HELP. when does incontinence stop after prostate removal?

My father regained urinary control one week after the operation, he had no urinary problems before the operation, and he did Kegel exercises regularly after the operation.

I did Kegels religiously before and after my RP and had zero incontinence issues. I attribute it to doing the Kegels, a great surgeon and prayer. Good luck to you

I had some incontinence the first month and wore a mini pad for the following month for assurance. I also did kegels along with an overall fitness rehab program. Properly training the pelvic floor muscle is critical. Everyone has differences to the trauma of the pelvic floor muscle, so you have to ensure that you are doing the exercises correctly, frequently, and give your body time to heal. Best wishes.

Hey @charliepnet
My experience was that through the continual kegel ritual, I was able to gain control back fairly quickly. I only had trouble when exerting myself with running or some leg exercises. Also had stress incontinence for a couple months. It takes patience and work to get back towards normal.

If you're having some trouble dealing with it, I'd strongly suggest trying to get your treating docs to prescribe some PT from a center that specializes in this kind of work.

I was one of the luckier ones that the incontinence left fairly quickly and didn't need this kind of support. Several other members here have needed it and speak very highly of it.

No one can tell you when YOUR bladder might improve. One thing which helped me deal with the emotional aspect of incontinence was to get data on the problem. I used a gram scale to weigh the pads I used before I put them on and when I removed them. I charted them daily in Excel, and the resulting graph sowed the gradually decreasing volume over time despite daily ups and downs. This gave me confidence I was improving during the first 4-5 months post-op. I'm now leak free, ( 11 months in) with only a drop/dribble after urinating.

No need to apologize here as that’s what we’re all doing here. The biggest problems are the ones we are personally experiencing….all of us.

My research taught me that the results are different for us all (age, surgeon, prep, etc, etc, etc) - all of which is frustrating even if it does make sense. My RALP was last Sept 14. I prepped with the advise from this book, Vanita Gaglani’s Life After Prostatectomy, which I believe was a huge help. My personal path was to regain continence gradually but fairly quickly post-op. I am still learning to control the occasional leak (my nemesis is after the first urination of the day and sudden twists or exertions lifting something but I’m better each day).

Time - and dedicated work - will make things better. I also believe a big factor for me was attitude. I believe that being focused and positive will bring good results, regardless of where we are now. Good luck to you, Charlie. Keep the faith, stay focused, work diligently, and stay in touch here.

I am 59 surgery @ 9 months ago still us light pad 24/7. I have some days very frustrating have to change pad during day. But most days only use a pad in 24 hours. Seam to have stopped getting improvement a few months ago. I feel like maybe even going backwards some days. Could be amount of physical work done in a given week. I am now waiting on getting a call to get an appointment with a pt . Per Doctor referral. Have not had pt training, could be I have been doing Kegel wrong or even making worse. I guess I will find out hopefully soon. I realize there are many men who would be extremely happy to be in my amount of Constance that I am currently at. But still I would love to be totally dry like many other blesses men are at. I suppose I still need some more lessons on patience, but I am Thankful for the Blessing's of where I am.

Thanks for taking time to reply. Gonna keep working at this for sure. I shouldn’t complain it can always be worse. Hoping the best results for you .
Stay safe.

I don't do pads. I am 8 months out. Been very hard. I got off the pills as they have side effects. I do so many Kegels and floor stuff, my last name now is Kegel. I am still fighting, never quit but I pee in the wind like Jim Crose, maybe it was spit in the wind but I still am happy to be alive.
I have 6 other friends who had the little bast[[[d taken out. All our alive and kicking and most have control. i still don't. I like drinking 3 or 4 beers at night. I earned it always working so hard for 70 years. God Bless all of you.

I will add my two cents. I am 13 months out from RALP and still have stress incontinence when exercising (golf, pickleball and hiking). Thanks to pelvic floor PT I am reasonably dry most the rest of the time, though I never go without some form of pad in my underwear just in case. And that is the key ingredient I think many surgeons omit telling us before our prostatectomy. Most of us will need something "just in case" for a long time. I recommend joining online the NACF (National Association for Continence) and searching their database for post prostatectomy commentaries. There are many men who didn't dry up right away, and you should read their stories. I myself am very frustrated because no one can tell me why there is such a discrepancy in our recoveries, but all I can do is keep exercising and hoping it gets better and better each week, each month. Good luck.