Are you happy with your Artificial Urinary Sphincter?

Went for my cystoscopy to prepare for my AUS surgery. Apparently my bladder is only about 70% of the size of a normal one - my doc said my bladder "is shit." haha I've had radiation and he thinks that's the reason for it. I did my void test(how many pads a day) the day before and went through 5. I'm totally incontinent. There's no connection between the brain and bladder. Here's the issue - he WILL do the surgery if I want but said with my bladder that small I could pee every hour. Has anyone had AUS surgery with a smaller bladder? I'm pretty disheartened cuz I thought this was going to be a life changer. 🙁

@dpayton
I’m a little puzzled by this doctors comments.

How often do you feel like you have to go pee now? That will tell you how often you feel after you have the AUS installed.

I have found I can ignore going to pee when I don’t feel Like my bladder is full, The AUS prevents it from coming out so I can wait until I get that full feeling.

About the only time I find this happening is in the morning after I haven’t woken up to pee at all during the night. I feel full, but I can still wait. Maybe 20 to 30 minutes because I know I’m not going to start leaking..

I can’t imagine that having a 70% normal size bladder is going to make you go every hour since somebody with a full bladder doesn’t have to go every hour and a half. I can go 3 or 4 hours during the day and at night 7 hours. How can a 70% bladder have to go even more often than every two hours!

My AUS has worked same as Jeff M described, above, for the last 2 1/2 years. Very predictable.

@jeffmarc

Not often at all probably very similar to you, except when I'm drinking a lot of water. But it's usually every 4 hours maybe. Short story, I had a catheter in for 6 months before surgery. The bladder pretty much fell asleep during that time so during my RP the doc had to spend a few hours working on it. He admitted that all that work might have messed with the cells contributing to my incontinence. It pretty much does what it wants. haha I keep telling them I pee like a teenager when the bladder is full.

I'm going to ask him why he thinks the difference is so large in regards to time to pee. I still haven't decided yet. He didn't seem(to me) like he was overly excited to take it on.

@dpayton
When you drink water, you should make sure it has electrolytes in it, At least some of it. Water does not get absorbed well into your system unless it has electrolytes. I use liquid IV sugar-free version it’s a powder you just put in a pint of water.

I’m wondering if you should find yourself a different urologist. Just the one you’re going to a specialist in incontinence. That is really important when You are battling issues with incontinence. That is the type of doctor. I went to when I had my AU installed. She does multiple different types of treatments for people with incontinence and understands it in depth because that is her specialty.

The type of comments you’re hearing from your doctor make me think you really need to see a different person.

@jeffmarc

I'm going to try the electrolytes, thanks for the reminder.

This guy is supposed to be a doc that specializes in incontinence. Before all this I thought he was great. The problem I have is I live in a very rural area. Right now I travel 1.5 hours to see this doc. I'm definitely thinking of looking around but I'm going to ask this doc a couple questions before I do anything. Thanks for the help, Jeff. I really appreciate it.

The only caveat I've heard about AUS is that one patient was told he could not ride a bicycle afterward due to issues between the device and the bicycle seat. I have friends who are bicycling in their 90s. If that's an issue, I'd ask the specialist to clarify.

@jime51 n
Some of the AUS apparatus (the urethral cuff ). runs right down the middle of the perineum. My surgeon/urologist had me feel it just after she activated my AUS. It’s a loop right there, I suspect riding a narrow bike seat could be a real problem Pressing against it.

more specific information

Riding a bike with an Artificial Urinary Sphincter (AUS) poses significant risks due to direct perineal pressure. The pressure and friction of a bicycle saddle on the sensitive tissue surrounding the implanted cuff can lead to urethral erosion, tissue atrophy, device migration, or unintended urinary leakage.

A wide bike seat might be usable, but if you ride a lot, it may not even be sufficient.

@jime51 Sometimes when I sit on a hard surface I leak. And hard coughing. Good luck to all.

How about horseback riding? I’ve been avoiding it, although I enjoy it very much. Has anyone with an AUS tried it?