bladder pain

[rybread]

ive got a lot of pain in my bladder, or that area. ive been to a couple doctors, and a neuro sergeun but they cant make heads or tails of it. ive been on ditropan but that made it worse. whats going on.

[SCI-Nurse]

rybread - Is the pain a recent or new problem? Were you seen by a doctor(s) with expertise in SCI...i.e. someone who has a large volume SCI practice. Did you have a thorough bowel, bladder and kidney examination? It seems that there may be a clue in the fact that Ditropan made the pain worse. Ditropan is contraindicated if there is an obstructive intestinal lesion, a problem with sphincters that won't relax, or obstructive uropathies of the lower urinary tract. I will ask Dr. Young to comment on your problem. CRF

[rybread]

the bladder pain is recent. and i just saw a neurologist today. she gave me a perscription for neurontin, will that help? are there any muscle relaxers that will help with my bladder and my stomach spasms? oh yeah i had a sonagram of my kidney and bladder, and also a systo(the camera down the bladder), they all came back with nothing on them???

[SCI-Nurse]

I have seen other neuroleptic medications used in the treatment of visceral (body cavity) pain including unexplained bladder pain with SCI individuals. In my experience it is not uncommon for SCI individuals to experience such pain without direct explanation of the cause. Often times, in my experience, it has been attributed to the spinal cord injury and the effect the effect that has on a myriad of nerve complexes. One of my patients described it as feeling like a cat scratching the inside of his bladder. How long have you been injured? UTI has been ruled out, right?...................SAH

[canmezzo]

Hello,
I am new to this. I have had unexplained bladder pain for about 1 month now. I injured the nerve at C7 about 2 months ago - is itpossible the bladder pain is related? Will it go away on its own? There seems to be no evidence of infection and I have had an ultrasound done recently as well, also appearing normal. Any more thoughts?

[bob clark]

the bladder pain is recent. and i just saw a neurologist today. she gave me a perscription for neurontin, will that help? are there any muscle relaxers that will help with my bladder and my stomach spasms? oh yeah i had a sonagram of my kidney and bladder, and also a systo(the camera down the bladder), they all came back with nothing on them???

Hi Rybread and Canmezzo,

I had what I believed to be pain in my bladder/kidney/liver or lower right lung. (I'm a smoker so thought perhaps lung cancer.) My stabbing-like pain is in my right side by the liver or right kidney and wraps around towards my back. The areas where people who have normal sensation would feel a kidney infection or kidney stones at. BTW, I'm a T-5 complete so the pain is at least 6 to 8 inches below where I can sense or feel pain at and as a SCI it's difficult to know exactly where the pain is coming from.

I had a bunch of tests performed too. An IVP where they put a radioactive dye in your arm and take x-rays of your bladder and kidneys. A sonagram of my liver and gall bladder and parts around there. Then a CT scan and spinal x-rays. Everything came back clean... the urologist said I had the kidneys of a healthy 30 year old and I was 49 with SCI at the time, I'm now 51.

I really thought that I had kidney stones in my right kidney since the pain was in that area and around towards my back. And whenever I took Cipro (antibiotic) for a bladder or kidney infection about 1/2 of the pain would leave. I put 2 + 2 together but wrongly thought that I had kidney or perhaps bladder or even gall bladder stones.

Anyway, to make a long story a bit shorter, I was put on Neurontin (gabapentin) and to my great surprise the damn stuff works and the pain is, for the most part, gone. But the gabapentin made me feel a bit whacked out (irritable, stir-crazy and even angry) so I requested some Valium (diazepam) to calm me down and all is fine now. And the diazepam helps with my muscle spasms too although I don't have them very severely. Just bad enough for them to be an annoyance. My doctor wasn't thrilled about prescribing Valium since there are other drugs that do the same or similar things such as reduce muscle spasms but cost more. But seriously, there are other and perhaps more effective drugs to control muscle spasms and the different types of muscle spasms but I prefer Valium since it's a sedative and I'm a Thoroughbred who needs a little calming down anyway!

I had to up my dosage of gabapentin (Neurontin) from the initial low dose of 100mgs 4 times a day to what I now take, 400mgs 5 times a day. I'm supposed to take 5mgs of diazpam 4 times a day too.... but usually only take about 2 or 3 of them.... I always have some left over at the end of the month.

I didn't know that a SCI, 25-27 years post-injury would get neuropathic pain. I thought that if you were gonna get it, you'd get it early on in SCI like within the first few months or so. I've always had burning in my butt, knees and feet but over the years it's mostly gone away or I just got used to it.

Gabapentin will make me a bit drowsey or tired but as long as I'm up in my wheelchair doing something I barely notice it. And the Valium (diazepam) is supposed to have the same effect... making me a bit drowsey or tired. But since I used to have insomnia (I could only sleep an hour at a time) the gabby and diazepam has enabled me to sleep for 3 to 5 hours straight which is great. I live alone so my hours change practically every day.... I have no schedule (or organization!) to live by so am up and down at weird hours but so what. I just put a fresh pot of coffee on an hour ago at 1:00AM.

That's just how I handle my life. I'm sure you can live a very scheduled life on gabby and diazepam if you wanted or needed to.

Best of luck with your pain Rybread and Canmezzo. I hope you can find some relief with the Neurontin or if need be, other drugs or therapies. Make sure you give it a chance.... you may need to take a larger dose for it to work. The highest recommended dosage per day is 3800mgs and some people take more than that. As I said, I take 2000mgs a day and that's my comfort level but everyone is different.

BTW, opioids like oxycodone, OxyContin or fentanyl etc have zero effect on my stabbing neuro-pain. It's a completely different type of pain than what opioids are prescribed for.

And gabapentin is supposed to be "easy" on the liver compared to most other drugs.

I could go on but I need another cup of coffee and let the dog in.

Good night/morning.

[painlessjoe]

Have you considered going to alternative medicine?

Massage therapy for exemple is extremely good for pinched and / or dislocated nerves in your back and especially in your lower area which you are having problems with. If I were you, this is the way I would go to see if there could be a chance that it is only that. If your doctors did not find or see anything, the next step is alternative. There is one thing you should never do and that is to stop trying to find ways to get healed.

Good Luck

Joe

[canmezzo]

Hello Bob Clark and Painless Joe,
Thanks for your thoughts. I did some more research and am thinking I have "Interstitial Cystitis". I wonder if it was brought on by a month of ibupofen use . I normally don't take drugs of any kind so it was a big step for me to use them (off now). There are some good sites out there for this issue (mostly affecting women). so, advice to others, just google it and see where you go. Alternative therapy is what I will likely try in addtion to some of the suggestions I have read, including diet modification. One of the best advices was to be persistent and not to let the medical establishment suggest it is emotionally based. something has changed. i just hope it goes back. ( I don't have an SCi except that I irritated the nerve at C7 and it is almost back to normal)
Here are two sites I find very informative:
http://www.orthowomenshealth.com/bladder/ic.html and

http://www.sclero.org/medical/symptoms/associated/interstitial-cystitis/a-to-z.html

All the best.