In the Morning first Instill..worried!

[lookwho3]

Well I just read most of the posts and I still feel scared.
I am having the first one done at the Urologist in the morning and then have them scheduled once a week for a total of 6 weeks.
I can't seem to find a complete description of whatis done.
I gather you are cathed and then they send the medication through the tube to your bladder.
Does the cath. feel like a pinch when the attach it?
How will I feel when i leave to drive home ( about 45 mins away ). Cramps?
Won't it hurt the first few times I pee, sting, just from the the procedure?
please respond tonight....I am so worried...
thanks...........
TR

[mbe]

Never had this procdure but I have heard that they can really help. From the little knowledge I have I understand they help with the pain...the doc can using a numbing med for the catheder and a local anastetic for the bladder when they put in the catheder and they should give you a prescribtion for pyridium (used for the bladder pain specifically) which has helped me..pyridium has been a life saver..also ask for enough regular pain meds like Vicodin, Ultram, etc. to get you through the weekend just in case. No severe symptoms just uncomfortable from what I understand but everyine is different and will repsond differently! I think you be fine!

I hope this helps!

Sending best wishes and hugs!:)

[leelee88]

I have never had these done, But have talked to alot who have. Please tell your nurse or Dr you would like to have some Lidocaine gel first to numb the area. This should help when the catheter goes in.

[GriffsMommy]

I started with having rescue instills done in the dr's office and then was taught to do them at home.
As Ronda suggested you should make sure they are going to use lidocaine to numb your urethra before they put the cath in. There is an applicator for lidocaine gel called urojet that you might want to ask if they use. It is actually placed in the opening of your urethra and lidocaine is squirted up into your urethra. As long as I have this done I have no pain from the cath whatsoever. Most people find rescue instills very soothing to your bladder so I wouldn't anticipate pain on the drive home but each of us is so different and how we respond to meds. Good luck and let us know how it goes! :grouphug:

[girl]

Well, I didn't make if before the morning, so I hope your instill went okay!
I second (or third) the lidocaine gel - it's a lifesaver. For me, I get heparin instills, and I feel better the moment it hits my bladder. Yes, you usually will have a little urethral pain or stinging afterwards, but it's usually not too bad for most people. I really hope it helps you!

[lookwho3]

Well, I learned a lot from your posts.
I will ask for the gel FIRST! and the pain meds just in case for after.

Unfortunately, I had to postpone as we have a snow storm here and a car share situation which made it impossible for me to get there.......I am upset! This is the third week I had to postpone, the last two I had Bronchitics and a sinus infection! I felt lousy, still a bit sluggish.
Now I have to wait till next friday again......
I may need your support again then, I think the first time will be the hardest.
I have some really bad memories of being cathd by a Urologist back in the 80's when I had my urethra stretched (it was like being tortured!). It was so painful.
Hopefully I have picked the right dr ( from the four I went to before getting to him) and it will be a positive event!
Thank You all~
TR

[windchaser]

do you know if you are having a DMSO or rescue treatment? I know that when I had my 4 DMSOs they were always pretty bad for 2-3 days afterwards so i got 2 days of being a little better but it has helped alot of people so it might be worth a try for you idk about the rescue instills but hope this new uro will try them...

[L. Thomas]

I do home instills with lidocaine, heparin and sodium bicarbonate. I use an 8fr (15") catheter. I have never had pain with a catheter this small. I had no side effects or problems. There is a difference in the way it will feel based on several things:

size of the catheter
instill ingredients
use of lidocaine gel

The procedure is as you have imagined. A catheter is inserted and the bladder is drained. A syringe of ingredients (coctail) is attached to the end of the catheter and it is injected into the bladder.

You may be asked to stay at the office for a while to see what effect the instill will have (or any discomfort can be addressed). There are some that flare from the insertion of the catheter. This seems to happen sometimes if lidocaine is not used.

The total volume of my instill is 10cc. I held the first instill for apx 3 hours. I had no discomfort, other than being scared to death of pain. I did not feel more than a slight "pinch" sensation. I have no pain what so ever when I do home instills. I had 5-6 instills in the office. The first 2-3 were to see if the coctail was right and the next 3 were to learn how to mix and instill the coctail.

Instills have been all I need for control of my IC. I hope they are successful for you. If you have questions I will be happy to tell you my experiences. I have been doing instill for a while now.

[muxerr012]

THE most important thing to ask for is a small sized cath!! Pediatric 6FR is best. No cramps going home and I felt so much better within an hour after the instill. No burning at all when I finally went to the bathroom tho. They tell you to hold it in for at least an hour to get the full pain relief. What they did NOT tell me was that it may take you a while to pee and don't panic. It took me 3.5 hours to finally pee, but it didn't hurt. I sat down for the 3rd time trying to go and ran the sink water and relaxed. Finally I was able to pee! I loved mine and the 2nd one was even better :)

[sphinx]

I had always had icky experiences being cathed before, so I was nervous too. But she did it with the same size cath I use at home, rather than the standard straight cath kit used in most office situations (14 fr). It's a 10fr 6 inch female catheter. When she did it I just felt a little weird sensation when she actually hit the bladder, but no irritation at all in the urethra and that surprised me! Now at home I have no pain or discomfort at all doing them. I personally don't need lidocaine gel to numb, but many people do. I just lube up really well!

Good luck to you.

[bunnykinb]

I had asked the nurse last week for lidocaine gel and she said they did not have it; only the lidocaine liquid. She used that and boy did it sting my urethra. I know the urologist gets samples of urojet because he gave me another one last week. I also have to tell him I need a smaller cath. A 18 disposable one was used. OUCH.

[gtg728]

I am so sorry! First you are right ask the doc for the lidocaine jelly . If they don't stock it -they should. I can't imagine a uro office without it. Anyway an 18 Fr is kind of a large size cath to start out with I would ask them to use a 10Fr-12Fr or even smaller. Also I have found the clear plastics to work better than the red rubber disposable caths. Good luck-the office nurse needs to understand the unecessary pain a large cath and no lidocaine gel can cause :( . IC Hugs-

[sphinx]

Wow, an 18 fr cath is pretty big! I'm a nurse and when we do straight caths we generally use a 14 fr. Even a 14 is painful to me. I was really nervous before my first instill because I had no idea they'd use such a tiny cath on me, but the 10 fr is perfect for me. No discomfort at all (except the 1 time I had a UTI, that was pretty tender then). Lots of people even use the 8 fr pediatric caths. Even if (for some bizarre reason) they don't have smaller caths in the office, perhaps he can write a prescription and you can pick up your own to bring in or if you are going to start doing instills at home.

[sugar]

I am so surprised that a uro would use a cath so big! They MUST have smaller ones around. I thought most uros stocked the standard 12fr size or smaller. I would guess that anyones urethra would be irritated by one so big, even w/lidocaine jelly. I ended up getting the 10 and 8fr sizes, and it made a huge difference. I also agree they should be able to get some lidocaine jelly. Or write you a script for it (I think it's pretty cheap) and you could bring your own and insist they use it. But they might not go for that idea. I insisted on it and am glad I did. The original jelly, even when applied heavily, made the insertion uncomfortable at best.
Take care!
Annette

[bunnykinb]

The uro agreed that the 18 fr was too big. He wrote a prescription for 14 fr. The nurse used a red robin, I think 12. It was bendable and went in with ease. I was told for home use, the uro likes to use the plastic disposable ones rather than the red robin because bacteria can accumulate if not cleaned properly.

The nurse was going to call the supplier and ask if I can get some samples before filling the prescription. Besides, the insurance told me that I need to have the doctor's office put the request for everything that is used for instills through the medical group. All the catheters, etc should be covered as durable goods.