Cathing question

Silly question- I’ve been cathing three times daily in order to help with my bladder incontinence. Sometimes when I do cath nothing comes out. Is this normal or something that I should be worried about?

I can't comment on your specific question as I have never needed cathing but...

I don't consider that a silly question. It sounds like a very reasonable question to me.

There are many people on ADISC that do cath regularly so I am sure one of them will respond shortly.

Are you seeing a Doctor currently ?
Maybe a discussion with that Doctor about what is going on with you ?
YMMV - Your personal results maybe different than what is the norm from similar experiences posted here.

It would be unusual to get absolutely nothing out of your bladder worth a catheter, even if you've just urinated. Even with a normal bladder, there's usually a small amount of residual urine - up to 70ml is considered normal.

I'd talk with the doctor who's prescribing the catheters. It may be something with your technique, or it could be something unusual with your anatomy.

Out of curiosity, what type of catheters are you using?

I had to cath myself after back surgery and I always got pee. I had to do it every four hours except for when I was asleep. Either you aren't drinking enough, the catheter isn't in far enough or something is seriously wrong. Can you tell if you are retaining fluid? If you are, your skin will get puffy and your weight will go up. If none of that is happening, I'm guessing you may not be putting the cath far enough into your bladder. Still, checking with your doctor sounds like a very good idea.

Looked at your profile to see you are listed as male. In males, if you still have a prostate, you will usually feel some resistance when you pass the catheter through the prostate. It could be that you are not getting the catheter past the prostate and through the bladder neck into the bladder. The usual advice is to clean and lubricate. Then gently and slowly press the cath in. You will feel resistance at the prostate. Keep pressing, keep relaxing, maybe try a different angle or a slight twist, and you should feel the catheter pass through. At that point, urine will be released.

There aren't that many reasons you do not get any urine out. (1) You aren't producing any. That would not be good, and you'd be pretty sick pretty soon. I think you'd probably know something was wrong. If that's the case, get help. (2) You aren't getting the cath all the way into the bladder, because your technique needs improvement. (3) You can't pass the catheter in, because you've developed scar tissue (a stricture) in your urethra. (4) You need a smaller diameter catheter. So if you are using, say, a 14 french, switch to a 12. Maybe the thinner one will go in easier.

If you are having trouble getting past a stricture or your prostate, you might find some blood on the end of the catheter or the next time you void without a cath.

I can only think of two practical strategies. (1) Try searching youtube for nursing education videos. There used to be some there, and you can learn good technique from them. (2) Call your doc or if you haven't been able to void at all, go the ER. Sustained inability to void (say, over several hours) is a serious matter. You need to get it attended to.

Hope that helps and that you get the problem resolved quickly.

Best to you,

Brandi

How often do you get nothing out?...1 out of the 3 per day?

Do you feel like you need to pee before cathing or purely time based?

I'm guessing you can still pee without the cath as 3 times per day is every 8 hours, doesn't seem enough. That would be 6am, 2pm then 10pm if evenly spaced?

Are you getting enough fluid intake between each cath?

Since it's happening sometimes but not all the time, I think it's probably that you're not getting the catheter into the bladder. (The other possibility would be a false passage, where the catheter tears a hole in the urethra and passes through that, but since you're getting urine sometimes and not having other symptoms like bleeding or pain, I don't that's the case. But I'm an engineer, not a doctor, so I can't give medical advice...)

Anyway, my experience with the Coloplast Speedicath is that it's somewhat short. I use them sometimes, and I have to make sure I'm all the way against the urethral opening with the call end of the catheter to get urine to flow. You can try pushing it a little deeper when you don't get urine flow. You might also try using a slightly longer catheter (I like the Lofric Origo, personally).

Unless you're having symptoms like pain or fever, I don't see why you'd need to rush into the doctor, but it might be good to go discuss the issue when you get a chance and see if they can give you some samples of different catheters to try.

So after reading all your responses I’m so thankful to be apart of such a supportive group. A couple of you asked some questions. I’m going to try and answer as many as I can. I’m sometimes having to pee before I cath other times I have no sensation to go but will drain out a lot. Yes I do urinate throughout the day. The purpose of cathing is in attempt to keep my diapers dry so I can eventually get out of them. Today when i cathed it was pretty painful and I was bleeding afterwards. Not a lot but enough I noticed it when changing. Something to be worried about as the dr wasn’t concerned at all.

About the bleeding, the urethra is a fragile part of your system so sticking anything up there is going to result in the odd bleeding.
As for peeing before you cath, could be that your kidneys just haven't produced much in that time frame. Could also depend on your position while cathing, I know when I play with caths that while seated there's no dribble at all but when I stand, it's like a flood gate opened. Could be that you're pushing into the bladder while not much is in there and you only get a few drops as the tip goes above the pee level....try pulling it back out very slowly.

Some bleeding is fairly normal. When I intermittently cath, I probably see some blood on the catheter once every week or two. If it happens every time, or if it's heavy, then get in to your doctor. When I have a Foley in, it's usually several times a week that I see some blood in the bag, typically as little clots. If the catheter is blocked, or the urine in the bag turns red, then it's time to go see the doctor (or the ER for a blocked Foley).

Are you seeing a urologist, and are they prescribing your catheters? Do they know you're also needing diapers? What's your diagnosis?

Yes the urologist has sent the prescription for the catheters. They also are fully aware of my need of diapers. They diagnosed me with urinary inconitence with our sensory awareness and urine retention. I noticed a clot of blood in my diaper when I changed today. This was the first time I’ve seen that.