Bladder Retention

[Mary Pruter]

My mother fell about 30 days ago. She had a hard time using a bed pan and was in great pain. The hospital inserted a catheter for her. After 8 days in the hospital we were told by the doctor that her kidneys were functioning at 100% And the catheter could be removed however they didn't remove it before she left the hospital and it took me 4 days to get the nursing home to do it. Within 24 hours she had retained almost a liter of urine in her bladder. They have reinserted the catheter and she saw a urologist today that it will be running tests on Monday. What can you tell me about bladder retention in females and what could be done for it?

Her urologist gave her a medication that caused severe dizziness and diarrhea and her so I stopped it and called him and he said not to give it to her anymore. It is taking a long time cuz it's dizziness to clear up they told me probably 48 hours but I don't know if they realize that I'm dealing with a 91 year old person that has dementia. We go back Wednesday to the urologist where they will fill her bladder we're 400 cc's of fluid and see how much she can urinate out. The last time they did this two weeks ago she was only able to urinate out 92 cc's. So the catheter had to go back in. She's been suffering from urinary tract infections and I've been giving her apple cider vinegar and water which seems to help her within 30 minutes. I'm just not sure if it's okay for her to have a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and some water twice a day.

 

[Mary Pruter]

Completely giving up on this forum!

 

[marikay]

It seems to me to be a problem with the nerves controlling the bladder. If her kidneys are working then if anything, a person her age should have the opposite problem. Perhaps the length of time she had the catheter in damaged some nerve or something and the bladder does notnget the signal to release. But I don't have any direct experience with this. A UTI is best treated with an antibiotic. That's all I have, sorry.

Good Luck.

 

[Birdie]

Completely giving up on this forum!

You're in a tough situation. I think that unless somebody here has experience with your mom's problem, they'd be hesitant to respond.

I do not have any experience with a catheter, but have had good results when I sense a urinary infection coming on. I use D-mannose. It works but you have to be diligent about following the directions on the bottle. If I remember right, D-mannose is the active ingredient in cranberry juice. It is a sugar. I've never seen Ray recommend it, but since it's worked many years for me, I continue to keep it on the shelf.

In an urgent situation, such as you have going, if you find the ACV helps, I'd continue that. But I'd add the D-mannose. Keep in mind that Ray doesn't think large amounts of vinegar is helpful on a long term basis....

 

[Mary Pruter]

Thanks for the heads up on it. She has to go in and have the catheter removed every two weeks to see if she will urinate after they fill her bladder with fluid. This doesn't make much sense to me because she's in a uncomfortable situation with people around her and she's had the catheter in for so long now. I use precautions and just give her a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and about 4 oz of water every every other day because I'm trying to watch the potassium level. It was at 6 but now is at 4.5, my concern is if there's anything that can be done for the bladder retention? I'm so nervous about it but they're going to teach me how to put one in and take it out so that I can have her off of it for a while. Maybe in the more comfortable environment without pressure on her she could relax enough to urinate but it would help to know if there's anything that I can add beside pregnenolone to try to get it to work. Maybe a bladder massage from the outside on top of her belly or an essential oil I can rub and her belly it would help with it. She's 91 years old and has enough discomfort. I hate to see her having this problem the rest of her life. The doctor just seems to act lime, well, she's 91 years old, her body parts aren't going to last forever. End of subject. He is one of the top urologist in the city of Chicago. But I don't want to believe him! I believe doctors when they said there was no cure for dementia but Ray peat has come up what's something that helps majorly with the dementia. I'm just hoping for some unknown Medical treatment that will help her. I was told the pregnenolone can help with it but I don't know how long it takes and I'm not sure if she can take more than two pregnyl owns a day. I have her on 1am and 1pm at 100mgs. I'm not sure if more is okay.

 

[ecstatichamster]

Bag breathing helps this immediately. Raising CO2 levels is very helpful.

 

[Birdie]

Bag breathing helps this immediately. Raising CO2 levels is very helpful.

Yes. And I seem to recall that peatarian gave examples of this way back and it worked really well for somebody...

 

[Mary Pruter]

WoW! You mean like breathing into a paper bag, like when someone's hyperventilating, helps with the bladder retention? When does it need to be done? While she's there, after they fill her bladder, off and on a few days before she goes?

 

[ecstatichamster]

WoW! You mean like breathing into a paper bag, like when someone's hyperventilating, helps with the bladder retention? When does it need to be done? While she's there, after they fill her bladder, off and on a few days before she goes?

Two or three times a day. For 5 minutes or longer. Every day.

 

[Mary Pruter]

Okay. Thank you! I told her about it but she said, I can't do that! I'd suffocate!!! I will work with her on it!

 

[Mary Pruter]

Once she starts to urinate if it works did she can she stop it then or does she have to keep it up the rest of her life?

 

[Mary Pruter]

Mom woke at about 2am 4 nights ago, she cut the tube of her catheter up close to her body. I checked to make sure and it was all out of her. I guess her cutting it so close allowed the little balloon to drain and she pulled it out. She has been peeing on her own very well every since then. I looked and looked for a nuns cap and ended up calling a local hospitals ER. They gave me one and she's peeing out up to 200cc's at a time!! Imagine, the doctor is going to talk about surgery on our next visit! No need for that. Wonder what he's going to say about this!

 

[ecstatichamster]

what do you attribute this improvement to @Mary Pruter

 

[Mary Pruter]

I'm not sure. Wish I knew. Maybe her bladder just decided to start working again. I do know that when she drinks coffee, she urinates a lot quicker and a lot more!

 

[HLP]

Awesome. Yes the bag breathing would be a good practice because most seniors breathe too much. Mouth breathing is common. D-Mannose is a good addition to keep UTI infection under control. It's sweet and easy to take on a spoon or mix with liquid. Raw, grated carrot salad would be a good daily addition to her diet as well.

 

[Mary Pruter]

Ive tried the bag breathing, it is not happening! She says, no way, I can't breath when I do it! What doctor told you to have me do that? I want to talk to him and tell him he has to be crazy! How is that going to help me anyway!?!..... She has dementia!

 

[HLP]

Pepcid can be used to raise CO2 levels if she has the need for antacids. This would be sneaky way to help her. Is she taking calcium supps? They can cause an alkalinity to the lining of the bladder and contribute to bacterial infections as well. Getting calcium from dietary sources is better.

 

[Mary Pruter]

Well, she didn't have anything wrong with her bladder at all. She fell, broke 5 ribs and ended up with a catheter so she did not have to get up to use the washroom all she was in the hospital. When they took it out she had bladder retention that was 15 days later I think. Took her to see a urologist specialist who filled her bladder with fluid and asked her to urinate. She was on a tall portable toilet with people around her she could not relax to pee and her legs are hanging down which made it even more difficult, her feet weren't even hitting the floor. I think that had a lot to do with it also. Im am just happy that shes going so well on her own now