I was prescribed a foley catheter to use when my bladder won't drain properly. Luckily I only have to resort to that once a month or so.

Tentwelve12,

Thanks for your reply.
My urologist also prescribed the foley for me to manage my urge incontinence . Therefore I catheterize with the foley for part of the month, and then I manage with the external caths, and disposables. But when I am off the foley he wants me to self cath a couple times a day to make sure my bladder is drained completely.

How do you like being on the foley? What kind are you using?

I too have to do intermittent catheterizing,also twice a day, due to bladder diverticui. This helps to prevent utis,Very important to keep things clean or even sterile .to prevent infection.

I am new to intermittent self cathing. . Being I am use to using a foley part time, I am use to inserting a catheter. However, with the intermittent it is still different for the fact that one is doing the insertion often. I believe my method of preparing for the procedure is correct. However one UTI did occur from using the intermittent.
I would like to know what steps you use in the procedure so I can really compare. Do you ever get uti s Wetr ? When you reply, it may take me a little while to reply, as I will off line for a short while. But I will as soon as I can.

Gerald

I follow a procedure similar to www.healthlink.ca\healthtopics\ug2976
I always wipe my gloves with alcohal.

I’ve been self cathing “twice a day” for a few years now. I’ve had to switch to lidocaine gel as I still experience pain when inserting the catheter. I use absorbent products in between cathing and I’d rather go that route since it’s easier and it lowers the risk of utis (I’ve had a few- some pretty serious). But my urologist insists that I need to cath to fully empty my bladder and prevent kidney damage.

When I first was working on ways to manage my incontinence my urologist had me try self catheter with intermittent ones and even had the indwelling Foley in me for a month but neither worked out. The Foley caused the bladder to spasm and hurt because I am very active and the tip of it was poking away at the bladder. When I tried to self cath on any schedule, it didn't work, my bladder still in between cathing would let go and flood my underwear/diapers.

As to what steps I used when I was having to cath, I always used gloves, and I always used a new catheter. One thing also is that you need to make sure the lube you are using doesn't get contaminated. The best thing are the little packets of lube because you throw away the package and you are not opening and closing a tube of lube all the time. Cleaning down there before is also a big key to keep from getting UTI's

Good point OnlyGod1st, I do use the large hospital size tube of Surgical lubricant , Surgilube, when I am using a non lubricated catheter. However, lately I have been using CompactCaths which are already lubricated. Having them pre lubricated makes the process much easier.

Gerald51. I mostly use the Duette as I have found it most comfortable since I am very active at work. Sometimes I use a Strata SI, but connect them to a belly bag, or use a one-way valve & let them drain into my protection as I hate leg bags

The duette is what my urologist also prescribed for me. Very comfortable.

Do I understand correctly that at times you let your catheter drain into a disposable diaper instead of using a collection bag?

Sorry for the late response, but yes I do sometimes. I put a one way valve on the end of the catheter & tape it inside my diaper.