Interstim Day 1 : Treatment for Overactive Bladder Disease

I am not the best blogger, but I was desperate when I found this board and I am hoping that if I document what I am going through, as I go though it, I might help someone else make this huge decision better armed.

....so in the hope this helps, here I go.

I am very much a baby Interstim user. I had my phase one implanted yesterday, for the test run. We performed the test implant in the OR and it went very smoothly. I was out and home in about 2.5 hours, not including the administrative portion of the stay.

I get up an average of 20-30 times in an 8 hour sleep period. I am 34 years old. I change adult undergarments at least once a night, 3 or 4 times a week. Last night, with the Interstim on for the first time at the lowest setting possible, I had to void 4 times, including my bedtime and waking voids. My urgency has only been mild to moderate, at best. So far I haven't had any of the severe/panic type urgencies.

Having said that, we tried to do the temporary implant in the office last Thursday and they could not get me numb enough to proceed, so they had to pull out. It was excruciatingly painful. I have a severely damaged lower spine and the tenderness I already deal with compounded the attempted procedure. The OR procedure went very smoothly, under general anesthesia, despite how terrified I was from the previous attempt.

I do want to say this....I can feel it. It feels like a small electrical shock at first (that is what it is, after all), each time I adjust my settings. It then mellows out to what feels like a muscle twitch after 10 or 15 minutes until I can't notice it all (about an hour after an adjustment.) I started mine at the lowest setting and have been adjusting up each time I get comfortable and no longer feel it. I have been doing adjustments for about 10 hours and am barely at the 2.5 setting. Slow and easy wins the race for this one!

Research your surgeon! The device really needs someone who excels in the OR. This is a very serious procedure and you need a comfort level and trust with the person installing it. I also believe it is an end-of-the-road, no-where-else-to-go option. Try everything else first!

Good luck and many healing thoughts to those of you traveling this path. I understand the desperation that sits on your chest at 2:30 am, when you've just gone back to bed after voiding and feel as though you need to get immediately back up. There are many dark thoughts that crawl around at that time of night in a sad heart and sick body. I hope whatever decision you make WORKS and that you find a supportive human connection to help you get through. Reach out! There are MANY of us out here.

P.S. - for those of you in the Peninsula/Bay Area of California I cannot recommend Dr Dieter Bruno enough. He will not push you into the decision. He armed me with videos, reading materials, pros & cons and I took more than 6 months to decide.

I intend to post my experiences daily, when possible. I hope this helps someone!