Recovery from Incontinence

tpelle
tpelle Member Posts: 184
edited March 2014 in Prostate Cancer #1
Following radical prostatectomy three years ago, I have still not recovered from incontinence. I still use one Depends pad per day, two if I spend a lot of time on my feet. My doctor has been of little help in suggesting ways to improve incontinence, except proposing an artificial sphincter. I have tried eliminating certain foods/beverages from my diet such as citrus, chocolate, coffee, carbonated beverages, and wine. Elimination of wine, coffee and chocolate helped some.

I am wondering what others who have improved or recovered from incontinence have done. What foods/beverages have you eliminated from you diet, if any; which showed the better result?

I would appreciate any response on this subject.

Comments

  • edmund
    edmund Member Posts: 19 Member
    #2
    tpelle/ I recently completed the therapy with electical stimulation of the pelvic muscles. They also make sure you are doing the kegels correctly. I have had amazing results following this. I no longer need Depends although I do use a very light female pad for minor drips. I wear a pad when I play golf and I am now down to 1 instead 2 to 3 per round. The one is only damp. So I still suffer from some minor stress incontinence. I am 15 months out of my LRP. I have developed a bladder contraction which has caused a delay in my recovery. The strict kegel therapy routine that I was put on seems to be overcoming that problem a little at a time. I have also lost about 12 pounds and walk at least 2 miles every day and that has helped. If you have not tried the therapy talk to your Uro. I know improvement will come hang in there. Russ
  • tpelle
    tpelle Member Posts: 184
    #3
    edmund said:

    tpelle/ I recently completed the therapy with electical stimulation of the pelvic muscles. They also make sure you are doing the kegels correctly. I have had amazing results following this. I no longer need Depends although I do use a very light female pad for minor drips. I wear a pad when I play golf and I am now down to 1 instead 2 to 3 per round. The one is only damp. So I still suffer from some minor stress incontinence. I am 15 months out of my LRP. I have developed a bladder contraction which has caused a delay in my recovery. The strict kegel therapy routine that I was put on seems to be overcoming that problem a little at a time. I have also lost about 12 pounds and walk at least 2 miles every day and that has helped. If you have not tried the therapy talk to your Uro. I know improvement will come hang in there. Russ

    Thanks for your encouraging response, Russ. May I ask who has provided the electrical stimulation therapy? Do they specialize in recovery from incontinence? What city? How long has it been since your RP? tpelle
  • bajakid
    bajakid Member Posts: 38
    #4
    I has the Sling operation 3 months ago and it didn't help. I ask my V.A. doctor about collogen injections but he wasn't interested so I will try elsewhere.
  • tpelle
    tpelle Member Posts: 184
    #5
    bajakid said:

    I has the Sling operation 3 months ago and it didn't help. I ask my V.A. doctor about collogen injections but he wasn't interested so I will try elsewhere.

    I have the impression that urologists/surgeons generally aren't much interested or trained in helping their RPS patients with incontinence problems, even though incontinence is usually the result of the surgeon damaging the sphincter during surgery. There must be clinics or doctors who specialize in incontinence issues which occur after RPS. For the last couple of weeks I have eliminated from my diet all coffee and tea including decafinated, citrus juices, chocolate, sweetners and spices. I think I detect an improvement in urine leakage. I want to give everything a try before I give serious consideration to an artificial sphincter
  • ehart
    ehart Member Posts: 7
    #6
    Sorry to get in on this disucssion late, but I am about 2 years past my RP and my incontinence has just gotten better in the past few months. I finally don't have to wear a pad each day to the office. Only when I play golf, and then I just wear special cotton underwear with built-in padding. In addition to the Kegels, which I found boring and hard to stick with, I think the one things that helped me the most was daily exercise. I started on the treadmill and eventually worked my way up to a Body By Jake "Ab Scissor" machine. It doesn't use weights; just the weight of your body and heavy rubber bands for resistance. But you must be careful that you far enough in your recovery as not to damage your stitches and the area of your surgery. For some reason, I believe daily exercise has the same effect as the Kegels. Hope this offers some encouragement for someone. With my surgery behind me, life is getting better every day.
  • bajakid
    bajakid Member Posts: 38
    #7
    ehart said:

    Sorry to get in on this disucssion late, but I am about 2 years past my RP and my incontinence has just gotten better in the past few months. I finally don't have to wear a pad each day to the office. Only when I play golf, and then I just wear special cotton underwear with built-in padding. In addition to the Kegels, which I found boring and hard to stick with, I think the one things that helped me the most was daily exercise. I started on the treadmill and eventually worked my way up to a Body By Jake "Ab Scissor" machine. It doesn't use weights; just the weight of your body and heavy rubber bands for resistance. But you must be careful that you far enough in your recovery as not to damage your stitches and the area of your surgery. For some reason, I believe daily exercise has the same effect as the Kegels. Hope this offers some encouragement for someone. With my surgery behind me, life is getting better every day.

    Thank you for your reply. It will be 2 years from RP in July and I am at 1 pad a day if I don't walk around much or drink. I also try Kegels but that's a pain. Have you thought about Collagen injections? I had the sling surgery but that didn't work. Maybe because I drink wine at night? What about E.D.? Have you tackled that problem? Again thanks for your input
  • tpelle
    tpelle Member Posts: 184
    #8
    bajakid said:

    Thank you for your reply. It will be 2 years from RP in July and I am at 1 pad a day if I don't walk around much or drink. I also try Kegels but that's a pain. Have you thought about Collagen injections? I had the sling surgery but that didn't work. Maybe because I drink wine at night? What about E.D.? Have you tackled that problem? Again thanks for your input

    Bajakid: I'm still off the coffee, tea, citrus juices, artificial sweetners, diet drinks, etc. and experiencing some improvement in the drippage. At the end of the day the pad is wet, but not soaked. I forgot to mention earlier that I've also been off my occasional glass of wine, UNTIL TODAY when a guest arrived for dinner with a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. Needless to say, ever since partaking, the drippage has increased. At least I know wine is a problem and if I decide to have a glass or two I will pay with a full pad or more. For nine months after surgery in 2003, I did Kegels so strenuously that the doctor thinks I went overboard causing lower left abdomen pains. So, I do them only gently and occasionally during the week now. But, I do a treadmill walk five days per week averaging three plus miles per day. The entire time I am on the treadmill I'm dripping. JagMan's "ab sissor" exercise sounds encouraging. I'm glad to hear that someone is having success without having the artificial sphincter surgery. I haven't given the collagen injections much thought because my urologist hasn't recommended them and I've read that they are pretty far down the list of effective treatments. Since 2003 I have been taking 75 mg per day of Imipramine. I don't know if it's actually helping, but I'm reluctant to discontinue the med. I'm not ready to tackle E.D. until I can get the drippage reduced considerably. And, thanks for sharing your experiences. tpelle
  • mikebur
    mikebur Member Posts: 24
    #9
    Hi tpelle. I will be three years in July and I am still incontinent, impotent and have pain when I ejaculate (even though there is no outflowing ejaculation). I don't see this getting any better and I won't wear anything (like an artificial sphincter). I wear two pads a day and feel I can live with this unless it gets better. I have done kegle excersizes and work out three times a week. Maybe it will get better but I'm okay with it as it is.
  • bajakid
    bajakid Member Posts: 38
    #10
    mikebur said:

    Hi tpelle. I will be three years in July and I am still incontinent, impotent and have pain when I ejaculate (even though there is no outflowing ejaculation). I don't see this getting any better and I won't wear anything (like an artificial sphincter). I wear two pads a day and feel I can live with this unless it gets better. I have done kegle excersizes and work out three times a week. Maybe it will get better but I'm okay with it as it is.

    Hi Mikebur. At this point in time I am willing to accept my leakage as a way of life but would like to get a " woody " now and then. I tried the injections but there is pain afterward. I have not tried the pump yet but willing to give it a try. Have you considered or tried any options for getting an erection?
  • bajakid
    bajakid Member Posts: 38
    #11
    tpelle said:

    Bajakid: I'm still off the coffee, tea, citrus juices, artificial sweetners, diet drinks, etc. and experiencing some improvement in the drippage. At the end of the day the pad is wet, but not soaked. I forgot to mention earlier that I've also been off my occasional glass of wine, UNTIL TODAY when a guest arrived for dinner with a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. Needless to say, ever since partaking, the drippage has increased. At least I know wine is a problem and if I decide to have a glass or two I will pay with a full pad or more. For nine months after surgery in 2003, I did Kegels so strenuously that the doctor thinks I went overboard causing lower left abdomen pains. So, I do them only gently and occasionally during the week now. But, I do a treadmill walk five days per week averaging three plus miles per day. The entire time I am on the treadmill I'm dripping. JagMan's "ab sissor" exercise sounds encouraging. I'm glad to hear that someone is having success without having the artificial sphincter surgery. I haven't given the collagen injections much thought because my urologist hasn't recommended them and I've read that they are pretty far down the list of effective treatments. Since 2003 I have been taking 75 mg per day of Imipramine. I don't know if it's actually helping, but I'm reluctant to discontinue the med. I'm not ready to tackle E.D. until I can get the drippage reduced considerably. And, thanks for sharing your experiences. tpelle

    Tpelle.I saw my Urologist today for incontinence and was prescribed Imipramine. I looked it up and found that it is an anti-depressant. I'm reluctant to take it because of the side effects plus I don't believe it would help my E.D.
  • tpelle
    tpelle Member Posts: 184
    #12
    bajakid said:

    Tpelle.I saw my Urologist today for incontinence and was prescribed Imipramine. I looked it up and found that it is an anti-depressant. I'm reluctant to take it because of the side effects plus I don't believe it would help my E.D.

    bajakid: I had been taking Imipramine regularly (75 mg/day, about 1/2 the dose prescribed for anti-depressent) almost since RPS in January 2003. I had the impression that it wasn't doing much for me. In July my urologist asked if I wanted to try Cymbalta, a recent drug out for depression, but which, like Imipramine, has urinary control side effects. During the week I was off Imipramine and not yet on Cymbalta, the urine drippage increased substantially. I knew, then, that the Imipramine was helping. When I begain Cymbalta a month ago, urinary control improved again. So far I have found no negative side effects except, perhaps, a bit of drowsiness after lunch. I have not decided yet if Cymbalta is better for me than Imipramine. I do know that Cymbalta is much more expensive. Whether I'm on Imipramine or Cymbalta, I'm still using one to two pads per day depending on how much time I spend standing. You might want to give Imipramine or Cymbalta a try for a month, then decide if it helps. Good luck. Let us know any results. tpelle
  • duque
    duque Member Posts: 8
    #13
    bajakid said:

    Tpelle.I saw my Urologist today for incontinence and was prescribed Imipramine. I looked it up and found that it is an anti-depressant. I'm reluctant to take it because of the side effects plus I don't believe it would help my E.D.

    bajakid: I took imipramine with another anti-depressant Effexor 10 months ago. In my case I had no problem with ED. Imipramine did not help with my incontinence and I will go with male sling surgery.

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