neewbie

[hipsnoh]

I am scheduled for another appt., but I am sooooo afraid. Have any of you heard of Urelle? That was perscribed for me until my next appt. I am also taking Vicodin ES. My uro said something about shooting some medicine into my bladder, have any of you had that done? This is all new to me, but the pain is tremendous. Now my kidneys are aching like crazy.

[Sarojini]

Ok, don't be afraid, first of all :) We're here to give you a little help and support.

Yes, I've heard of Urelle; it is a mild urinary tract anesthetic that is supposed to help with bladder pain and urgency/frequency. Some have great luck with it, but others do not report any difference. We are all different with how we respond to meds.

As for "shooting medicine into the bladder," this is called a "bladder instillation" or a "bladder wash." It involves inserting a catheter into your bladder, and then some medicine is put into your bladder via that catheter. The catheter is usually removed, and you will be asked to hold the medicine for 15 minutes -1 hour depending on the doctor. Then you just urinate it out. There are several types of bladder instills -- the most common are DMSO instills (this is an organic solvent, and if you have this one you may smell like garlic for a day afterwards... strange, yes, I know) and instills with heparin, lidocaine and sodium bicarbonate. (You can read more about these instills in our handbook, at http://www.ic-network.com/handbook .)

I do the heparin ones at home after going through DMSO instills, which did not help me. However, again, we are different and some have better luck with DMSO.

I would ask your doctor to explain exactly what is in the instills and how often he plans to do them. Bring a notebook and write down what he says so you always will remember. Remember, THIS IS YOUR BODY and you have a right to know what they are going to put in it!! It's not rude or anything to ask what's in the instill ;)