Post prostatectomy

I am 67 years old. Three years ago I had surgery to remove my prostate gland because of cancer. All my check ups since have been god and thank God I'm cancer free. My problem is incontinence. Right after surgery while the catheter was still in I was leaking and had to wear a diaper. Moved on to pads 6 to 8 months later. And still using pads. Did Kegels before surgery and after, still leaking. My doctor prescribed five different medicines that either had no effect or made me pee more. My problem is that I'm getting up 5 to 10 times a night with the urge to pee(sometimes a dribble sometimes alot). The doctor is not much help at this point - I am not putting a clamp on. Ate there other exercises I can do or treatments available ? I need to sleep.

@leakysid

From what you said it sounds like you’ve had both drugs that are available. You can have Myrbetriq or Gemtesa can both stop the urgency. I used to wake up multiple times at night feeling I had to go, When I knew I really didn’t. I’m on Myrbetriq And I usually don’t even get up once at night. I can wait till 7 AM or close to it to get up to pee. I take 2-25 mg Pills a day.

There are at least three other solution, two that work as long as you have not had radiation.

I’m having an AUS (Artificial urinary sphincter) Installed in June. They put it partially in your stomach they put a piece in your scrotum and connect it up to your urethra. It’s very effective in stopping incontinence. In order to pee, you squeeze a bulb in your scrotum a couple times and you can pee and it automatically closes back up when done. It works even if you’ve had radiation.

There’s also a device called the ProACT That puts two balloons On either side of your urethra and squeezes on it to close down the leakage. You’d have to have an operation to have it put in, but it works automatically. If you have radiation To that area, Which would include salvage radiation if your cancer comes back, then it doesn’t work properly any longer.

There is also another device called the sling which you have to do an operation to install. It is not as effective as the other two devices, but it does work for many people. Again, if you have radiation, it doesn’t work well.

I had prostate removed in Feb 2006 - have been cancer free and good PSA numbers ever since. But incontinence became my companion for the last almost 20 years. It grew worse with age, until I was at 6+ Tena 3 pads daily, with occasional leak-throughs. It was impossible to live with so in Nov 2025 I had an AUS placed.
It was a bit of an ordeal post-surgery, but surprizingly with little pain. Now I still have stress incontinence (something as ordinary as gardening) but usally I only need 2-pads a day. My urologist is somehting of a specialist in AUS surgery and I am glad I finally had the AUS placed.

To add to my submission above, I do experience discomfort on my lower abdomen - between navel down to groin - where I can feel the tubing from the AUS-800 just under the surface of my skin. I described it to my surgeon as a sensation as if a "chip-clip" was grasping my lower abdomen. Not pleasant, happily not always, but frequent enough to be annoying. Has anyone else with an AUS experienced this? If so, how long ago did you have the surgery? Does it get better? I hope so.

@leakysid get a male urinal next to your bed at night. You can pre quickly in bed and still go back to sleep.

I had a prostatectomy in October 2025. I have lived it! I felt I had no choice but have the surgery, so I would do it again! However, it was more difficult than I imagined!

@billybwbf2
Nah, Still got to get up and pee

Hi, Im 67 & had a prostatectomy 4 months ago.
I didn’t want radiation & doc said that surgery would be better for had urinary problems. Surgery went well, and now 4 months down the road; Im getting control of my hour to hour & daily urinary issues.