My Possible Regaining Continence..

[Guest wayneo]

Well I got wiht my DR. today.. Not good news, she says there is less than a 5% chance of me regaining control.. she says she is sure my muscles have atrophied? Which now sucks having the feeling of needing to pee and when I pee because now I know I am wetting and nothing to can do about it.. I would rather go back to how I was last week of no feelings at all if this is how it is to be.. She is going to send me to a new uro, but she said in no uncertain terms to get my hopes up. Felt like a smack upside the head witha 2x4.. Oh well thought i would let everyone in on my update.

Is there anyone who has had anything like this happen with them? The only good thing is my back is doing pretty well as for the pain I had been having..

Wayne

[Guest dl_aslee]

On the bright side you can tell when you wet and know when you need to change. Hopefully making leaks less likely, tough doing it for 17 years you probably have just got use to changing after a certain amount of time, so don't know how much of a problem that was for you and leaking.

[littleJaina]

It sounds like your doctor needs a good slap upside the head. What a terrible thing to tell you! I've known guys who were incontinent for years (though none as long as 17) who have been able to gain back control. Sure, the muscles would have atrophied, but there are biofeedback devices now available to help with regaining sphincter muscle tone. It sounds like you need to get a few outside opinions.

Of course, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. However, that's no reason to give up!

Well I got wiht my DR. today.. Not good news, she says there is less than a 5% chance of me regaining control.. she says she is sure my muscles have atrophied? Which now sucks having the feeling of needing to pee and when I pee because now I know I am wetting and nothing to can do about it.. I would rather go back to how I was last week of no feelings at all if this is how it is to be.. She is going to send me to a new uro, but she said in no uncertain terms to get my hopes up. Felt like a smack upside the head witha 2x4.. Oh well thought i would let everyone in on my update.

Is there anyone who has had anything like this happen with them? The only good thing is my back is doing pretty well as for the pain I had been having..

Wayne

[Bettypooh]

No experience with this or even second-hand knowledge here

But I DO know that unless you try, you cannot succeed. I've seen and known far too many people who were told the'd never walk again, or would have certain problems, then overcame them anyway It happens often enough to be worth trying, even if it takes years. I neither believe or trust most doctors(this from personal experience)since I've known so many of them to be wildly wrong so often At least get a second opinion then try with whatever technique seems most likely to work, and don't give up until you've exhausted every possible option(and keep on trying anyway after that ) Any gain is better than none, and a small gain may give you better insight as to how best to proceed. You can lose only after you stop trying so never give up the effort, always believe it's possible, and devote everything you have to reaching your goal

Best Wishes!

Bettypooh

[Acecool]

Returned feeling would be a good thing.. If you had nerve damage, this shows they are repairing themselves - talk to a few other doctors and maybe start a physical therapy to work the muscles..

[babykeiff]

Well I got wiht my DR. today.. Not good news, she says there is less than a 5% chance of me regaining control.. she says she is sure my muscles have atrophied? Which now sucks having the feeling of needing to pee and when I pee because now I know I am wetting and nothing to can do about it.. I would rather go back to how I was last week of no feelings at all if this is how it is to be.. She is going to send me to a new uro, but she said in no uncertain terms to get my hopes up. Felt like a smack upside the head witha 2x4.. Oh well thought i would let everyone in on my update.

Is there anyone who has had anything like this happen with them? The only good thing is my back is doing pretty well as for the pain I had been having..

Wayne

I suspect that your urologist is correct. Since it is the external sphincter that allows urinary continence, it really doesn't matter if your internal sphincter opening and its associated nerves is telling you that you need to urinate, without external sphincter control, you will wet uncontrollably. Be grateful, there are people that have their external sphincter locked closed, and when they feel the excruciating pain of a full or expanding bladder, they have to use a catheter to force the external sphincter open. Diaper usage, and that cleanup is a lot more healthy and less risk to the body.

You mentioned in a previous post that you had spinal injury - can you tell me where it is - cause from what you are describing, I suspect that it is between T11 and S1 (base of the Thoracic nerves and top of the Sacral nerves)

Any nerve damage on or above the Sacral nerves (S1) will most likely result in complete incontinence as well as a lack of sexual functionality. Above the lumbar region (L1) also affects leg movement. Above thoracic nerves (T1) would also mean an inability/difficulty to breath / control heart rate. Christopher Reeves (Superman) had a C1/C2 injury which means that he had above neck muscle functionality only. Since nerve impulse use minute pulses of electricity to communicate, it is possible that certain nerve impulses can jump damaged gaps over time which can seem like nerve regeneration, but the true fact is that nerves do not succumb to nor behave like any other cell within the human body - they do NOT regenerate.

[rickibrat2]

you canhave feeling of need but that in no ways means the bladder is full or anyt hing it is just nerves.

i know very few people who have gotten control back.

guess it all depends on why the loss of control

mine is i have a peace of metal sitting on the last T and S1,2 that makes the nerve feel like it is always full and it also cause the bowel control to be very touchie

[Creepymouse]

nerves do not succumb to nor behave like any other cell within the human body - they do NOT regenerate.

This is simply not true. Doctors believed this to be true for many years, but have found recently that they were wrong. The trouble is - just like cutting off your finger, the body doesn't have the ability to rebuild, only to repair. If it doesn't know how to fix the nerve path (because its been severed) the nerves can't cross the gap.

I read an article about a year ago about a young man who received a nerve graft from his mother. Their doctor explained that she would experience some loss of function temporarily but would recover. The son, on the other hand, would regain much of the function he lost due to whatever caused the problem in the first place.

The cool thing was: He would only have to be on anti-rejection drugs for a few years, because...(drumroll) his own nerves would REGENERATE and use the graft as a template. Eventually all of her nerve cells would be replaced by his own.

[babykeiff]

This is simply not true. Doctors believed this to be true for many years, but have found recently that they were wrong. The trouble is - just like cutting off your finger, the body doesn't have the ability to rebuild, only to repair. If it doesn't know how to fix the nerve path (because its been severed) the nerves can't cross the gap.

I read an article about a year ago about a young man who received a nerve graft from his mother. Their doctor explained that she would experience some loss of function temporarily but would recover. The son, on the other hand, would regain much of the function he lost due to whatever caused the problem in the first place.

The cool thing was: He would only have to be on anti-rejection drugs for a few years, because...(drumroll) his own nerves would REGENERATE and use the graft as a template. Eventually all of her nerve cells would be replaced by his own.

1 - Medical Info: Every cell in the body duplicates itself - that is except the human nervous system and the brain. As the body grows, the nervous system stretches.

2- If, as you say, this person got a nerve graft from his own mother, the DNA match would be so accurate that the son would NOT need any anti-rejection drugs. Better choice would be to move nerves from one location of the son to the damaged area.

3-Where was the graft taken from the mother - the same location as the sons damage? That would be the only way the son could try and use his mothers nerves - and then the mother would have the same or greater problem as the son had.

4- Yes, nerve grafting technology exists, but it is moving nerves from the host to the host - ie in the above case, would entail moving nerves from one part of the sons body to another, but this is extremely risky.

Conclusion:

Nerve fibers are thinner than a human hair and have to be precisely grafted to the existing nerve. Even with this, the results to date are unpredictable. Joining a cut structure to a cut structure will result in scar tissue forming. This scar tissue has NO nerve content and will block all nerve impulses across the junction. As a result, nerve grafting, although it exists as a medical practice, it is very rarely performed and may only give feeling / partial feeling for an unpredictable amount of time. Eventually - normally within twelve months, the nerve block has returned but it is complete block rather than the original partial block. Partial blocks occur when nerves are severed due to the ability of nerve impulses to 'jump the gap' with the result of a much smaller impulse. Exercise of the affected area normally can allow the body to focus on the weakened nervous impulses and allow partial or greater control to be regained.

Thus, the medical preference is exercise rather than invasive risky and eventually destructive surgery.

In Wayneo's case, the nerve damage is within his spinal cord, and the risk of damage and complete paralysis far outweighs any possible benefit of urinary control. You may state the I am being cruel, but I, being incontinent due to spinal injury, are fully aware of the costs involved if this was tried to be fixed. I prefer to lead an active fully mobile life rather than have full continence and be stuck in a wheelchair for life - what do YOU think? Do you think that it would matter that he was fully aware of his need and act of wetting/soiling his diapers yet stuck in a wheelchair unable to get to a bathroom in time?

Wayneo, please accept that you need protection. You have been doing that for the past 20 years. If you wish NOT to wear, then ask about leg bags etc. Inability to control your bladder is NOT a problem unless you make it so.

[hidden]

1 - Medical Info: Every cell in the body duplicates itself - that is except the human nervous system and the brain. As the body grows, the nervous system stretches.

2- If, as you say, this person got a nerve graft from his own mother, the DNA match would be so accurate that the son would NOT need any anti-rejection drugs. Better choice would be to move nerves from one location of the son to the damaged area.

3-Where was the graft taken from the mother - the same location as the sons damage? That would be the only way the son could try and use his mothers nerves - and then the mother would have the same or greater problem as the son had.

4- Yes, nerve grafting technology exists, but it is moving nerves from the host to the host - ie in the above case, would entail moving nerves from one part of the sons body to another, but this is extremely risky.

Conclusion:

Nerve fibers are thinner than a human hair and have to be precisely grafted to the existing nerve. Even with this, the results to date are unpredictable. Joining a cut structure to a cut structure will result in scar tissue forming. This scar tissue has NO nerve content and will block all nerve impulses across the junction. As a result, nerve grafting, although it exists as a medical practice, it is very rarely performed and may only give feeling / partial feeling for an unpredictable amount of time. Eventually - normally within twelve months, the nerve block has returned but it is complete block rather than the original partial block. Partial blocks occur when nerves are severed due to the ability of nerve impulses to 'jump the gap' with the result of a much smaller impulse. Exercise of the affected area normally can allow the body to focus on the weakened nervous impulses and allow partial or greater control to be regained.

Thus, the medical preference is exercise rather than invasive risky and eventually destructive surgery.

In Wayneo's case, the nerve damage is within his spinal cord, and the risk of damage and complete paralysis far outweighs any possible benefit of urinary control. You may state the I am being cruel, but I, being incontinent due to spinal injury, are fully aware of the costs involved if this was tried to be fixed. I prefer to lead an active fully mobile life rather than have full continence and be stuck in a wheelchair for life - what do YOU think? Do you think that it would matter that he was fully aware of his need and act of wetting/soiling his diapers yet stuck in a wheelchair unable to get to a bathroom in time?

Wayneo, please accept that you need protection. You have been doing that for the past 20 years. If you wish NOT to wear, then ask about leg bags etc. Inability to control your bladder is NOT a problem unless you make it so.

I agree with the fact that nerves do not reproduce. after child hood, nerve cells are locked in a specific part of the cell reproduction cycle and do not leave it. this is why people with brain damage do not recover. however, if only part of the spinal cord is damaged, only some of the pathways are disrupted. although nerves cannot reproduce, they can grow and form new connections with other nerves to bypass the disrupted path in some cases, but not always.

this is why we need stem cell research. for those that do not know what they are, they are cells that can become any type of cell in the body. when you are still developing in the womb, at first, all you are is stem cells until they start to differentiate and start to form different tissue. stem sells are also present in adults but in smaller numbers and may not have the same potential to form a different kind of cell that younger ones do. if we can use stem cells to create nerve tissue using that person's deoxyribonucleic acid, we may be able to replace the entire spinal column to help prevent scar tissue from forming. however, like mentioned above, new connections would have to form in order for a full recovery.