drug it may take a couple of weeks until a effects sets in.

For me it worked even with PBS pretty well, and I was able to reduce the episodes from may 10 to 20 at the beginning down to one or two - sometimes even non over the daytime. So if you wont to cure it, my suggestion is hang in there. Maybe also this forum is not the best place in this case. A good idea is to check for locale support groups.

I’ll look around

 

[PaddedStag]

Fellow vets,

So how does the VA handle incontinence? I had a urine culture come back clean, they lab tested my prostate and checked labs for STDS, all good in the hood. As said in other posts they threw me Trospium and said to see me in October.

I just want answers at this point, I thought I was going to have other tests run and all this and that like one doc said they would , but over the phone they said Urge IC and a severe OAB. I feel confused and sick a lot and going on 20 lbs lost in a month although I haven’t done shit. I want to get well, I know y’all aren’t docs. I just don’t know the process or what’s going on, 3 messages and no response in a week. Only 33 so.. this sucks ass.

Curious about your experiences.

Cheers

The V.A. experience(s) seem to be widely different so take that with a grain of salt when I say-

The V.A. treats incontinence issues the same way they treat everything else: incompetently.

That is all.

 

[WoodenBelly]

The V.A. experience(s) seem to be widely different so take that with a grain of salt when I say-

The V.A. treats incontinence issues the same way they treat everything else: incompetently.

That is all.

Correct. I had a ultrasound the other day, they called the day before to tell me to fast.. my wife and I drove an hour just to get a detailed lecture about the liver (I’m fine it’s just high) but no US.. Today I was told they screwed up. Not the first time..

People there are really good people, it’s the system that ties their hands

 

[Mickeymic]

I have had mixed experiences, depending on where I lived. In Gainesville, Fl I was given hospital pull-ups. But, here in Pensacola, I'm given nothing unless I see a specialist 120 miles away in Biloxi, MS. I think I'm moving back to Gainesville.

 

[WoodenBelly]

I have had mixed experiences, depending on where I lived. In Gainesville, Fl I was given hospital pull-ups. But, here in Pensacola, I'm given nothing unless I see a specialist 120 miles away in Biloxi, MS. I think I'm moving back to Gainesville.

Damn I’m sorry

 

[Resnov1913]

I currently get tranquility atn from the va. I asked for tape diapers. They gave me poor quality ones. Insaid they dont work give me these. They gave me cloth like of that brand. I sent message saying these do not work do you have these (atn) and been getting them sense. Far as the process of treating symptoms well...i will type up something later tonight when off work.

 

[PaddedStag]

Correct. I had a ultrasound the other day, they called the day before to tell me to fast.. my wife and I drove an hour just to get a detailed lecture about the liver (I’m fine it’s just high) but no US.. Today I was told they screwed up. Not the first time..

People there are really good people, it’s the system that ties their hands

The folks doing the work have always been very professional and I sense their hearts are truly in their work. I applaud each and ever one of them.

The System is utterly fucked.

One year to get an MRI done, TWO aborted trips (2 hours one way), only to arrive with paperwork in hand, to be told at the check-in desk: "I'm sorry, but you're not scheduled today. You're free to wait and see if there is a 'No-Show'?" The waiting room is *PACKED*. Kiss my ass, V.A..

I would rather die in the gutter, than deal with the V.A. any further. (actually, I intend on dying in a very nice spot in the forest, surrounded by nature instead of 'Hospital' tripe)...

What a travesty.

 

[mickdl]

I‘m a German- so I have only experiances with the german VA but I can tell you that the German VA is probably not even better if it comes to incontinence supply. I had to fight over 7 month to get a propper supply that worked for me. It might be better if it comes to the diagnostics because most of the clinics and doctors accept the VA payment so I had no problems at all but if it come to the supply... The problem here is, that the VA had there complete incontinence supply management sourced out. They had put the risk on the dealers by making contracts that give them an averaged fee per absorbing incontinence aid. You have to negotiate with the dealer to get a proper supply and they have to offer a qualified consulting. How ever - if you tell them what you need they don’t care at all and will allways offer your the cheapest pad’s they can get to maximize there profits or ask you to pay extra what is against the contract they have with the VA in place - but they don’t care much about that. The problem is that you can’t put your claims directly because you are not the contractor and they know this... So you have to go over the VA and this take a lot of time and often end’s up at the curt. In may case it ends up with a gentle agreement with the supplier and round about 20€ extra charge in a month... No fun at all but also no reason not to fight. Unfortunately there are to many people who give up and pay - but this support this unfair system...

 

[Seasonedcitizen]

Could you have some sort of neurological problem? Back injury or any abdominal surgery?

I use the VA once a year for blood work and a check up. I once went to the main hospital for a stress test and the cardiologist doing the test didn't tell me what was wrong but wanted me to have an angioplasty the following week. If I needed a stent, they would put me into an ambulance and take me to another hospital. No thank you, I have no chest pain or shortness of breath. I went to a local hospital that specializes in heart and lung problems and got a thallium stress test. I was normal.

 

[WoodenBelly]

Most definitely, I message all the time but I’ll pick up the momentum. I can’t live this way and done with it.

 

[stevieg]

I am quite lucky I live inteh PNW and have access to the Seattle VA they are sending me 8 cases of Abena's every month we're still working with them to get wipes in the formulary. it took about a year to work through all the formulary diapers but I have has a really good results

 

[armydipr]

Fellow vets,

So how does the VA handle incontinence? I had a urine culture come back clean, they lab tested my prostate and checked labs for STDS, all good in the hood. As said in other posts they threw me Trospium and said to see me in October.

I just want answers at this point, I thought I was going to have other tests run and all this and that like one doc said they would , but over the phone they said Urge IC and a severe OAB. I feel confused and sick a lot and going on 20 lbs lost in a month although I haven’t done shit. I want to get well, I know y’all aren’t docs. I just don’t know the process or what’s going on, 3 messages and no response in a week. Only 33 so.. this sucks ass.

Curious about your experiences.

Cheers

Do you have a civillian Doc, my experience with the VA is not good either. also you can request community care online at VA's website. have a civ paid by the VA help you out.

 

[Slomo]

The V.A. experience(s) seem to be widely different so take that with a grain of salt when I say-

The V.A. treats incontinence issues the same way they treat everything else: incompetently.

That is all.

Yup. Also a fellow vet, and I have to agree with this statement. It's incredibly common to find quack doctors (in the military, VA or civilian) where they want to just throw another medication at you and come back in 3 months. Diagnosing incontinence is also are REALLY difficult thing for urologists to do. That means only the best doctors are going to succeed at it.

It took nearly 20 years (and just as many urodynamics tests) before I got an actual diagnosis that even made sense. And that was after my going through every possible medication out there (some even twice). The truth is, not everyone ever does get properly diagnosed. Oh, and "OAB" is actually doctor talk "for we know something is going on, but we don't know what".

You best bet after finding a medications first urologist is to find a different urologist. Though yes, do take the medication so you can empirically rule it out in the future. And keep on finding new urologists until you find one competent enough to actually listen to you first.

 

[boomer2480]

I wouldn't let a VA doctor takl a sliver out of my finger. All the years I went to the va all they did was dope you to shut you up.