postpartum urinary retention please help me

Hi everyone, i had my DS last saturday and ever since the birth i have not been able to tell when i have to pee.

I have to self cath and i feel like i'm never going to be able to go to the toilet on my own ever again, the docs keep telling me any day now and i still haven't gone without using a catheter.

I feel so alone nobody knows what to say to me and i feel like dying.

has anyone had this before i feel embarrassed taling about this but i need help or someone who has had this happen.

And does your bladder go back to normal?

All i want to do is go to the bathroom without having to force it out by using a catheter...

Please move mods if this is not the right place to put this.

i guess nobody has been thru this.:shakehead:

Hi gq, I had something similar but didnt need to self catheter.
to be perfectly honest, even now sometimes I think, gee, I havent been to the loo for awhile..., and I had ds over a year ago!:o
I had a c section though, I was told that it would all go back to normal, a nevrve thing etc, its not as bad as it was but , yeah..
I hope it resolves itself very soon for you.

I am sorry honey I only just saw this. Yes, it's happened to me. After every birth I have had to have an in and out catheter & for me that was enough. However, it does happen so you are not alone.
Your bladder will get back to normal again in time. Have you seen a continence nurse? A urologist? Have you had an u/s of your bladder?

I'm a small person and my babies were all big I think that for me is what did it. Though I do have to say even after Imogen I had the same problem. After Immy was born I couldn't wee properly for about 4 weeks. I had IDC on and off... It was horrible and I certainly have much sympathy for you.

If I can answer anything more let me know...

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I am sorry honey I only just saw this. Yes, it's happened to me. After every birth I have had to have an in and out catheter & for me that was enough. However, it does happen so you are not alone.
Your bladder will get back to normal again in time. Have you seen a continence nurse? A urologist? Have you had an u/s of your bladder?

I'm a small person and my babies were all big I think that for me is what did it. Though I do have to say even after Imogen I had the same problem. After Immy was born I couldn't wee properly for about 4 weeks. I had IDC on and off... It was horrible and I certainly have much sympathy for you.

If I can answer anything more let me know...

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Thankgod someone i can talk to :clap: i'm just so depressed i did pee two days ago but now can't go again. the docs just keep saying the same thing it will get better with time.

I just feel i'm not enjoy my bubs because of this.
I'm not seeing a urologist yet but seeing a continence nurse but i don't find her really helpful.
what's a IDC? and did you start peeing good after 4 weeks?
thanks so so much for answering this thread:pray:

:hug: Poor honey :hug: Yes, I did start to wee normally after 4 weeks. I had the same problem last year after I had a hysterectomy. I just couldn't pee... :redface:

I know how depressing it is - it's horrid. If you are not happy with your continence nurse please get another one. This is important - vital for you to get the best care and therefore the best outcome. We all gel differently with different people. So don't feel bad - but I do urge you to get a referral to someone different. Hopefully she will have explained to you that you need to retrain your bladder. Sometimes there can be nerve damage from all that pressure & it takes a bit more time to retrain your bladder. Sometimes it can happen if you don't empty your bladder during labour. It's very important that you don't allow your bladder to over fill as this stretches it (think of it as a balloon) & can cause permanent damage. So, catheterise yourself as per your instructions from your nurse. An IDC is (an indwelling catheter) - so the catheter is in there & a little balloon is filled up with some saline & this keeps the catheter in place - so it can't fall out. Sometimes this can help with retraining as when you get the sensation of a fullish bladder you empty (or every 2-3 hours whichever comes first). This worked for me - both after Immy and after the hysterectomy.

I truly feel your pain & I can understand how this is overshadowing your time with your little one. Have you spoken to a postnatal physio? A consult with a urologist also would be something I would highly recommend. Big cuddles :hug:

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:hug: Poor honey :hug: Yes, I did start to wee normally after 4 weeks. I had the same problem last year after I had a hysterectomy. I just couldn't pee... :redface:

I know how depressing it is - it's horrid. If you are not happy with your continence nurse please get another one. This is important - vital for you to get the best care and therefore the best outcome. We all gel differently with different people. So don't feel bad - but I do urge you to get a referral to someone different. Hopefully she will have explained to you that you need to retrain your bladder. Sometimes there can be nerve damage from all that pressure & it takes a bit more time to retrain your bladder. Sometimes it can happen if you don't empty your bladder during labour. It's very important that you don't allow your bladder to over fill as this stretches it (think of it as a balloon) & can cause permanent damage. So, catheterise yourself as per your instructions from your nurse. An IDC is (an indwelling catheter) - so the catheter is in there & a little balloon is filled up with some saline & this keeps the catheter in place - so it can't fall out. Sometimes this can help with retraining as when you get the sensation of a fullish bladder you empty (or every 2-3 hours whichever comes first). This worked for me - both after Immy and after the hysterectomy.

I truly feel your pain & I can understand how this is overshadowing your time with your little one. Have you spoken to a postnatal physio? A consult with a urologist also would be something I would highly recommend. Big cuddles :hug:

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:hug: i feel sooo much better now you have explained some things to me:D she said i should drain my bladder every 4-6 hours which i have been doing but more like 3 hrs.
I asked about seeing a urologist but me doc and her think it's not needed just yet.

i do have one question, i sleep for about 7 hours a night is that bad that i don't wake up to drain the bladder?

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Hi gq, I had something similar but didnt need to self catheter.
to be perfectly honest, even now sometimes I think, gee, I havent been to the loo for awhile..., and I had ds over a year ago!:o
I had a c section though, I was told that it would all go back to normal, a nevrve thing etc, its not as bad as it was but , yeah..
I hope it resolves itself very soon for you.

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I'm so glad it all came back for you :) hopefully i'll be the same... but atm it just doesn't seem like it will.

It's fine not to get up in the night. Your body naturally makes less urine at night because you are not drinking or eating. So don't worry about that. I would stick to third hourly catheterisation just to make sure your bladder doesn't get too stretched... Let's know how you go xxx :hug:

PS: Also make sure you your urine doesn't smell or sting - catheterisation can lead to UTI... Also drink plenty of water... :hug:

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It's fine not to get up in the night. Your body naturally makes less urine at night because you are not drinking or eating. So don't worry about that. I would stick to third hourly catheterisation just to make sure your bladder doesn't get too stretched... Let's know how you go xxx :hug:

PS: Also make sure you your urine doesn't smell or sting - catheterisation can lead to UTI... Also drink plenty of water... :hug:

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Ahh ok cool. i have been very very clean. let's hope i don't get an UTI that would be my last straw.

I guess this isn't to common?? everyone i talk to has no idea about it?

It's not common darling but not uncommon... That probably doesn't make sense.... :wall: I know I was unusual as it happens after any sort of operation or any of my births. Sadly I have lost 3 babies & it also happened after them. (I had 3 early miscarriages but it didn'thappen then - just when I actually birthed or had an anesthetic)...

So, it certainly happens just that many people don't have to experience it. Keep me posted about how you're going. Also, try and get into a post natal physio that's important - and I would be seeing a urologist. :hug:

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It's not common darling but not uncommon... That probably doesn't make sense.... :wall: I know I was unusual as it happens after any sort of operation or any of my births. Sadly I have lost 3 babies & it also happened after them. (I had 3 early miscarriages but it didn'thappen then - just when I actually birthed or had an anesthetic)...

So, it certainly happens just that many people don't have to experience it. Keep me posted about how you're going. Also, try and get into a post natal physio that's important - and I would be seeing a urologist. :hug:

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Yeah that makes sense :D wow you have this prob everytime?? how to you get thru it? i'm just scared it won't come back after a month :(

my doc is following up some specialist for me, she said the hospital should of done that she was not impressed.
I'm so sorry for the loss of your babies :hug: that must of been so hard for you to go thru that and then put up with not being able to pee again.
i'll chase up a post natal physio i saw one in hospital and all she said what do my pelvic floor exercises and that's all she could help with :(

update after 4 days of not going at all i just went 500mls myself but still had to cath 300mls:wall: i know i should not hold more than 500 mls at a time and i haven't but this time i held to much in. i did do the cath 3 hrs before that big pee i hope i haven't done damage.

i'm also having problems, different to yours but equally debilitating and depressing... i'm 4 weeks post partum with no sign of improvement... i have what they call 'stress incontinence', as in when you laugh, cough, lift something heavy etc, but i don't have to do ANY of those things to leak or wet my pants, i just have to stand up, or not have gone to the toilet for say an hour, and i am wet.... i am in tears several times a day and avoid leaving the house... i am told the same thing, it will get better in time.... i am so sceptical due to the severity of it, i just want to book in for surgery and get it fixed, i have a great baby and feel these first few months will be tainted as one of the worst times of my life due to this condition, when i should be enjoying my family.... with my first born i had a traumatic birth and very difficult baby, which also made the first 6 months or so a terrible time.... i finally feel like its my turn to have things semi under control, and i have a baby i feel i can 'manage', ie he isn't screaming the house down, and here i am too scared to move on the couch cos i keep pee-ing my pants.
sorry i've had such a whinge, just wanted to let you know there is someone else in a similar position as you....

i have just read that breast feeding can worsen incontinence due to the lack of oestregen levels, and when i give up breast feeding i will notice an improvement.... so now i have the added stress of choosing whether to breastfeed my baby, which it has been going relatively well, to giving it up and hoping my condition improves, and possibly getting a better quality of life for myself and my family as a result, and avoiding depression which i am inevitably headed towards...

sorry i've rambled, i am just so so so distraught, can't even go to the shops without having an accident, feel like i can't look after my family properly.... nobody is really helping me although i am seeing a physio on monday... everyone else just says 'give it time'... yeah meanwhile i am housebound and sobbing.

xx

Emma big hugs my love - it sounds like things are really tough :hug:

Many women do have this & it is true it does get better in time. I know that is hard to hear but it is true. I had it to a lesser degree after my 3rd baby.

You do need to see a physio & I am shocked that you haven't been referred before now. It's very important. I have seen many women with what you describe & it can be treated & helped very effectively a great deal of the time by a good physio with postnatal specialty.

In the mean time it would be helpful to get some incontinence pads so you don't have to worry about accidents. It's very very important to do your pelvic floor exercises as often as you can... It's also helpful to "double void"... This is when you go to the loo to empty your bladder - do your thing. Get up and then sit down & do it again. Sometimes with the weight of pregnancy on your bladder &/or the strain of labour you can do some damage to the nerve endings. So your bladder doesn't feel full & it is. Or it feels empty but it's not.

It's a very good sign that you are voiding okay - now we need to train that bladder to recognise when it's wee time.

I hope you have some help from the physio - let us know how you go... :hug:

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i'm also having problems, different to yours but equally debilitating and depressing... i'm 4 weeks post partum with no sign of improvement... i have what they call 'stress incontinence', as in when you laugh, cough, lift something heavy etc, but i don't have to do ANY of those things to leak or wet my pants, i just have to stand up, or not have gone to the toilet for say an hour, and i am wet.... i am in tears several times a day and avoid leaving the house... i am told the same thing, it will get better in time.... i am so sceptical due to the severity of it, i just want to book in for surgery and get it fixed, i have a great baby and feel these first few months will be tainted as one of the worst times of my life due to this condition, when i should be enjoying my family.... with my first born i had a traumatic birth and very difficult baby, which also made the first 6 months or so a terrible time.... i finally feel like its my turn to have things semi under control, and i have a baby i feel i can 'manage', ie he isn't screaming the house down, and here i am too scared to move on the couch cos i keep pee-ing my pants.
sorry i've had such a whinge, just wanted to let you know there is someone else in a similar position as you....

i have just read that breast feeding can worsen incontinence due to the lack of oestregen levels, and when i give up breast feeding i will notice an improvement.... so now i have the added stress of choosing whether to breastfeed my baby, which it has been going relatively well, to giving it up and hoping my condition improves, and possibly getting a better quality of life for myself and my family as a result, and avoiding depression which i am inevitably headed towards...

sorry i've rambled, i am just so so so distraught, can't even go to the shops without having an accident, feel like i can't look after my family properly.... nobody is really helping me although i am seeing a physio on monday... everyone else just says 'give it time'... yeah meanwhile i am housebound and sobbing.

xx

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Oh hon, :hug: I so get you right now. I feel the same, i'm just so depressed and i bet my DH is sick to death of me whinging about it :( i also don't leave the house because i don't want to self cath somewhere but home.

please post in here as much as you want. the docs also say to me it will get better in time but i feel it's getting worse. Sorry my post is all over the place i'm crying my eyes out.

i am going to see the physio for the first time today, and after that my obsetrician, to hopefully get a referral to get some tests done to see exactly whats wrong.... i am not convinced its going to get better on its own, so i want to get all the groundwork done now so that if i end up having surgery to fix things, i am not waiting months and months to have the tests done and all that... i want to have it all happening now, so that when the time is right, as in, when enough time has passed that they tell me if it was going to get better it would have by now, then i can go straight ahead with surgery...

we have a family holiday booked with another family from my mothers group next month to queensland, and i can't really see at the moment how i can possibly go... i wouldn't even last the trip in the car to the airport without wetting myself.... i don't see how i can go on a plane and to theme parks etc... i would be needing the toilet literally every half hour.... can't believe i am considering cancelling, but what other choice do i have.... what a waste of money too.... its seriously ruining my life right now.

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i am going to see the physio for the first time today, and after that my obsetrician, to hopefully get a referral to get some tests done to see exactly whats wrong.... i am not convinced its going to get better on its own, so i want to get all the groundwork done now so that if i end up having surgery to fix things, i am not waiting months and months to have the tests done and all that... i want to have it all happening now, so that when the time is right, as in, when enough time has passed that they tell me if it was going to get better it would have by now, then i can go straight ahead with surgery...

we have a family holiday booked with another family from my mothers group next month to queensland, and i can't really see at the moment how i can possibly go... i wouldn't even last the trip in the car to the airport without wetting myself.... i don't see how i can go on a plane and to theme parks etc... i would be needing the toilet literally every half hour.... can't believe i am considering cancelling, but what other choice do i have.... what a waste of money too.... its seriously ruining my life right now.

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Hey hon, how did the physio go today???
I really hope you don't have to cancel your trip.... i honestly think daily why oh why did this have to happen. Big hugs to you.

physio was good... have a few things to try over the next couple of weeks, including 2 hours of horizontal rest time in the morning and also in the afternoon, i don't know how i am to do that with a baby and 3 year old, haha.... she was 100% positive things would get better....

then went to my obstetrician and am now feeling so so so down about it all, i suspected something had happened to my catheter in theatre during the birth, but my memory was hazy, but today he brought it up... he said something vague like 'there was some talk of the catheter getting yanked out when you rolled over in bed, or were moved onto the trolley'..... if this was the case the little balloon thingi would have damaged the urethral sphincter, which holds all the urine in the bladder.... to me this would make perfect sense, as whenever i move the urine is coming out... this was my greatest fear as it is not an easy fix, and in fact he didn't give me an answer really to how it would be fixed, but said the body has an amazing ability to self heal over time..... completely freaking out if this is the case, i wanted it to be something able to be fixed but this sounds really wishy washy and i am doing some research on the net and it is not looking good... i have a referal to the head of uro-gynae at monash but my appointment isn't until end of march.... here's hoping by then things have improved, but at the back of my mind i feel certain its the catheter damage that is causing me this, of course i don't know and could just be being negative....

if there was nothing to be done to treat this i honestly don't know what i would do...

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physio was good... have a few things to try over the next couple of weeks, including 2 hours of horizontal rest time in the morning and also in the afternoon, i don't know how i am to do that with a baby and 3 year old, haha.... she was 100% positive things would get better....

then went to my obstetrician and am now feeling so so so down about it all, i suspected something had happened to my catheter in theatre during the birth, but my memory was hazy, but today he brought it up... he said something vague like 'there was some talk of the catheter getting yanked out when you rolled over in bed, or were moved onto the trolley'..... if this was the case the little balloon thingi would have damaged the urethral sphincter, which holds all the urine in the bladder.... to me this would make perfect sense, as whenever i move the urine is coming out... this was my greatest fear as it is not an easy fix, and in fact he didn't give me an answer really to how it would be fixed, but said the body has an amazing ability to self heal over time..... completely freaking out if this is the case, i wanted it to be something able to be fixed but this sounds really wishy washy and i am doing some research on the net and it is not looking good... i have a referal to the head of uro-gynae at monash but my appointment isn't until end of march.... here's hoping by then things have improved, but at the back of my mind i feel certain its the catheter damage that is causing me this, of course i don't know and could just be being negative....

if there was nothing to be done to treat this i honestly don't know what i would do...

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Geez so the catheter got pulled out?? they should of told you that. I hope that i does get better for you this just shouldn't happen. we are supposed to be enjoying this time and we are both over shadowed but our bladder and it sucks.

yes catheter got pulled from bladder into the urethra.... i have no idea how serious this is or whether it will repair itself, or can be repaired.... research on the net doesn't seem very confident on having it repaired.... am so angry it happened..... i just want to enjoy my family and life and instead i am 100% preoccupied with this...

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yes catheter got pulled from bladder into the urethra.... i have no idea how serious this is or whether it will repair itself, or can be repaired.... research on the net doesn't seem very confident on having it repaired.... am so angry it happened..... i just want to enjoy my family and life and instead i am 100% preoccupied with this...

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God Emma, i really feel for you :hug: i have been praying to whatever it is out there to help us both because it's not fair at all.

This is just not supposed to happen and all i want is for you to get better :pray: nothing i say or do can fix it but i think about you and hope that it does get better.

Emma hon how are you going??

hey. its been a month and i didn't see this... i am still crap, at my wits end, its been 10 weeks, no improvement....
how are you?

Crap i also missed ur reply so sorry emma!! i can pee no problems but still don't have the sensation to pee so i have to guess when i need to go :( they don't think it will ever get better.

Im so so sorry you arn't going well :( do they think it will improve??

So 5 months on i can pe but still have NO sensation to go...... i cannot believe the BS so upset :(

I just saw this for the first time. I have no experience regards it but couldn't read and not reply. Have you seen someone for a second, third, fourth opinion? How is your mental state? It must be very difficult for you to go through this. If it is a permanent thing, you need to find a way to deal with it and accept it. I know it doesn't sound achievable but it is the best thing you can do for yourself to get through it and move on. Remember, YOU are not your BODY. Please look after yourself mentally as well as physically.