Overly Numb from Instillation -Question?

[Ratchada]

So today after my instill I did not get catheterized afterwards since I was learning how to do it and the catheter fell out so we decided I would try to pee out what was there and go home with a pad. (I told her I was dribbling.) I think the nurse was a little heavy handed with the numbing gel and it is nearly three hours after the fact. I am just leaking urine and have no sensation to pee. Has this happened to any of you before? This is a first for me. How long can I expect the numbing gel to last? I am feeling so empowered that i will be able to do this myself but realize there are things to watch for down the line.
Thanks. Ratchada

[waterflow]

Are you talking about the lidocaine on the outside? If so I did that the first time I used it at home. Everything down there was numb all morning long. I learned a little goes a long way. The first I think 4 months when I first started having the instills done I would dribble it out too. I was supposed to lay on the table and hold it so long on each side and turn over on the other. Every time I turned over some came out. I've always been able to have the sensation of peeing after the instills. Normally I feel like I have to really really pee and I have to concentrate on not peeing and holding it. If I can get past the first 10 minutes I can hold it for a long time after that.

[Ratchada]

Thanks, Waterflow. Yeah, it was the outside gel. I know the other nurses have only put a little bit in. I don't have any pain when the catheter goes in so I may be able to squeak by with just a drop. Just a question for you - after you put in the instill do you just lie there and keep the cath in and pinched off (so you can empty the cocktail out when you are done) or do you take the cath out and wait to pee it out? Thanks for you help and quick reply. Ratchada

[SandyRN]

When I do my instills I hold them for up to an hour, sometimes longer. Then the feeling to pee comes back within several hours and I never feel like I have a hesitancy or retention problem when I do them, even though retention is one of my problems. Home instills have been a lifesaver for me!

ps...that's with taking the cath out. I've never had to hold it with the catheter in place.

[waterflow]

I have awful pain with the cath going in and out. The cath has always been taken out from day one. I just laid there holding it the best I could and I think 4 months afterwards I could hold it myself so I didn't have to lay there waiting the 15 mintues I think it was. Gee, been so long ago I actually forgot how long it was I held it.

[jen74]

I had bad retention with marcaine, but lidocaine is fine for me. Are you sure she used lidocaine and not marcaine? Marcaine is way stronger than lidocaine.
Jen

[Ratchada]

Marcaine was in the instill but lidocaine was to numb the urethra. It was the lidocaine gel that was slathered on. It lasted about five+ hours.

[jen74]

I am betting it was the marcaine they used in your instill that caused this to happen, and not so much the lido they put on the outside. That would not cause the dribbling issue. I do hope you are feeling better today.
Jen

[L. Thomas]

Sometimes I do an instill before bed and I don't need to go to the bathroom until 6-7 hours later. When I have had joint injections the lidocaine will last from 4-6 hours. I would think that would compare with the topical lidocaine.