My Mom has Parkinson's and is starting to have problems with her bladder.?

My Mom has Parkinson's and is starting to have problems with her bladder.?
Best answer:
yes. im a cert. nurse aid in a nursing home.
typicly if a person is having any kind of problem
passing urine or has any kind of infection
contagious through urine they are catheterised.
in my opion if she is having troble passing urine
on her own the catheter is a great solution
it might be a little irritating for her, but
it is whats best for her well being right now
not passing urine at all can cause alot of
unwanting health problems especially if that
person is elderly. the doctors arent going to
something that isnt right for her treatment.The first answer is yes, in a regular case of urinary retention a foley catheter is often left in place...or the patient must continue to catheterize herself. There are no great answers, I'm sorry to say.
But
Let's see if I've got this straight:
Your 82 year old Mother has Parkinson's disease
She is suffering from urinary hesitancy and urinary retention
Which can be attributable to both PD and/or to a slightly prolapsed bladder.
And her medical team put her on Bethanechol which is CONTRAINDICATED in the presence of Parkinson's disease.
And the solution in the face of a disease which creates problems with both skeletal muscles and smooth muscles is to catheterize her which would be the standard treatment for you and me. And it is standard as a first line treatment in all conditions. Except that your Mom has PD and that isn't going to improve in 3 weeks. So plans need to be made in case the urinary retention doesn't get better.

In PD the bladder often doesn't begin to contract when you want it to and/or can't continue to contract enough to completely empty the bladder. The sphincter doesn't relax enough to release urine. Which means that there is often urine which remains in the bladder which makes you Mom even more uncomfortable because she constantly feels as if she needs to urinate...which in fact she does because not only does she have PD which makes it difficult to urinate but for some reason she also has a bladder prolapse which appears to prevent complete emptying. I assume the prolapse was found during a bladder sonogram.

By the way, constipation can also be behind the bladder prolapse. Constipation is another unpleasant PD symptom (not to mention medication side effect) This is another area that might need to be addressed to help the muscles as much as possible.

I don't know what PD meds your mother takes, if she is on anticholinergics - unlikely but possible - the problem can be aggravated. Antimuscarinic meds can do the same thing when taken in high doses.

There isn't a whole lot out there but here's one off the wall: As long as your mother doesn't have cancer, has anyone suggested Estrogen replacement therapy? It would tone the muscles and might very well provide more control.

Exercising for bladder hesitancy and bladder frequency are similar: kegeling. Necessary. PD patients should be doing some form of exercise every day so why not this sexy one?

I know it is going to take awhile to move from one course of treatment to another so please make sure that all the necessary good hygiene practices and supplies are in place while your mother is still using the catheter. The last thing she needs is a UTI caused by a catheter.

But I doubt if that will resolve the problem because she has PD and those muscles are becoming more rigid every day.

I apologize that I don't have all this information at my fingertips. My husband has PD but his problems are a tad different obviously. He does exercise daily at a therapy center and also at home (when prodded)

You might also want to take a look at her diet - fiber - nutritional elements such as Vitamin B complex, D3, antioxidants - for her overall health.

Please make sure that you discuss everything with both her regular physician and her neurologist. A change or adjustment in her PD medications may be needed. They by the way should make the referral to the urologist and should confer with that doctor.

I have a question: your Mom is 82 and may be in great shape - can she maintain a sterile environment for the catheter? Is it to remain in place? You said they advised her to continue "catherizing herself" which suggests that she must insert it. Is she able to do that?

References and additional reading:
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/drugs/bethanechol-015500.htm
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/prolapsed_bladder/article_em.htm
http://www.parkinsons.org.nz/books/Parkinsonsandthebladder.pdf
http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec17/ch228/ch228c.html
http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/a/acute_urinary_retention/intro.htm#excerpts
Medications which can cause urinary retention:
http://www.fpnotebook.com/Urology/Pharm/UrnryRtntnDTMdctns.htm
And you need to keep scrolling down this one to urinary retention and prolapsed bladder:
http://www.pelvichealth.com/faq.shtml

Best wishes to both of you.

How can I find a surgeon in Cincinnati, OH that specializes in Laproscopic Surgery for a hysterectomy?
Best answer:
You might want to look up general surgeons or abdominal surgeons, also some OB/GYN surgeons specializing in those procedures.

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