Frustrating Dr Appt

[Babyjohn2006]

My wife and I went back to see my urologist yesterday and he told us that my tests had come back relatively normal, not visible growths or such and my bladder retention test came back normal. He said my bed wetting is being caused by sleep disorders. My wife and I both asked him about the day time issues and he kept referring to the sleep disorder. I explained that I am still having leaking issues during the day and have had a couple of experience (luckily both at home ) after long (Hour or so) drives where I have flooded and it soaked through my protection (one day was a pull up and other Day a attends with waistband). He didn't seem concerned and said it is my sleep disorder. I am not seeing the nexus between my sleep disorder and my day wetting. He gave us a bunch of medical terms and said basically I have a somewhat weak bladder. I am going for a scrotal ultrasound then the following week back to him so they can run a camera up inside of me to see the inside of my bladder.

Has anyone else felt put off by their Dr like this?

Thanks,

John

[DailyDi]

I once had a doctor tell me that I wasn't having migraines, I just needed a friend. And another told me I'd stop getting earaches if I lost weight (figure that one out.)

As for a sleep disorder causing daytime accidents: actually possible. the loss of control at night could be helping to shrink your bladder and weaken the muscles, causing the problem to occur during the day as well. Not to mention the stress and the poor sleep if it is a sleep disorder.

Please update us when you learn more!

[ldatsea]

My wife and I went back to see my urologist yesterday and he told us that my tests had come back relatively normal, not visible growths or such and my bladder retention test came back normal. He said my bed wetting is being caused by sleep disorders. My wife and I both asked him about the day time issues and he kept referring to the sleep disorder. I explained that I am still having leaking issues during the day and have had a couple of experience (luckily both at home ) after long (Hour or so) drives where I have flooded and it soaked through my protection (one day was a pull up and other Day a attends with waistband). He didn't seem concerned and said it is my sleep disorder. I am not seeing the nexus between my sleep disorder and my day wetting. He gave us a bunch of medical terms and said basically I have a somewhat weak bladder. I am going for a scrotal ultrasound then the following week back to him so they can run a camera up inside of me to see the inside of my bladder.

Has anyone else felt put off by their Dr like this?

Thanks,

John

for Me doctors are very good at doing that makes me think that they are guessing... and probably are I stopped going to urologists becuase it seems everytime i visit one they do a cystopic exam (under anethiesa) because i have scar tissue and they cant get the camera in with out pain, have left me less and less sensation and controll and the answers they give after all that tends seems to be wrong . and for other DOC's when i go with an ache or ail somehow Stress is the answer and I really dont have much stress ..SO yeah Iam not a fan of going to the doc's anymore......

[collegebaby86]

My doctor sent me off to psychologist almost immediately, which is fine with me. I'm not so upset by my bedwetting that I'd let him stick something in me... As I get older I find I'm pretty happy to wet the bed, it puts me in touch with my ab side every time I go to sleep.

[Bettypooh]

In my business (and probably a lot of others) there's a phrase: CYOA And a lot of doctors do this Mostly those who don't have the guts to say "I don't know" to your face. There's a lot of standard procedures to follow for most common ailments which are well known as long as the doctor cares to look for them; the problems happen when the doctor doesn't care to do the work of looking If I'm paying for professional services, I darn well expect professional results. I ask questions and they give the answers well enough to satisfy me or they don't get paid Much the same in my business except my bills are smaller You ought to be asking your doctor for better and fuller explanations about the approach he's taking and what it is that makes him think the way he's thinking. Judging from what you've posted it seems he's reached the level of his incompetence, and he's playing CYOA in hope that you don't call his hand and discover this- a totally unprofessional way for him to act And if he can't or won't supply the answers, it's time to say bye-bye and find another doctor Shots in the dark only mean a lot of misses, someone needs to bring illumination into play, and if his approach can't stand up to the light of truth you don't need him doing anything to your body

When you need a doctor or a lawyer, second best isn't good enough and unasked or unanswered questions always bring unneeded trouble This isn't a game where you can afford to lose- do your part with questions and demand that he do his with the proper answers. Then you both win

Bettypooh

[steve in diaps]

Ya, sounds very similar to the work comp Docs I saw for my first back injury. They assured me that with all the test they did that I didnt have any back injury and it was only stress, anxiety, or depression that was causing me pain. That went on for two years, but I talked the Insurance into an outside evaluation, lucky for me the new Docs were both MDs and Osteopaths. After the Permanent nerve blocks to destroy some of the nerves in the problem areas, I can not only deal with the pain w/meds at times but can tell when my back goes out where its at for them to put it back in.

So if you dont think your docs are giving you full attention to your needs or issues or will not consider other possibilities for the problems that concern you. Ask for sec or third opinions or send you to a specialist. It truly makes a deference when the Docs can back up their statement with true test results and results in treatment. But I have also seen when there is no surgical or medication to fix problems, some docs milk the insurance till they balk, then blame peoples problems as stress or in their head to move them out of their case file and office. This does three things 1 gets rid of the patient, 2 put the problem on the patient, 3 Makes the doc look good as they have not failed in their job = the ratio of positive and negative outcomes for their practice. Who would go to one that had a lot of failures???

Some my think I am overstating this some, But when they put in in your records it stays for all future Docs, to see and can make it hard to deal with down the road. It was a - PROFESIONAL that put it there as is taken as fact and can not be changed after that,, Period.

I found this out the hard way on my sec back injury, different work comp Docs wanted to blame the stress and anxiety I created in my head was why I was in pain. That was a fun 4 mths, till they did the nerve test showing how much nerve damage was done, but toooo late then.

Give them a time line - then run, LOL if you still can

[Angela Bauer]

My wife and I went back to see my urologist yesterday and he told us that my tests had come back relatively normal, not visible growths or such and my bladder retention test came back normal. He said my bed wetting is being caused by sleep disorders. My wife and I both asked him about the day time issues and he kept referring to the sleep disorder. I explained that I am still having leaking issues during the day and have had a couple of experience (luckily both at home ) after long (Hour or so) drives where I have flooded and it soaked through my protection (one day was a pull up and other Day a attends with waistband). He didn't seem concerned and said it is my sleep disorder. I am not seeing the nexus between my sleep disorder and my day wetting. He gave us a bunch of medical terms and said basically I have a somewhat weak bladder. I am going for a scrotal ultrasound then the following week back to him so they can run a camera up inside of me to see the inside of my bladder.

Has anyone else felt put off by their Dr like this?

Thanks,

John

Hi John, I read on your profile that you wet your bed and sometimes during the day. What is less clear is your history of examination by urologists. When was the first time your health plan sent you to any urologist relative to when you reverted to bedwetting? Prior to that referral had your health plan primary care physician given you a comprehensive physical exam? What were the results of your PSA (at 36 with a history of bedwetting a PSA should have ben done) blood glucose and A1C? Besides sleep disorder, diabetes and prostate enlargement often cause your symptoms.

From what you shared here and on ADISC, the various tests performed seem logical and standard. Unfortunately diagnosis of urinary incontinence is as frustrating as the treatment and management. Thousands of factors can reduce bladder control. It is seldom possible to isolate a single cause, although urology research has advanced a whole lot within the past 25 years. You live in California, where Stanford University med school pioneered training women as urologists. Urology residence is long, typical of surgical specialty, so it is only about 12 years since the first women were board certified in urology. Coincidentally it was about 12 years ago that some urologists got seriously interested in treating bladder incontinence.

So Baby John, now you have experienced an example of what women went through for generations when there were no women urologists and by tradition urology was focused only on the diseases of men. Although I was part of the third generation of women with urinary problems, my Mom and I were greeted with a dismissive attitude. Fortunately by now the urology profession accepts that genetics is a factor. Of course not all urologists have extra interest in incontinence. Remember this is a surgical specialty and surgery seldom helps treat incontinence. Also, even within the medical profession the language of urology is difficult to understand.

Talking about incontinence is difficult for most men, even urologists and their staff. Diapers are seldom the first choice of management techniques. Consequently when a urologist encounters a man of your age already wearing diapers, chances are the first suspicion is ABDL. Trust me, all urologists know about the kink of ABDL. Often to cover their ass, as well as the insurance company's, there will be a referral to a shrink.

My Granny Vi felt the only way she was going to be treated fairly by urologists was for her to read all available information about incontinence, so she would be familiar with the technical medical terms terms. Granny did not aspire to be a urologist. She just wanted to follow the conversation. My Mom used the same approach. By the time I was born Granny and Mom had a comprehensive library focused on urology as it applies to incontinence. These days you do not need to buy expensive books or even access to a medical school library. Wikipeda is available to everyone with a computer. Just remember that is not totally reliable, but when you have read the terms your urologist uses several times you will at least be able to ask intelligent follow-up questions.

You might be fascinated visiting the website of "The Society of Women in Urology" (SWUI) which was founded in San Francisco (close to Stanford) in 1980. That URL is http://www.swiu.org/

Best wishes for better urology communication.

[collegebaby86]

You'd be amazed how hard it is to get a thorough examination without insurance... I've used the community clinic in my city a few times and each time it was like pulling teeth. Even when I had to have my shoulder lanced, they never had the proper personnel to actually do anything, I ended up having to go to the emergency room to get treatment. Maybe I should move to Canada...

[adriansurley]

The fact is unfortunately that many doctors, especially family practitioners, don't have the time to spend with patients as much as you would think. In CERTAIN practices, the doctor has to see a certain amount of patients to meet a yearly quota to maintain the salary he is getting or to achieve a bonus. That is just the fact of the matter. I am sure some doctors would like to spend more time with their patients but out of time constraints - can't.

[dl247]

Hey John,

I can feel your pain. I went through a lot after my accident and it seemed as though nobody could pinpoint the issue until they did a Electromyogram (EMG).

It seemed like the doctors had no clue with me for awhile, then I was sent to a "Urologist Specialist" and she quickly found the issues. But be careful that finding the issue(s), and fixing it are completely different!

Even after just about every test and medications known to man I still leaked, maybe not as bad, or it would partially fix the bladder but not the bowels or vise versa.

I appreciate all the Doctors have done, but after all the false hope, and being violated many times, it is not worth it. Just learn to live with it, and move on in life.

[Jedward]

My wife recently stated having bed wetting problem, and after discussing these with her gynocologist/urologist, she said to speak to her physiologist. Her Physiologist who is treating her for fibromyalgia thinks it is due to the meds that she is on for that as they cause her to sleep far more deeply and that is most likely causing it. So she has a choice deal with the pain or take the meds and be able to function. She decide to take the pills as the pain is way to anoying.