How to tell if it's retension

[stacey79]

About a month ago, I switched from Ditropan XL to regular Ditropan (it's MUCH cheaper). I'd been on the XL for probably three years and never had problems with it. SInce starting the regular kind, though, I've had a weaker stream than ever before.

I'm worried about retension. I'm flaring this week. I was wondering if anyone knows how to tell if it's retension? When I'm flaring it pretty much always feels like my bladder is full, so it's hard to tell if I really am emptying it. Of course, if I continue to have issues, I'll call the uro, but it may just be a flare. I've been under a lot of stress lately.

[Kara29]

Your Doctor can do a bladder scan in the office to tell if you are emptying or not. Thats really the only way to tell if it's really retention or part of a flare.
I hope you can figure out what is going on with the medication. With meds the generics can have fillers in them that differ from the name brand. Once in awhile a person may have a reaction to them. You could call your doctor about that as well as your pharmacist.

I hope you get it straightened out soon and remeber if you feel a lot of pain, please call the Doctor imediately. Rentenion is not something to mess with. If your doctor is not around you could go to a local ER.

Kara

[stacey79]

It's very frustrating. Unless it gets worse, I guess I'll just wait and see if I start feeling better. Next week is a lighter week for me at work. If it is just a flare, then it should start calming down (hopefully) with lower stress levels. My husband is unemployed right now, so we don't have insurance. I'm hoping to avoid additional medical expenses unless I really need them.

I just think it's weird since I had luck with the Ditropan XL (both namebrand and then generic once it was available). But, they are different medicines, I guess. I didn't think they'd be that different.

[Kara29]

I sure hope you feel better by next week. Added stress such as what your Husband is going through doesn't help to feeling any better. I've been there myself both my Husband and then myself with Disability. I'm trying to think of ways to ease the rention if that is what it is. Ice, Heat, a warm bath, or shower, maybe going back to the brand name just to see if that helps you more even though it's really expensive. Your Doctor may have some samples in his office that he may be able to send to you or you could pick them up in the office. If you explain your situation, he may do that for you. One time my doctor gave me several months supply of samples. When I had retention, I used to turn off the lights in the bathroom and light a candle to try and relax those muscles. I also ran the water in the sink and sometimes dribbled it down my legs. I tried to put the stress outside of the bathroom door and go in with as much of a clear head as I could. When you get your insurance back, maybe you could look into Pelvic Floor Therapy. They can teach you ways to relax those muscles and or tighten them up, whichever may be happening.

Maybe some of the other ladies will have some ways of coping with rention that are not medication related.......

You could also check out the ICN Patient Handbook: http://www.ic-network.com/handbook/

Kara

[Judith56]

Before there were bladder scans they used to check for retention by cathing the person after they had urinated to see how much was left in the bladder. If you know how to catheterize yourself then just do it after you pee and measure what comes out. You can call your uro with the information and see what they say.

[stacey79]

I can't cath myself, so that's out. I think I may just be flaring. My muscles really don't feel tight. It's more that things are just slower than they were before, you know? I try to make sure I take the time to get everything emptied, but without "pushing" too hard. I know that can make things worse, too.

The heating pad always seems to help. I've had it out this week, but not as much as I probably should have. I'll try that some more.

I have asked about samples, but now that Ditropan has a generic version, his office doesn't have any samples for it. They have other ones, like Vesicare, which I tried once while waiting for my medicine in the mail. It didn't work at all. I've only had luck with Ditropan.

One of the most frustrating things about IC is figuring out why things are going on. I wish I knew if this was Ditropan related or just a flare. Going completely off the Ditropan would make things even worse, though.

[Dreamlove15]

Hi, I was also put on Ditropan 2 days ago. I had the cysto/hydro/biopsy surgery weds. I noticed after just taking two of these pills it became so very hard to pee. It was like I would go little drops and then get up feeling like my bladder was full yet again. I have no idea if it was a result from all the messing of my bladder and just being swollen or the meds making me retain. All I know is I had never had that symptom before. Nor do I really have frequency problems, which is why im a little nervous as to why im on it... I have more pain than anything. But, I went ahead and called my doc and they said to break my 5mg Ditropan in half and see how that works. He did not want me retaining. So anyways just thought i'd throw my experience in...Good Luck!