Is a hydro-distention painful afterwards?

[jen286]

I have had burning pain in my urethra for about a month now. It started out as a urinary tract infection, but turned into a burning sensation that I get randomly throughout the day and it won't go away. My urologist wants to do a hydro-distention next week, and I am not sure I want to do this. I am scared of the pain that follows the procedure because after I had a catheter put in to get a clean sample of urine, I had awful pain. Also, I'm just not convinced that I have IC. The only symptom I have is the burning i feel in my urethra, and I see that most of you talk of bladder pain and urgency, but I don't have those symptoms. Can anyone tell me how it feels to get a hydro-distention and the pain afterward. Also, is it normal for a urologist to want to do this procedure just for burning that isn't a UTI?

[gopher7895]

I had a cystoscopy with hydrodistention earlier this year under anesthesia and it wasn't too painful for me. It hurt to pee afterwards but that went away in a few days. I took 4 days off work but could've really gone back after 2. My urologist wanted to do it because I had burning pain for over a year and no one could figure out what the source of the pain was other than my bladder. My pain sometimes was in my urethra but other times was in my whole pelvis. Have you asked your uro about the potassium sensitivity test? I never had one but a lot of other people have and it's a less invasive way to diagnose IC. Have you tried the IC diet? It made a huge difference in the way I felt just about a week after starting it so that pretty much made me sure I had IC. Maybe you'd feel better getting a second opinion before going ahead with the procedure. A month of burning in your urethra could probably be caused by things other than IC. Good luck.

[jen286]

I haven't had a PST and I didn't even know about it until I read about it on this website. My urologist never even mentioned it. When you say you have pain in your urethra and pelvis, do you mean a burning or a pain,like menstrual cramps? That is what confuses me the most because most people on here say they have pain, but mine is not a pain, it is burning. I haven't tried the IC diet, but I think I am going to. Your IC was diagnosed by having a hydro-distention? I just don't know what to do. I want to get a second opinion, but I can't anything until after the first of the year.

[BBB]

First, welcome! Sorry it is under the bad circumstances.

If you search prior post using the "hydro-distention" as key words you will find lots of good (and current) information. My posts are included in them.
As you look through prior threads and their posts, the one thing about IC is everyone is so different. That being said, the ICN provides a wealth of information.

My personal hydro-distention experience was awful! I am glad I did it to rule out bladder cancer and to find out I had IC. The awful part came with the pain afterward and the inability to urinate. I had to wear a Foley for a week and was on round the clock pain medication which my Urologist was not happy about giving me.

I hope you find out what is going on. A lot of ICers don't have significant pain, they have burning, urgency and frequency. Unfortunately I have all four, however I also have VV and PFD.

Good luck,
Betsy

[gopher7895]

jen...My pain started as a burning like I needed to pee all the time. That burning pain kept spreading from my urethra deeper into my body and turned into muscle spasms in my vagina, rectum and bladder. I called them "involuntary kegels" because my body was painfully doing muscle contractions like that and it was hard to tell where the pain stopped and started since my whole pelvis was involved. I wouldn't compare it to menstrual cramps. It's more intense like being in labor. Oddly enough, it feels like something is going to fall out of me and my muscles are trying to hold it in even though I don't want them to.

From there I developed frequency (pee every 20 minutes) and urgency like I was about to die I had to pee so bad even though I just went. It took me over a year to get that bad any by then I'd gone to a number of doctors and finally was referred to a urologist. An ultrasound showed there was possibly something in my bladder so that's why I chose to do the cystoscopy with hydrodistention so my uro could see the inside of the bladder. I didn't have any ulcers in there but he was definitely able to diagnose IC and gave me some bladder pictures.

Hopefully you don't have IC but it's good you're investigating it. My former gyn was in his 50's and thought it was extremely rare. He never thought my bladder was the source of my pain and wrote me off as crazy. I wish I had heard of IC sooner and saved myself a year of pain.

This site has a lot of information to help you make an informed decision about your choices. My advice to you is to read all you can because not all doctors understand IC well. Also, if a doctor doesn't listen or you just don't feel good about him don't hesitate to see someone else. I learned that the hard way. I hope you're feeling better soon!

[NancyB]

Jen -

I didn't have any discomfort during my cysto-hydro (under anesthesia) or after. I think the sooner you get an appropriate diagnosis the sooner you can start treatment(s) and perhaps nip your symptoms in the bud. I believe that the sooner you get a handle on this the better off you are. At least that has been my experience.

Good luck. Let us know what you decide to do.:)

[Dreamlove15]

Right After my Hydro/Cysto I was in alot of pain. I'm not trying to scare you, but like most surgery, pain follows. When I got into recovery, I was not comfortable by any means. I was given alot of morphine and the first void afterwards. Umm well hurts like ****. Everyone's different but it feels like your peeing glass or razor blades. And I bled quite a bit, but some people dont. I hope I haven't been to graphic, im just trying to give you a sense of all of it. I went from being a totally healthy 23 year old to having to go through all of this. It was quite scary, as most surgeries are. It just really depends on the person and if you bladder is already inflammed. They usually make you stay until you void and then your on your way. The doctor may give you some pydrium and pain meds, just depends on the doctor. They also give you Antibiotics as well just in case you get a UTI. Well I did and it was bad. So my whole hydro/cysto experience is a mess. I ended up in the hospital because of it. So I dont know it I ever really got to experience the true effects of a hydro. But hopefully you will do fine and everything will go smoothly if you go through with it. Feel free to message me if you have any more. questions. Also I do not have much frequency or urgency either. Mostly painful urination and bladder pain, spasms. So it could very well be IC, but you wont know unless you get tested in some way to see if you have some chracteristics. :angel:

[ICNDonna]

When I have a hydrodistention, I do have some pain for the first day or two, but after that the pain pretty well goes away.

Donna