How much do you drink and how many trips to the loo do you need a day?

[JustFabulous]

I don't think I drink a huge amount but I do feel I am forever in the loo. Plus I wake 5-6 for the loo every morning. Sometimes I feel like I am desperate for a wee but then have a small one other times I feel like I have lost the ability to know if I need the loo or not .

I had surgery in November but don't think it is anything to do with that.

[JustFabulous]

Goodness, that is a lot of info. I am going to have to read this thread a few times to get it I think. Thank you.

[Screaminabdabs]

Thanks, Gussie. Very interesting. I've done a load of pelvic floor exercises today.

[Ilovefluffysheep]

Lifting up a lift 3 floors in your vag????

Good job I don't suffer incontinence as that just made me laugh out loud and really cheered me up for some reason! Think its the mental image I've got, is very amusing!

The one thing I would say is perservere, and do your research. I first got referred to the consultant when I was 18 ish, and have been going on and off to lots of different ones ever since (with quite a few breaks in between). I'm not 37!

The last consultant I had in my own area said there was nothing more he could do, and that I couldn't have botox and sacral nerve stimulation as they weren't funded. After all these years I told him that I wanted a second opinion, as I couldn't believe in this day and age there was nothing more could be done. He agreed, but told me even if I went elsewhere I wouldn't get these things.

I researched urologists, and found one in London I wanted to go to who did both private and NHS. I don't think a lot of people realise this, but under the choose and book scheme you can be referred ANYWHERE in the country as long as your GP agrees, which luckily for me mine did.

I went with no expectations because of what my consultant had told me. Turns out he was wrong, and I got put straight on the waiting list for botox, and when that didn't work had the sacral nerve op done.

So, know your rights, don't take no for any answer, and be prepared to ask for second opinion - Dr's don't know everything!

[gussiegrips]

I know, Fluffy!

The weird thing about mula banda is that when you are teaching someone to do it...

"now, imagine you have lift in your vagina. Lift it to the first floor, up to the second, then, the third. Now, concentrate, down to the second, down to the first, and relax"

...they all squint their faces and do it.

Not once have I met someone who has said in outrage "I beg your pardon? Imagine I've got a WHAT in my WHERE?"

ha ha ha

Ever read the Borrowers? That's who's in mine. A teeny tiny wee Pod. I always fancied a bloke who was nifty with a safety pin.

[gussiegrips]

Confession time - I'm mostly stuck on a settee with a poorly SmallGrip.

Politics of pee:

GPs have a very hard job and, I've only ever found them to be helpful. I luffs GPs and don't want to sound like I'm dissing them. But, (ah, you knew that was coming) their system operates around QOF - where they are paid extra for preventing hospital admissions for the big diseases like heart disease, diabetes etc.

And, rightly so, these are, after all, the things that kill people.

Continence management and prevention are not on the QOF guidelines. So, GPs aren't paid extra for those patients, and, importantly, there isn't as much money available for training GPs in these conditions.

So, it's not unreasonable to wonder how much your GP actually knows about continence and bladders. Things change in medicine so quickly, their training might not be that up to date. Also, most of the information they get is via drug reps...who,naturally, promote medication rather than prevention.

And, the story GPs and surgeons hear is "I've tried the exercises, they didn't work" The woman may well have tried the exercises, but, unless they are taught properly and the woman focusses on making them a priority, they don't work. Same with a bladder diary - it can work really brilliantly, but, you've got to actually do it. And, that's dull and hard to fit into your already busy day.

And, I feel very strongly that continence and bladder disorders and pelvic organ prolapse deserve more attention than current policies award them.

After all - how many elderly women need to get out of bed at night to go to the loo? And, how many of them fall because it's dark and they may have mobility problems? And, how many of those suffer a serious injury and lie for a number of hours before being found, causing chest infections, pressure sores and hypothermia?

Continence is a multi-faceted problem that can cause marked interference in women's lives, mental health issues, and secondary injuries, illnesses and serious secondary injuries.

And, don't even get me started on the menfolks, they have crummy pelvic floors too - and premature ejaculation/erectile dysfunction/pelvid pain does funny things to their psyche too.

Now, could anyone pass me a ladder? My soap box is too high to dismount from unaided...

[Ilovefluffysheep]

I had to explain to my GP what a sacral nerve stimulator was after my surgery (had gone in for a sick note). Previously I also had to explain how the botox worked (or didn't in my case!).

gussie, have you ever come across anyone who has had a clam cystoplasty? Its my remaining option and a huge decision, as major surgery. Would love to speak to someone who has had it, or has firsthand knowlege of someone else having it!

[gussiegrips]

Furry, the people I work with are mostly way down the urology ladder than folk needing clams or other augmentations.

I have seen one, but it was years ago, and in a person who had a neurological problem. I assume that the surgery was a last resort to increase the bladder capacity to avoid a suprapubic catheter.

However, I do know someone who will know about it [http://incostress.com/meet-the-team/ Gaynor Morgan, she's like a superhero for peeing people]]. Hang on, I'll email her and PM you.

[gussiegrips]

incostress.com/meet-the-team/

try again

[Ilovefluffysheep]

Thanks, will take a look. A superhero for peeing people - I like it!

[gussiegrips]

She runs a super forum on facebook for pelvic organ prolapse sufferers, but she's been involved with lots of research about continence - and, has close links with a urology dept in a teaching hospital.

I might make her a cape, actually if I stitched 100 tena lights together it might be pleasantly swoopey

[JustFabulous]

I've been busy refereeeing badly behaved kids so haven't had a proper chance to read again yet but I just went to get changed and I had had tummy ache for a bit like I needed a wee and there is always a panic that I won't get my jeans off in time . I feel like all the messages are getting mixed up.

[gussiegrips]

just do the bladder diary, and note down how often you have the panic feeling, as well as how much you drink, how often you leak, what you drink etc.

And, then figure out what the panic is - is it having an accident? Well, figure out what the worst thing about that is. You are in a bathroom, no one will see. Your jeans get wet, you can wash them and get changed. Not at home? Take a big bag with a change of troos out with you until you get this under control. Once you figure out what's causing the anxiety, you can manage it.

Remember, a third of your friends have similar problems.

If it's any consolation, my worst experience was stupidly entering the sack race 3 weeks after dropping the smallest gripper. Got halfway...pissed myself. Not just a wee bit either. Pushing a pram, whilst dragging two kids who want to stay at sports day,whilst waddling in a sack is not elegant. Everyone was very nice and helpful, but, still. Ugh.

Oh, maybe we should have a "the worst continence experience I've had" competition?

[IndigoBarbie]

Interstitial cystitis?