guys I am scared I'm about to have hydrodistention :(

[alina]

Can anyone tell me about their experience with a hydrodistention? My doc says that is the only way to diagnose interstitial cystitis....I am scheduled to have one in two weeks. I am not a very happy person right now..please let me know what your experiences are! TIA

[Trishann]

Hi Alina, I think it is normal to be afraid. If you scroll down this page, you will find the Forum Jump, look under cystoscopy/hydrodistention. It will give you some information on this subject. Are you going to be under anesthesia, are you going to be in the hospital as a outpatient? Will you get pain medicine afterward, if needed. Knowing these things, can help you to decide, what you want to do.

Alina, I hope the best for you.

[ICLori]

Hi, Alina, I've had two hydrodistentions, and they really weren't bad at all for me.

Basically, the hardest part was when they put the IV in. If you can handle the IV, you can handle the rest of it, LOL!

On mine, I got sedated with an IV (good tranquilizers!) and then they gave me a spinal (epidural). What happens is, you sit up and kind of hunch over (like your Mom told you never to do, when she taught you to sit up straight, LOL) and you feel (sometimes) a bit of a pinching sensation for a second, and then that's about it. Your body from the waist down goes numb, but you don't realize that it's numb until later when you try to poke your leg and you can't feel it.

My doctors let me stay awake for the second one (they gave me a choice) and I opted to stay awake because I wanted to watch the screen (they have this big screen where you can watch as the camera looks at the inside of your bladder!) But if you want, you can opt to just go to sleep and wake up when it's over.

Anyway, they will pass a very thin instrument into your urethra after they make sure you are all clean and sterilized down there. It's a very thin instrument, designed especially to fit into the urethra and bladder without stretching or hurting you in any way. This little device amazingly enough has a little camera, a water hose, and they can even use it to take a little scraping off the lining of your bladder for the biopsy!

If you choose to stay awake, you will see the screen as they look at your bladder and fill it slowly with water. Remember, you won't feel a thing!

You'll get to see the inside of your bladder, and see how red and angry it is! Then they drain the water, and fill it a second time, and this is when the doctor will see all the little red veins and bleeding patches, like when you have a really bloodshot eye. Once he fills it again, he then measures the water that comes out, to see what your bladder capacity is while you are under anesthesia. That tells the doctor a lot about what stage of IC you have, and how your bladder is doing.

It's normal to be scared - I was scared the first time, especially! But I promise you, it's no big deal - you'll get through it just fine!

Afterwards, when the anesthesia wears off, you will feel some discomfort when you void. Have you ever had a bladder infection, where you felt a stinging sensation as you urinated? Well, that's what it feels like the first couple three times you void after the procedure. If you'd like, you can ask your doctor for some pain meds and for some pyridium to ease the initial burning. After a couple of hours, you will feel pretty much normal again, but you may have a bit of a flareup in your IC symptoms for a few days to maybe a week. After that initial flareup (that's why the pain pills are good to have) you may very well go into a remission (many of us do) that could last anywhere from a few weeks, to months! Some doctors even use hydrodistentions as therapy for IC, for this reason! I was so naive about Ic when I got my first hydrodistention, that when my symptoms went away, I thought they had somehow cured me and I was free of IC forever! Oh that's funny, looking back. But it only lasted a month, then my IC returned. :(

Now, if they take a small scraping of tissue (kind of like a pap smear, only in your bladder) there will be a drop or two of blood. So that means your urine will be tinged pink for a little while, maybe an hour or so. But it heals very quickly, and it's really only the smallest scratch. You know how you bite the inside of your mouth, and you bleed a bit, but then it heals really fast? The bladder heals really fast like that too from the biopsy (tissue scraping.) And the biopsy, where they gather a few cells from different parts inside your bladder, will help tell the doctor more about your bladder and how it's doing.

Well, I hope this helped to reassure you a bit! It's normal to be scared, I mean, it's kind of a weird procedure, that no one ever talks about, and you're already hurting down there so I'm sure you must be nervous that maybe it will hurt worse...but I promise you, you'll get through it just fine and you'll laugh a bit when it's all over and think, "what was I so scared of? This was easy!"

Blessings,
and welcome,
Lori

[Sarojini]

http://www.ic-network.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28350

I posted this link under your other thread as well -- just click on it and it will take you to a thread started by "judyblue" and it contains a lot of stories about cysto/hydros, and all are positive :) Some are short and sweet and some are very detailed, but I think this thread will be helpful to you :grouphug:

[alina]

thanks for your replies ! Is getting an iv thesame as when you get a needle in your arm for drawing blood? Or is it more painful?? SORRY FOR ALL THE QUESTIONS!THANKS !

[ICLori]

Hi, Alina, it's a tiny bit more uncomfortable than when they just take a tube of blood, because the needle is bigger. But it's much less uncomfortable than, say, getting a shot in the dentist's chair. Have you ever given blood, like for a blood drive? If so, that's the same size needle that they use for an IV.

You'll get through this with flying colors, no problems!

Blessings,
Lori

[stacyY]

Hi Alina I am stacy. I had the cysitiscope and the Hydra done also in feb this year, It really isnt anything you should fear. In fact i am having it done again end of this month, I had no pain at all from it. And i had no brining right after the surgery, and you can eat also after u wake up and use the bathroom like normal. But one thing i was not told about is that well for me it happend liek this, I had surgery done on a fri, went to work on mon and tue, wed my pain came back and i missed about 2 weeks worth of work cos by streaching out blader it will set off you pains. But i wasnt prepaird for it if i had known that i would have taken some medican before hand and done the things i do to try to stop it.
I was told though that they do not like to do the surgeries to often cos it can damage the bladder its self worse. And for me its just been 4 months since i had 1st one done. But i had been in somuch pain in May that the doctor saw no other choice after i tried the Instilations. I think they acculy made it worse. Since i stopped them, then the pain also has stopped. Very weird!
But really the srugery done its self is not bad at all. No need to worry as long as you trust your doctor. I was put to sleep for it. I dont think i can handle to watch, thats just nasty i think. So just try to relax and you should do jsut fine really.
take care and really the best wish for you. I hope for your sake it turns out to not be IC. GOOD LUCK!!!
best wishes
stacy

[ericaranae]

I had a cystoscopy with hydrdilation 2 weeks ago. I was also very nervous and scared. It went very well though. They put you out and the whole thing seemed to go quickly. when i woke up I had some pain and I bleed when going to the bathroom for the next 24 hrs. after that, i felt fine. i was just really tired. Good luck..thinking of you!
Erica
P.S. If you are worried about the iv, make sure they give you a shot of lidocain at the site b/f putting the iv in. this will really minimize your discomfort.