Anyone had collagen or tegriss implants?

[SherryKay]

I'm new to this site. I have been experiencing many IC symptoms since having 3 Tegress (don't ask me what's in them, my urologist just says that it's permanent material) implants (last one being mid Dec. 2005. Before that I had 7 collagen implants (this was due to my bladder opening being too large & the collagen would bulk up the opening to help prevent leakage). I had 10 total implants from Dec. 2001 to Dec. 2005. The collagen eventually is absorbed by the body making new implants necessary. That's why when I finally broke down & went back to him, he suggested this new stuff- Tegress which I can't find ANYTHING on the web about. I have burning all the time, frequency like crazy, can't go once I'm in there (I ENVY people who can pee in a healthy pressurized stream with no problems- pretty bad I know but true). I have gotten so depressed over my bladder problems & I haven't had the nerve to go back to my urologist because all he ever says is lose weight. Well, what do I do in the mean time!! True I have not told him about all of the IC symptoms I've developed this year as I am too scared to go see him again. There aren't any other urologists in our town I could see.
He actually thought it was hilarious when I couldn't pee after the last Tegress implant (while I was in the recovery area after the procedure). I strained like crazy after I got home & have days still that I strain even though I leak anyway (I think that is from not being able to fully empty my bladder). I hate life now because it all revolves around my stupid bladder problems. I can't be away from a restroom for long & have to map out where I can pee along the way to any place I go. Trying to go to my daughter's 4H functions is difficult due to there not always being a bathroom nearby. It's ruined my sex life as well. My husband tries to be supportive but he can't really help. I can't drink the diet sodas I love without running to the bathroom every 5 -15 min. It gets old. Anything with caffeine is a major problem nowadays when it never was before. I had about a month of relief & then all of the symptoms returned overnight in mid-May. Any suggestions? I am desperate.

[ICNDonna]

Have you tried the IC diet? You'll find it in the Patient Handbook at http://www.ic-network.com/handbook Some find that single step really helps with controlling symptoms. Are you a smoker? If so, you need to think about quitting (smoking can be a real bladder irritant).

I do think it would be a good idea to go back to the urologist for some help.

Warm healing thoughts,
Donna

[SherryKay]

Donna,
Thanks for the info. I was already thinking that I may have to resort to the ic diet even though I am not thrilled by it. Everything I love is forbidden I guess. No, I don't smoke. I am asthmatic anyway & no one in my household smokes. I don't drink alcohol either. I love chocolate, diet sodas, tomatoes, & stuff like that.
I forgot to mention last night that I have urgency as well (many times I don't make it soon enough & I have to wear 2 pantiliners laid end to end everyday). I was just wondering if anyone else had had these implants & then suffered from IC as a result. I know I need to go see a urologist but I really don't want to due to his attitude & rude remarks & the fact that he has made me worse not better during this past year (I believe that my IC symptoms are a direct result of these Tegriss implants- I never had these symptoms with the collagen implants & these were a "new" thing he started doing to women here last fall). He's told me that if I lost 25 or 30 lbs. he could do a sling surgery on me (I know that isn't an IC related thing) but I wouldn't want it done judging by all of the stuff I've read on the web about it. No thanks.
I am just at my wits end. My mom had IC & thinks it may have recurred. She, my sis, & I have ALWAYS had bladder troubles. Mom's had her opening stretched more times than I can count (she has the opposite problem than me). We both suffer from leakage, burning, frequency, urgency, etc. I think she's on detrol (I think that's the name of it) but it doesn't help. She refuses to go back to our urologist too for the same reasons.
Thanks,
Sherry

[kadi]

Is there a research hospital anywhere around you? Or another town? I had a very rude & arrogant urologist when I first got IC and it was totally worth the hour's drive out of town to see someone else... I figured since I was getting proper treatment I needed to go to the doctor less often, so it worked out even.

Definitely do consider the IC diet. Yeah, it's no fun, but it's better than what happens when I don't stay on it! It didn't take care of everything for me, but it really reduced my symptoms and I consider it worth it...

Wishing you better days soon!

[SherryKay]

Kadi,
No there's no research hospital near me. I take care of my mom during the weekdays & run her to errands (or do errands for her) so I haven't had a lot of time to try to see if there's another urologist I could go to in any other town. Our local clinic is a branch nowadays of the only other clinic that I've had to take my kids to or my mom to for anything that couldn't be done here. I guess being overweight also keeps me from rushing out to see another doc whose just gonna be crass about my situation & blame it on weight or just a big bladder opening. I've had too many doctors over the yrs. dismiss severe pains I've had to really trust most doctors. There are several at the local clinic that I wouldn't give ya a nickel for (my Mom's is one of them plus I changed pediatricians due to negligence on ours' part- gee saw him in the hallway today when I was taking my daughter in for xrays on her ankle she hurt at school & he was amzed to see how grown up looking she is now- gee I quit taking my kids to him in Jan. 2001-he's the same idiot that after I'd lost 75 lbs. & was looking great & not too far from my goal handed me a weigh-down diet pamphlet from his church- gee I was already dieting & losing weight on my own program but he was obivious to it- I just thought he was plain rude!).
Anyway, my husband did find some Prelief for me in this town (our local Walmart quit carrying it a couple yrs. ago). Luckily they built a Walgreens not too far from our house- they have it. I'll have to print out the IC diet & see what to get at the store for it & what I can't come home with.
I was thinking today that I started having problems the minute I got out of surgery for that last Tegress implant. If I could turn back time, I'd never have let him put them in my body! I'm already worried about how I'm going to stand walking around our state fair next month in pain & with the urgency problems (my daughter is excited to go & I'm dreading it this yr). :(
Sherry

[SherryKay]

Update: I finally went back to my urologist & had a cystoscopy on 12/11 & he found a kiwi sized stone in my bladder. I am scheduled to hopefully have it blown up by laser on 12/13 (if that is not possible he will have to make an incision to remove it). We are all wondering if the Tegress material is in the middle of this thing. Doc says he can't even tell if I truly have IC until he gets this thing out. Word of Warning to everyone- if your doctor wants to put Tegress Implants in your bladder - run like crazy & find another doc or tell him he has to do something else!! My doc says that other women he's put this stuff into are having a lot of problems too & that it's not the miracle that he once thought it was. He's having to extract this junk from his patients & go back to collagen implants in the bladder like he did before (I am supposed to get one in 8 more weeks).
Just thought I'd let you know,
Sherry

[SherryKay]

I just found the correct spelling for that stuff- tegress. It is finally on the web so people can see what it's made of. Look up Tegress implants on the web.There was nothing on the web when my doc started putting this in me a little over a year ago. Still, don't let doctors talk you into anything foreign to put into your body unless you've had time to research the material & form your own opinion! I wish something had been there for me to read & some actual case studies would have helped me too in deciding. I took his word for it because he'd just been to a conference in Texas & was so impressed by it. He assured me that we (the other patients & myself) not guinea pigs with this stuff. Yeah right!
Sherry

[SherryKay]

My latest update on this saga is that my urologist was able to break up that kiwi sized stone in my bladder (and not have to take it out by an incision unlike another person that day in surgery who had a smaller stone) & I spent a night in the hospital having my bladder flushed out so I wouldn't develop blood clots & I wasn't able to get out of bed (I had support stockings on & these things on each leg that inflated every minute or so to prevent blood clots in my legs). I still don't know if the Tegress material was inside of the stone but I'd be willing to say that it was. Again I caution anyone to think twice before ever letting a doctor put that stuff in you! My doc can't tell until I am healed up if I actually have IC or not. I am rarely having any burning & no longer have the frequency or accidents (knock on wood) that I was having before the laser broke up this stone. Oh I had to edit this (as I did where I had originally misspelled the word Tegress) and I will add also that this Tegress material is ethylene vinyl alcohol. That is what they are putting in women for incontinence. Kinda reminds me of that movie "Breast Men" where the doctors were putting that car upholstery material into women for breast enlargements- sick stuff!!

Good luck to all & Merry Christmas!!