Self cath

I also would like to hear from experienced self-cath patients. Is it difficult? Do you get infections from cath usage? What diagnosis caused the need for self cath?

I have frequent UTI's that have more recently resulted in severe urine retention and the need to go to emergency room or doctors office for catherization. Now my doctor is insisting I learn how to self cath. I have an appointment in January, but am not thrilled with the idea. I want my doctor to find out "why" my muscles seem to freeze and not wake up.

I was afraid to self cath but it is not difficult or painful. You can do it in the same way that you would ordinary urinate, standing up or sitting down. Be careful to keep your hands clean to avoid infections. There are many different caths you can try and Liberator is a good vendor.

I had to self-cath for about 3 months due to urine retention caused by an enlarged prostate that ultimately led to kidney problems. Not sure how it is for a woman, but as a man I found it pretty easy and not overly uncomfortable. They are lubricated and slide right in. It is a weird feeling, but otherwise fine. Way better than using a foley or bag which I had to do while I was in the hospital for 3-4 days, and then for a week at home before I changed to self-cath. One thing to beware of--my urologist's office referred me to a company of some kind which turned out to be based in Oklahoma, as I recall. The man on the phone tried to get me to pay before I insisted that I was told my medical insurance covers the cost, since it was medical necessity. As soon as he realized I was not going to just meekly pay him money, he changed his tune and said it was his mistake and of course I did not have to pay. Complete crap. I ended up doing some of my own research and contacted Corner Medical in the town where I live, and they were very helpful and I think checked with my insurance themselves as did I. So be aware of this.

Thank you for your replies. Both are very positive and and have given me a bit more confidence. I'm experiencing a UTI now and some retention. I'm uncomfortable, so I guess being able to cath myself would ultimately give me relief and more comfort.

I still want to have the doctors find out why my bladder muscles just stop working and then all of a sudden work. I'm going to keep hunting for an answer, but in the meantime I will learn to self cath. Thank you for your feedback.

I've read many experiences BPH, urine retention, self catheterization, and eventual treatments.
None I've seen have mentioned my situation. I am 77, and I'm 7 years post External Beam Radiation Therapy for prostate cancer. This has been successful, as my PSA has dropped from 11 in 2015 to 0.2 the last time it was checked.
I have experienced urine retention, trips to the ER for a Foley, on two occasions, plus one at the Urologist office.
An interim solution was to self-cath, and they had me try it in the office, and it went very smoothly, however this was probably 30 minutes after having a 16fr Foley removed that had been in place for over two weeks. Gave me a sample collection to take home. This didn't work, as it was like they hit a brick wall. Urologist had me come back in, and the PA failed after trying 3 or 4 different single use caths. Finally, got one in, and she said it felt like something popped, so she put in a coude tipped Foley, as I was retaining a lot of urine, and the weekend was approaching.
Last ER visit for urine retention, I had a great nurse attempt to put in a Foley. She stopped, saying she was hitting a lot of resistance, and got a coude tip, and it went in very easily. I thanked her for not just cramming it in as I have experience on my first ER visit.
The urologist then gave me a supply of coude single use catheters, which makes it much easier.
Next is to figure out long term solution, TURP, laser, and other less extreme procedures. The Urologist said that my prostate because I had radiation therapy the prostate doesn't heal as quickly as it might otherwise.
Cystoscopy in a couple of weeks to determine next course of action.
I guess my main question is to those that have had EBRT then had a TURP or other procedure on their prostate.

OBTW, self-cathing is going OK. No failures, now for 4 days, and I can still void nautrally.