Hi Stavros......

Was it "Ditropan"??  I take it for bladder leakage as well as spasms.  I
will look up the pharmaceutical name......oxybutynin chloride.  Perhaps
phone your pharmacy and ask them.  But it doesn't stop one from urinating,
just helps to avoid those *soakers* from sneezing or laughing.

Best.....Heather

I'm not a doctor, but I was told that the cause of this kind
of thing can be one of two things (or both of them).  One is
that the swelling of the radiated prostate forces the urethra
closed, so that you can't urinate until the pressure builds
up, and then you only urinate a little before the pressure
subsides enough for the urethra to be closed off again.
Instead of going from full bladder to empty after urination,
you go from full to almost full and are soon full again.

Another cause mentioned to me is that sometimes radiation hits
the bladder and irritates it.  The presence of urine in an
already irritated bladder is a further irritation, causing a
strong urge to urinate.

If I understand these conditions correctly, then both will
cease to get worse and both will start to get better as soon
as radiation ends.  So if you're close to the end of
treatment, you may want to live with it until the end, knowing
that the end is in sight.

If you are urinating successfully, and your only problem is
that you have to do it often and urgently, maybe you can get
some sort of external apparatus in place of a catheter.

I had a glider pilot friend who would fly for many hours in
his glider with no easy way to relieve himself.  He would cut
a hole in the end of a condom, attach a rubber tube to the
hole (don't know how he did that), run the rubber tube down
his pants leg and out the landing gear well (I know what
you're thinking about that last part but he claimed it all
evaporated and/or dispersed before it hit the ground.)

Anyway, maybe you can find or make a rig like his with the
tube ending in a bottle or bag.

Or for a less radical solution, just carry a urinal or a jar
with a tight sealing cap with you wherever you go.  I kept one
in my car and had to pull off the road and use it a couple of
times while I was getting treatment.

Finally, don't be shy about talking to your doctor about this.
He'll understand that this is no joke and it's causing you
some suffering.

   Alan

Stavros,

The worst problem with RT is that the urethra runs right through the middle
of the prostate and receives the full brunt of the treatment.  "Urinary
frequency and urgency are quite common".  Although that fails to describe
the discomfort of trying not to piss your pants and knowing that you can't
hold back the dribble.  I was about 5 to six weeks into treatment when the
urinary problems hit.  Extreme urgency, severe burning when I peed, and
nedding to pee about every 15 minutes there one day, and up 8 or 9 times per
night for a few.  Flomax seemed to help quite a bit.

I'm two months post treatment, and except for the rare case of urgency,
things are pretty much back to normal.  I can usually go two hours or so
between pisses, and usually get up no more than once per night.

Hang in there, things will improve when you finish with RT.  And discuss all
this with your Doctor.
Dan

I'm wondering if the Flomax is making the situation worse. Or do you need a
higher dose? Call your doctor.
Bev

I had the seeding on Monday, May 9.  I, too, have the intensity to urinate.
Monday I stopped in the doctor's office and they worked me in to see him.
Told him I was urinating 4 to 5 times an hour and could feel the prostate
closing down after 1 - 3 ounces had passed.  They did an ultrasound and said
I'm retaining 5 ounces.  They gave me a catheter to use myself.  Changed the
medication from Flomax to Uroxatral (althuzosin HCI 10mg).
The catheter is easy to use.  I'm being  very careful to shower and soap up
good before using it.  Afterwards it is about an hour and a half before I
have to go again.  At the present I using the catheter once a day.  Other
than that I'm doing fine.  Sunday, early,  I will be driving my son to the
airport.  It's a new expressway and gas stations and stores haven't been
built along it. Don't know how I'm going to make out.

A few years ago my friend had his prostate removed.  Scar tissue built up
and he leaked constantly.   He called around and settled on an external
catheter.  It was like a condom, with a hose to a bag to strapped on his
leg.  That worked fine, unless he did some activity that pulled the "condom"
off.  He would be wet before realizing there was a problem with it.  One
year later they went in and removed the scar tissue.  He is fine now.