Incontinance with coffee and alcohol

I'm wondering this myself. I do know that coffee can irritate the bladder & alcohol is a diuretic.
So probably best to limit both.

I had my surgery about a month ago & the catheter removed last week, so struggling quite a bit myself.

Also curious whether a hot curry is also a bad choice,

Anyone?

Yes, caffeine, spicy foods, alcohol, and carbonated beverages are all on the list of things that *can* irritate the bladder (some sources also list citrus fruit, but that's more controversial).

That doesn't mean they all *will* irritate you if you have radiation cystitis — experiment a bit and see. I'm still ok with tea, but have to go easy on the alcohol and carbonated beverages (and not too close to bed). Orange juice is fine for me. Spicy food is usually ok, but sometimes irritates me if it's at the extreme limit (that's also the only time I notice my radiation proctitis, because it burns more on the way out than it did on the way in 😕).

Brilliant. Thankyou, Sir. I will take this as encouragement to try a curry. Might have to dial it down from my usual hot to medium & see how it goes.
Not much of a drinker, so don't really care about the alcohol issue.
Good to hear that you're OK with OJ. I'll get my juicer out again & see how I go.
There's only so much water a guy can stand.

Best of luck!

I'll also add that in my case, the incontinence wasn't from the bladder irritation itself, but from the way that my body reacted to it.

It took me about half a year, but I managed to train my body to understand that what felt like an urge to go wasn't *really* an urge to go, so that my detrusor muscle wouldn't automatically contract and squeeze the bladder. Myrbetriq helped at first to relax the detrusor muscle a bit, but eventually I learned to manage without.

Be patient. You have no direct voluntary control over your detrustor muscle — it's an automatic reaction, like yanking your hand off a hot burner or jumping out of the way of a car — so it takes a lot of time and practice to retrain it. And in the meantime, pelvic floor exercises like kegels can help you hold it in even when the detrusor muscle is doing its best to push it out. 😕

I'll add that this is one of the benefits of getting care from a big multidisciplinary centre: my radiation oncologist was able to refer me quickly to a urology oncologist who gave me a series of tests (cystoscopy, KUB ultrasound, bloodwork) to confirm nothing serious was wrong, like cancer spread to the bladder or kidneys, then worked with me for a year to get through this.

There are more aggressive treatments available for radiation cystitis, like hyperbaric oxygen therapy, but we didn't need those in the end

Alcohol increases fluid loss by increasing urine production. This can result in concentrated urine, which can irritate the bladder and signal the nerves that cause the bladder muscle (detrusor) to contract to expel urine. Alcohol can also impair muscle control and coordination. The external and internal urinary spincters are both muscles.
Caffiene is also a diuretic with the same additional affect that it is known to stimulate the smooth muscle in the bladder wall.
Bless your recovery.

OUCH!!

I don't have a lot to add to the excellent posts addressing your question and the associated anatomy. They certainly clarified a few things for me. But let me add a few thoughts from the emotional side. I'm 70 and had my NS RALP in late June so I'm coming up on 4 months. Even though I was pretty much continent when the catheter came out at a week, it's been a work in progress as I adjusted to the "new normal". There's been a few minor releases of urine along the way as I figured a few things out. Those accidents were a bit unnerving and kind of freaked me out a bit. So early on, even though I was pretty much continent, I had no confidence because things generally felt a bit different from before surgery. It took me some time to get adjusted to the new normal. For example, prior to surgery I'd need to get up once or twice a night during sleep. After the surgery, it was more like 3 or 4 times at first. But it's improved and now I'm back to just once or twice a night (depending on how much liquid I consume before bed). Long story short, coming up on 4 months and I'm pretty much back to my normal. Early on, I felt like I was adjusting and making improvement day by day. Then it slowed down, but things still got better week by week. But some days were better than others. About 2 months ago my wife and I took an extended road trip. Initially, I was a bit stressed out worrying about how I'd handle that. But my wife was very supportive, we started out stopping more frequently than normal, and by the end of the road trip things were very much on the road to getting back to normal. Also, I noticed that when I got busy thinking about driving, the scenery, etc that I could go longer between breaks. That kind of suggested to me that some of my frequency was partly due to me just worrying about it. Now I'm not recommending a road trip anytime soon for you, but rather I guess I'm just trying to say that even if there aren't any real physical issues, it's going to take some time to figure things out. Don't be too hard on yourself nor expect results too fast. At this point for me pretty much the same drinks that'd accelerate the urge to go before surgery are now back to affecting me about the same as they did before surgery. I wouldn't say I' completely back to normal, but I think I'm a good 90%+ back. I did Kegels before surgery and resumed them a short time after the catheter came out. I don't know for sure, but I think they've helped me. Let me close this comment on a positive note; without my enlarged prostrate my flow has markedly improved. That's definitely an improvement. Best wishes with your recovery.

Thank you for your comment, Much appreciated. I also am 70 YO and surgery was done 1 week ago. Catheter removed yesterday. I want to return to "normal" but understand there may be a "new normal". Again thank you

On a related note.... what are the effects of an irritated bladder? Peeing more often... pain.... discomfort?
Just so I know if something is causing irritation.
I guess I'm lucky I even have to ask what it feels like.