constant/severe pain 12 days after being cathed - help please

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My apologies for posting in possibly the wrong forum, please feel free to move this thread. Also, yes I'm aware of the standard disclaimer "see your doc" but I'd like to hear your thoughts on my problem, after all, nurses, not docs, really run things :)

I had a foley catheter placed in the ER due to urinary retention, pyelonephritis. Didn't know it, but I had a UTI for some time, that ended up going to my kidneys. I'm a type 2 diabetic, high blood pressure, no insurance, no medicaid, until late last month, no job either so all I could afford was my BP meds and Glucotrol. Blood sugar's been much too high of course (can't afford the metformin and avandia), I'm very overweight, lots of risk factors. Used to get terrible skin infections before being diagnosed, too. But this kidney/UTI stuff is a first for me.

The catheter hurt a bit going in, and ESPESCIALLY as it passed the prostate. Felt like a thousand knives in the kidneys all going at once. Is that normal?

Also, I think the drain line was tied off too short. It pulled almost constantly, and worse everytime I moved (which was a lot). After about 3 hours they took it out and sent me home. Had also taken IV fluids and a IV dose of Levaquin, since then one 500mg tab every day. The infection's cleared up but the pain in my rectum, perinum and member has not improved, in fact its worse from time to time. Urinating is very uncomfortable and difficult. There's no blood but it feels like my member is swelling when I urinate, and it aches for hours afterwards. Sitting up, getting up, sitting down are all agonizing. It hurts even when I lie down. Work is suffering (I'm a caregiver for MR/DD individuals, and as a new employee taking time off is not an option, fortunately my boss is very understanding) badly. I just spent half my first paycheck at the followup doctor's appointment only to have her tell me the foley probably "irritated" things and to wait a week or 10 days before seeing about it again, and I just want the misery to go away and be able to pee normally. 1500mg Tynenol doesn't even touch the pain. Can anyone help or explain?

thanks, any questions just ask!

Tom

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Tom - please see about sliding scale clinics in your area. You sound miserable! I'm so sorry! This could be a lot of things, but please don't delay treatment. If you have to return to the ER - so be it. If you don't know about clinics - contact the health dept in your area or the ER and talk to a social worker about getting in to see an MD. Good luck - I sure hope you feel better. By the way - taking 1500mg of Tylenol once a day is okay but please don't take that much - 1000mg should do it - otherwise you need some other med.

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Maybe Try Sitting In Hot Tub...try Cranberry Juice....but You Should Have Had Lessening Of Pain At By This....i Don't Know Where You Are From But There Should Be Some Facilities To Help Your Situation

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Thanks folks.......I got the number of a clinic, will call them shortly. It was a long and sleepless night. Taking a hot bath DID help, but soon as I got out the pain returned with a vengeance. Based on what I've read on the Net I suspect its either a stricture or prostatitis, but searching hasn't yielded much specific info. What I'm afraid of is an infection either returning or blowing up when my Levaquin runs out Sunday. I sweat more fluids out than I urinate. And the pain, of course. This is absolutely the most INSIDIOUS, MADDENING pain I've had in recent memory! And I have a rather high tolerance for pain - set a dislocated thumb, broken pinkie by myself. And a doctor once reset a WeberC fractured/dislocated leg/ankle I'd sustained playing basketball without painkiller (the doc lived). No I don't make a habit of taking 1500mg of Tylnenol, though at my weight (~335#) its probably not a great risk. I avoid meds as a rule unless absolutely necessary to a fault (I once threw away a Percocet Rx the dentist had handed me following an extremely difficult tooth extraction. Of course as luck would have it I got a dry socket!).

I just hope I can get this situation resolved or something tolerable TODAY. I can't afford to spend all weekend at work lying on the couch, its not fair to the people I work for. BTW Chatsdale, I'm in Springfield, down near Branson in southwestern Missouri. When I'm in a better mood and can sit down to a keyboard for more than 5 minutes I'll get more involved with this forum and tell you all about my profession.....MR/DD caregiving. Perhaps as journalists are to cops, it could be nursing's evil twin profession. Like nursing, its very interesting, full of stories great and small, inspiring and disheartening but never boring!

Tom

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Thanks folks.......I got the number of a clinic, will call them shortly. It was a long and sleepless night. Taking a hot bath DID help, but soon as I got out the pain returned with a vengeance. Based on what I've read on the Net I suspect its either a stricture or prostatitis, but searching hasn't yielded much specific info. What I'm afraid of is an infection either returning or blowing up when my Levaquin runs out Sunday. I sweat more fluids out than I urinate. And the pain, of course. This is absolutely the most INSIDIOUS, MADDENING pain I've had in recent memory! And I have a rather high tolerance for pain - set a dislocated thumb, broken pinkie by myself. And a doctor once reset a WeberC fractured/dislocated leg/ankle I'd sustained playing basketball without painkiller (the doc lived). No I don't make a habit of taking 1500mg of Tylnenol, though at my weight (~335#) its probably not a great risk. I avoid meds as a rule unless absolutely necessary to a fault (I once threw away a Percocet Rx the dentist had handed me following an extremely difficult tooth extraction. Of course as luck would have it I got a dry socket!).

I just hope I can get this situation resolved or something tolerable TODAY. I can't afford to spend all weekend at work lying on the couch, its not fair to the people I work for. BTW Chatsdale, I'm in Springfield, down near Branson in southwestern Missouri. When I'm in a better mood and can sit down to a keyboard for more than 5 minutes I'll get more involved with this forum and tell you all about my profession.....MR/DD caregiving. Perhaps as journalists are to cops, it could be nursing's evil twin profession. Like nursing, its very interesting, full of stories great and small, inspiring and disheartening but never boring!

Tom

TOM I hope that you get some help....i know that it is hard to work when you are feeling so bad...esp a new job....caregiving is caregiving tom, don't put yourself down//GOOD LUCK

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

You need to be seen.........this is NOT normal.

In the meantime: Drink lots, and I mean LOTS, of water to help flush out your system and reduce the acidity of your urine. Three liters of water a day ought to do it, as long as your kidneys are OK and you have no other conditions, like congestive heart failure, that could be made worse by high fluid consumption. Cranberry juice is OK for some, but with your unstable blood sugars I wouldn't recommend it......you might want to try some cranberry capsules instead, you can buy these at the local health food store or even Safeway, just be sure to choose a recognized brand so you know you're getting a standardized dose.

This is one of the standard treatments for UTI, pyelo, and kidney stones, as well as prevention of all of the above. But definitely get into the doctor ASAP!!

Good luck to you. :)

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho.

If all your doc could tell you was come back in a week to 10 days if it wasnt better, id call a urologist and be seen by them. Why not go to a doc that specializes in that area and forget the GP.

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Do you have prostatitis? Are you sure your kidney infection is gone? Any Dr that tells a pt in excrutiating pain - to come back in 10 days - would lose all credibility with me. Would you tell someone having severe chest pain to go home and see if it doesnt stop on its own? You are hurting because something is WRONG! Your body is telling you to get help. Good luck and let us know what happens with you.

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postscript.......

Its been another bizarre and frustrating day. I ended up going to the ER, not to seek treatment but to ask if there was a clinic first (I have all of $4 in my wallet....no money elsewhere, either), but the triage nurse said sit down and we'll take yer vitals. That apparently ended further discussion. It was about 830 this morning, so the ER was almost empty.......well, the waiting room anyway. After about 45 min she calls my name, takes my vitals (which were good, blood pressure 114/67 - w/o my BP meds it would be 190/120) and leads me straight into a room. Then I waited in the room for almost 3 hours before the doc sees me. In 90 seconds of questioning and poking he's decided I've got acute prostatitis (the symptoms were classic), and poof, he's gone. Never saw him again. Nurse comes back with a Rx for SMZ/TMP DS 800-160 1 tab BID......Septra by name, I think; and also Vicodin 5-500. Already got a $1400 bill for the first ER visit, and the next one will probably hit 4 digits (most of it in the form of urine/blood labs). So I get home, take 2 Vicodin (max dose) and try to sleep, something that's been hard to do lately (my pain is always much worse at night, shooting pains into the member that almost make me wish for a knife) and...........hardly any relief. Well, hopefully the antibiotic will resolve the infection proper. Got a followup appointment made with a urologist on Sept 17th, hopefully will be able to get back on Medicaid or some form of assistance by then (employer insurance is 6 months away at least). We'll see.

My grandfather won't talk about it (he's an old curmudgeon anyway) but I've known he's had prostate trouble for years. I never really took him that seriously, but never again! The pain is simply ferocious and all-focusing (I wonder if that's the hard part - you tend to forget its just pain b/c it involves your manhood and go psycho - I've seen it happen lots with many clients I've worked with). What with my blood sugars, its very obvious I'm highly predisposed to all kinds of infections (bronchitis every winter, skin infections before being diagnosed with diabetes, and now this). Just simply have got to drive that blood glucose down (seemingly impossible to do w/o starvation) and lose the weight (I should weigh 190 tops), and a LOT of my health issues would prolly take care of themselves. Thanks to all for their advice and encouragement, I don't have much family or friends to lean on these days and any little thing is a big help.

Tom

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You need to take the Vicodin as soon as the pain starts to worsen - it doesnt work well if your pain is already out of control. You do know of course, that the best treatment for prostatitis cant be found in a pill bottle. If you dont know what I mean, just send me a private message and I'll tell you.

This reminds me of a joke...this couple went to the emergency room because he was in severe pain. They ran all of the tests and the doc pulled the wife aside to talk with her. He told her that her husbands condition was very serious. The only cure was for her to have *** with him at least dly for a month and it might seve him from sure death. (Yea, right!). Anyway, the wife walked into the pts room crying. Husband says, "what did he say?". she replies, "He said that you are going to die!). Tacky, I know.

Hope you get to feeling better.

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