[JasmineKelly]

Hi all, I'm new to this site, new to this whole situation. I was just released from the hospital and I'm doing and outpatient rehab at the rehab center near my home. I just wanted to ask everyone and see if they have experienced this at the beginning or is it just me.

Sometimes, it seems like my bladder can go for about 4 hours without an accident. But sometimes 2 hours or 3 hours and I'm soaked and frantically looking or a place to change. I regulate my fluid intake to average about the same every hour. But that doesn't seem to be the problem. Although I have just been released for 2 weeks. I wouldn't go anywhere outside of my house unless I know that I have enough supplies to change with and where the bathroom is. And this happens when I'm in my house, or going out, doesn't seem to matter where I am or what time it is. And I can't seem to establish a pattern, it just happens.

Does this timing thing get more consistant or is it just my bladder?? I feel really embarassed when I have to go to the bathroom so often just to make sure that I'm still dry. And it's so inconvenient at a public place. At home I can check less, cause I put the pad on my chair or bed, that way I can just look down and check if I'm dry, I've been trying to do this to establish a pattern, but there isn't any.

I'm getting pretty frustrated.

Please HELP!!

[Avocado Baby]

I cath about every 2-3 hours and it just depends how much and what I've drunk.

[RaginTurtleHead]

Although I am incomplete... I was cathing about every 3-4 hrs when I first came home.... now i cath only 3-4 times a day, sometimes more.

I think my bladder stretched a bit and I also am sure NEVER to drink too much all at once... I spread my liquid intake through out the day.

[nomis]

You learn to get better and better at judging the behaviour of your bladder.
Your bladder will have it's own characteristics and timing that doesn't necessarily match others.
You can learn to control your drinking quantities and timing to give yourself security when you are going out, like shopping.

Lots of things influence your bladder. Fluid in; fluid lost on hot sweaty days; time of day (eg more flow likely in mornings than afternoons); amount of exercise; influence of foods - some things make you retain fluid, others encourage it. Lots of learning.

Most people get really good at knowing how long to go to voiding.
Just when you get it down pat and your confidence is up, it surprises you with an uncharacteristic behaviour and you're caught.
But overall, it gets better and easier.

[kewlcatkez]

Hello,

I see that the others have offered you good practical and informative advice. I just wanted to add a little technical blurb into the mix. I am aware that you have probably been made aware of what I am going to mention, but I wanted to mention it anyway LOL, to marry it up with real life so to speak. Sometimes when we are in a situation, its easy to have some factors slip our minds.

Please take a look at this PDF in Bladder Management, SCI It has some practical advice as well as the 'background' as to why bodies act/react in a certain way.

The type(s) of "bladder" ( another words how the bladder works now) which an individual has following SCI/D also shapes and influences the way which it can be managed.

EG, is it a Spastic/Reflex or a Flaccid/non-reflex? Or maybe it is sometimes a "mixed bladder" picture, where features of both 1 and 2 are into play.

So in your case, as a T5, you will *probably* have the Spastic/Reflex bladder. With this in mind you might find something useful in the link, I hope. Like the others have said, with time you will notice that things get easier to predict and handle so to speak.

Take care,

K

[LuckyinKentucky]

You also have to be aware of what kind of fluids you're drinking, coffee, sweet tea & soda with their sugar/caffeine make it pass through ya quicker.

[Cheshire]

In addition to all the great advice above, keep in mind that you're having to manually control something that's been running on autopilot your whole life...both you and your body are adapting and learning a completely new way of handling something. It does take a while, but you'll get the hang of it.

Are you keeping a log of how often you have to go and/or measuring how much goes out? That really helped me to get an idea of what was going on, what steps to take, and which direction to work towards.

[JasmineKelly]

Happy new year,

Wow, thank you all for taking your time to respond to me. I know that I have not been on that often because of holiday season and having family visit and all.

All those reponses have helped in a way to keep track of what fluids I have put into my body. I used to just keep track of how much goes in, but not what kind of fluids. I have started to do that, and I do like to drink coffee and coke at times, and it does seem like those are the times my bladder empties itself more often. And I do keep forgetting that fruits have fluid in them too.

Plus, it's only been a few months since the accident, so maybe my body may just need more time to adjust itself. I'm still trying to establish on when is a good time to cath so that I can have less embarassing moments. I'm keeping track of what kind of liquid goes in my body.

This is such a wonderful place. Everyone is so nice and helpful. When this topic was up for 2 days and I didn't see a reply, I was starting to wonder if I asked a stupid question or not. But now I know that I have found a great place to find support.

Thank you all, for taking your time to respond. I will keep a better log of things I drink and try to listen to my body more. I know that this whole getting used to a new body thing takes time, so I will keep on trying.

Kelly