Hi Reddy, this bladder thing is one of the knots in my knickers  I am a woman so I use the super poise pads.  I dp not skimp on drinking my water, when I know that I am going to be going out for a while, then I limit my intake of fluids.  One thing that I have noticed is that soda, makes me go more than normal.  It is not good for you anyway!  I stick to juice and water, then I do not have as much leakage.  But with MS, I have noticed that some days can be worst than others.  It is something that you will have to gauge.  Best of luck, and Merry Christmas!

sherry/smomdukes

I wrote this response in answer to several people who posed the same or similar questions about neurogenic bladder and controlling it.  They have found my answer helpful and I hope you do too!

Do you get up to pee two hours after you get to sleep, then again a half hour later, then you are good for two more hours or so, then up again a half hour later, etc? Do you go to the bathroom during the day, and have to go again within 15 to 30 minutes?  This is commonly called a neurogenic bladder symptom. 

If you have been putting up with this for more than a month without resolve, more than likely you have developed a neurogenic bladder, common with MSers.

If you do not want to self-cath periodically, there are some ergonomic (read acrobatic) ways to make sure you TOTALLY empty your bladder the first time.

Don't laugh until you have tried it!!!

When "sitting" on the pot, pee as usual. Always sit on the toilet (even men!) When the stream is done, lean to the left so that you lift your right buttock off the toilet. Try to urinate - a few drops to a steady stream will come out. Repeat by leaning to the right side lifting left buttock off the toilet. Try to urinate again.

NOTE: Blowing your nose is also a good way to empty out extra pee. Go back to bed - you should be good for at least three hours of straight sleep.

If this method is really getting on your nerves, you may want to nightly self-cath one time just before bedtime, but you leave yourself open to infections. If you want to sleep with a catheter in place all night, you can use a regular catheter bag and hang it on the side of your bed. In this case, you will probably sleep all night because you will not be getting up to go pee. Empty bag in the morning. This also eliminates  "the Frankenstein walk" where you are so stiff when you wake up in the morning that it takes a few steps to be able to walk correctly to get to the bathroom, thus eliminating possible wet pants.

If you do not take Detrol (or something similar), ask your doctor. Start low dose on regular Detrol - not the Detrol LA is strong, Ditropan, Tofranil because they are strong.

Start with regular Detrol 2mg once in the AM and once at dinner. Causes dry mouth but not to the extent of the other drugs mentioned above. If regular Detrol is still too strong for you (causing nuisance side effects), the pill has a line on it ---- cut it in half and take half doses. There is no reason ANY of us should be troubled by this. Write back again and share your experiences IF YOU HAVE TRIED any of the above. It does work, just persevere and be patient.

While on long road trips, you have to ask your driver to stop every hour and a half to two hours for bathroom stops.

Providing that these long road trips are on the average of a few times per year, the best remedy is to catheterize yourself, use a leg bag or a belly bag. For young children, we used to use a Johnny bottle for boys and a Jane bottle for girls - kept an empty gallon milk/water bottle on the floor of the back seat for emptying Johnny/Jane.

A blogging buddy tells me that her mom used the Jane bottle for her long trip. Johnny and Jane bottles aren't just for children anymore!!!

Let us hear from you again if you have tried any of the above and your experiences with the exercise.  It really does work!  I have been using this method for over 30 years. 

Anne

http://disablednotdead-anne3.blogspot.com/