Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Prostate Cancer / October 2006
Night time toilet trots
|
|
Thread rating:  |
limey - 17 Oct 2006 19:08 GMT Some weeks ago, I mentioned that my husband's biopsy samples had shown a score of 9 for 11 samples and 10 for one. He had a bone scan, which showed cancer everywhere. This was followed by his first shot of Lupron.
Yesterday, he had a cystoscopy which showed (thank the Lord) a completely clear bladder.
He has to get up anywhere from 4 to 6 times a night to urinate and the interrupted sleep is making him very fatigued. Is there any remedy for the frequent night time pit stops? TIA
Dora
 Signature limey113@yahoo.com
From Bob - 17 Oct 2006 21:27 GMT I limit fluids after 6 P.M., and keep a plastic urinal on the night table.
I.P. Freely - 17 Oct 2006 21:57 GMT > I limit fluids after 6 P.M., and keep a plastic urinal on the night > table. Cut or pull the internal spout out of the neck of a BIG laundry detergent jug. Hard to miss while sleepy.
I.P.
I.P. Freely - 17 Oct 2006 21:57 GMT > Some weeks ago, I mentioned that my husband's biopsy samples had shown a > score of 9 for 11 samples and 10 for one. He had a bone scan, which showed [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > interrupted sleep is making him very fatigued. Is there any remedy for the > frequent night time pit stops? TIA Others will mention the various medical approaches, but if they don't work, here's what I've done for many years to mitigate the effect of getting up in the middle of the night:
1. Don't turn on any lights. Light, even through closed eyelids, triggers brain activity and chemicals that wakes us up. We keep those little fluorescent discs plugged into sockets to light the way just enough to avoid stepping on the dog.
2. Sit to pee in the middle of the night. Standing requires that I actually wake up, pay attention, and engage my brain in all sorts of activities such as seeing, aiming, balancing, focusing my eyes, etc.
3. If there's any chilly floor between bed and loo, put a rug on it to avoid the shock.
4. Heed the whole list of sleep protocols, aka sleep hygiene, including: A. Cool room. The first thing we do when moving into a new home is install a wall AC in our bedroom to keep it chilly (humans sleep best with temps in the 60s; I prefer 60 degrees with a fan in my face; YMMV). B. Dark room. We usually add heavy drapes/curtains, but our current home offered a better remedy: we sleep underground. NO outside light gets in, night or day. Curtains and closed doors should keep your husband's nighttime path dark, too. The view from our upstairs bedroom is great, but we prefer the darkness downstairs. C. Quiet room. Heavy drapes, shut up noisy neighborhood dogs, electronic noise masker ($20 at Walmart), earplugs, etc. Sleeping underground as we do, we'd never know it if the garbage truck broadsided a propane truck out front. D. CPAP if he (or you) have apnea. E. Drink and eat nothing for at least three hours prior to bedtime. F. Take the phone out of the bedroom. No phone call is worth my sleep. G. Make sure the bed is really comfortable. We LOVE a good, quality egg-crate pad on top of our mattress. And we built a giant bed decades ago so we can choose between closeness and wide separation for better sleep.
Sleep interruptions do mess with our sleep patterns and thus physical and mental restoration, but getting back to sleep quickly at least FEELS much better. On a good night, my two trips to the bathroom cost me less than five minutes of sleep, combined.
I.P.
Claude - 18 Oct 2006 00:05 GMT "I.P. Freely" <fuhgheddaboutit@noway.nohow> wrote in message news:hqbZg.270$qv1.98@
> 2. Sit to pee in the middle of the night. Standing requires that I > actually wake up, pay attention, and engage my brain in all sorts of > activities such as seeing, aiming, balancing, focusing my eyes, etc. I bet this is what a lot of us do at night. I do, and the male urological PA said it's what he does. However, I find that I can't empty my bladder as completely at night this way than when I am standing and getting help from gravity. Better yet when I walk around and then try. I have to get up 2-4 times a night because of low holding capacity and fear of wetting the bed, and I have to decide whether to risk waking up more or getting more out of my bladder.
glassman - 18 Oct 2006 00:11 GMT > Some weeks ago, I mentioned that my husband's biopsy samples had shown a > score of 9 for 11 samples and 10 for one. He had a bone scan, which [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Dora This is a case for your urologist. Many meds to try that may fix this.
 Signature JK Sinrod www.SinrodStudios.com www.MyConeyIslandMemories.com
Steve Kramer - 18 Oct 2006 23:17 GMT > Some weeks ago, I mentioned that my husband's biopsy samples had shown a > score of 9 for 11 samples and 10 for one. He had a bone scan, which > showed cancer everywhere. This was followed by his first shot of Lupron. I'll let someone else answer about pit stops, but I was wondering how Henry's PSA is. I recall it was 66+. Did the Lupron knock it down some?
 Signature PSA 16 10/17/2000 @ 46 Biopsy 11/01/2000 G7 (3+4), T2c RRP 12/15/2000 G7 (3+4), T3cN0M0 Neg margins PSA .1 .1 .1 .27 .37 .75 EBRT 05-07/2002 @ 47 PSA .34 .22 .15 .21 .32 Lupron 07/03 (1 mo) 8/03 (4 mo), 12/03, 4/04, 09/04, 01/05, 5/05, 10/05, 2/06, 6/06 PSA .07 .05 .06 .09 .08 .132 .145 Casodex added daily 07/06 Non Illegitimi Carborundum
limey - 19 Oct 2006 17:17 GMT >> Some weeks ago, I mentioned that my husband's biopsy samples had shown a >> score of 9 for 11 samples and 10 for one. He had a bone scan, which [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > I'll let someone else answer about pit stops, but I was wondering how > Henry's PSA is. I recall it was 66+. Did the Lupron knock it down some? You have a great memory, Steve. The urologist wants a PSA test next week, to see what's going on. So far, he's in quite a bit of pain in various places, so is on pain pills. The night-time frequency is getting him down. Many thanks for asking.
Dora
Beverley - 19 Oct 2006 14:24 GMT Ask the doc about Flomax, Hytrin (both by Rx) or maybe one of the other new meds such as Detrol. I'm sure there is something out there that might help. Even if they can just knock it down to a couple of night trips to the bathroom that would help. He should not have to be getting up that many times a night.
My husband is still on meds 4 1/2 years after Tx for PC. He takes alfuzosin (Uroxatral) which has worked very well for him. He's used Hytrin and Flomax. Recently the doc switched him to Uroxatral and it has been wonderful. Now he gets up, usually only once, and that is about 2 hours after he has gone to bed, the rest of the time he sleeps like a baby. Sometimes on Hytrin he'd dribble his way to the bathroom at night yet he never had a problem during the day.
All of these meds are apt to lower his blood pressure. Bev (P&E)
> Some weeks ago, I mentioned that my husband's biopsy samples had shown a > score of 9 for 11 samples and 10 for one. He had a bone scan, which showed [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Dora limey - 19 Oct 2006 17:29 GMT Very useful information, Bev - thanks. Henry has taken Flomax (which had to be discontinued because of adverse effects) and is presently taking Avodart, which doesn't seem to have any effect. These were prescribed earlier by our internist. Strange, the urologist offered no comment on Monday when Henry had the cystoscopy and brought up the problem.
We'll check out the other meds you mention. You're a big help!
Dora
> Ask the doc about Flomax, Hytrin (both by Rx) or maybe one of the other > new [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > All of these meds are apt to lower his blood pressure. > Bev (P&E) glassman - 23 Oct 2006 20:21 GMT > Very useful information, Bev - thanks. Henry has taken Flomax (which had > to be discontinued because of adverse effects) and is presently taking [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Dora Despite what some think, docs aren't gods or perfect. Be pushy and ask for help. If the meds don't work, pick up the phone and keep switching until you find one that does. Or better yet... find a better Uro. Good luck!
 Signature JK Sinrod www.SinrodStudios.com www.MyConeyIslandMemories.com
|
|
|