Is this dangerous?????

[Janie Miranda]

Before I came down with acute IC symtoms (Dec. 2004) I always had a huge bladder capacity and could go just about all day without urinating even though I drank a fairly large amount of liquids. Well, I've been trying to do "bladder retraining" to get back to my old bladder capacity and have gradually been able to get back to "holding it" for 3-4 hours and sometimes as long as 5-6. I've also been able to hold more volume and have went from about 150-250mL in December to this morning voiding an unbelievable 1000mL - Yes 4 CUPS! I had only held it for 3.5 hours today and when I peed that much I couldn't believe it. I had read that bladder capacity under anasthesia is only supposed to be 1000ml. Anyway, so is it bad to hold it until my bladder gets that full? Can it back up into your kidneys or mess me up some other way?
The problem is I have a hard time telling how full my bladder is - when I urinate I often have a nearly immediate urge to void again but I try to ignore it because I've found I get into a really vicious cycle of voiding constantly if I do that - so now I won't let myself pee until at least three hours and I've found the longer I go without peeing the less I have the urge to go until it gets REALLY full like today. I've been on Elmiron for three weeks today and since I've been on it I've found I've been having larger and larger amounts of pee when I go.
Anyway, if anyone has any insight on this I'd really appreciate it.
hugs,

[massagedoula]

WOW! I am so jealous! I have been doing bladder retraining for a month, and I AM STILL NOT EVEN CLOSE. I go about every 1.5-2 hours. Sometimes I have to go every hour still, but usually I can make it 1.5-2. My record was 4.5. But, my largest volume yet was still only 400cc (mL) I couldnt even imagine having 1000 in there. I dont think that is bad. Maybe your bladder is still really stretched from your hydro? How long ago was it? It is great that you can hold so much, because you have much more room to play with, before your bladder becomes "shrunken and walnut sized" as I have heard some bladders get in the worst situations.

[dg2901]

a friend of mine holds her urine until the very last minute; she's know having wetting episodes. her Dr told her by no means should she be holding her urine; when she feels the urge to urinate to find a restroom. now shes having to undergo bladder retraining and so far its not helping much.

[Sarojini]

I do not believe holding your urine that long is healthy. While bladder retraining is can be a good thing, holding it until you have that much urine in there is not good, because the urine stagnates in there -- this can lead to UTIs, as well as further irritation of the bladder wall. I would probably wait till I had to go, then wait a bit longer, and then go rather than doing the marathon holding sessions :)

[Portia17]

I never heard of anything like it. Yes it is dangerous like Sarojini said it could cause a UTI or maybe mess up your bladder more. Urine has acid in it and holding in acid is no good. My doctor told me never to hold it in and I never do and would never want to

[Janie Miranda]

Thanks everyone. After posting this - I found some information on the internet that says that it can cause problems to overfill your bladder. In bladder retraining they want you to get to the point where you can pee only 3-4 hours so I'm going to never go beyond that and also drink maybe not so much water so I don't have the huge quantities in there. I have a doctors appointment on the 20th so I will talk to my doctor about it too. Thanks for everyone's help and advice,
hugs

[Janie Miranda]

I just got to thinking about something though, people who have normal bladders and sleep through the night often don't urinate for 8-10 hours while they are sleeping - so I don't really know if it is neccessarily a bad thing to hold urine a long time. There is some danger in overfilling the bladder and holding it though from what I was reading on the internet. I guess what I need to do is not drink so much water and let my bladder get filled to that extent - If I urinate around 500-600mL - that shouldn't be too much should it? hmmmm. Thanks again everyone - I really appreciate the comments and feedback,
hugs,

[massagedoula]

I have a pamphlet given to me by the UW Urology center about bladder retraining. Bladder retraining has been a godsend for me, by the way. Anyway, it says "your objective should be to urinate once every 3-4 hours, with a volume of 300-400cc" now...I think that is an objective because most of us urinate every 30 min with like 50-100ccs. The "normal" person urinates 7 times a day and 0 times at night. I know from my husband, that he has a huge bladder capacity, and he definetely does not go at night. So...I don't see why it is bad still as to what you are doing, but everyone else thinks it is, so maybe I am wrong. Also, I have been told by my physical therapist and 2 doctors now that I SHOULD NOT unrinate everytime I feel like I need to. Otherwise, the nervous pathways and bladder become so accustomed to that frequency that they will not ever be able to go back to "normal" the idea of bladder retrainign is to retrain your body into not having such frequent urination. But you should ask your Doctor what he/she thinks....

[Katrina]

I agree with Jen. There can be some real problems from holding it to long...along with retention. Remember that at night our whole body slows down and things are a lot different than holding it during the day. I know I hold it long these days (nothing like you) and find it harder to start the flow. If you feel a sensation down there to go for a real long time without going it can be very hard on you pelvic musscles. In some ways you sound a lot like me and I wouldn't want you dammaging your pelivic floor as much as mine is (which I am sure you won't but since we are ICers we should be careful).

Regardless of all of that I certainly hope your bladder compacity stays healthy and you have a symptomless...or at least low symptom life! :grouphug: I am very happy for you that you are doing so well! :woohoo:

[vm]

There is a hormone that decreases the production of urine overnight, also. I only know this b/c my 7 year old still wets the bed and I have done reading about that. It says that some kids who continue to wet the bed haven't enough of the hormone yet so they have a TON of urine in the bladder through the night. So I would imagine that adults who sleep through the night probably aren't holding as much as they would be if they went that long during the daytime????

When I was trying a very informal bladder re-training I never went over 2 hours. I couldn't have anyway at that point, but I am very prone to infection so I didn't want the urine in there too awfullly long. I would not let myself pee before a half hour passed b/c I was having to pee every 5 minutes and I know that was just irritating the heck out of everything.

It'll be good to hear what your doctor says - make sure to update us, OK? :)

[Sarojini]

Yep, your body has a mechanism that slows down urine production at night -- and then you tend to pee more in the morning because you're body is "cleaning house." In addition, in normal people, the nervous system slows its signaling, so you don't have as many bladder contractions in the night. That's why normal bladders can remain semi-full in the night.

Also, male bladders DO hold more than female. Normal for a female (awake) is usually around 400-700 cc, and for men (awake) it is more like 700-1000 cc.... but, some women have big bladders and some men have small ones. Janie, it sounds like you actually have a real big one :) Lucky you.... mine isn't even that big under anesthesia. During my hydro, my uro could only fill it to 600 cc when I was dead to the world! Soooo.... bladder retraining may be a really good step for you, since you know you have a large bladder that can hold it! :D

[ICNDonna]

Some people with IC have found some success with bladder retraining, but you should definitely be talking with your doctor. Also, I have read that bladder retraining attempts should not be made when you are in pain --- again, this is a good thing to discuss with your doctor.

Donna

[K9wife]

1,000 cc's?!?! I am SO jealous!!!! Mine is at 25 cc's for the urge, and 50 cc's "can't bear it" as I describe it. I was hoping after my hysterectomy that with fibroids no longer squishing my bladder that my capacity would be bigger...I can still see my husband's disappointed face when we came out of the bathroom after surgery the first time and still only measured 25 cc's..... sigh......