Tips for keeping the BCG in bladder for longer

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Hi, I have an inflamed urethra at the moment, resulting in wanting to pee every 10-15 mins. I have an instalment of BCG in two days and I doubt it'll have settled down by then. Any tips for dealing with or somehow delaying the urge to pee?

rily over 2 years ago

Hi trynab_stoical . I've never had BCG but being here for a while, we've seen many people ask the same and there doesn't seem to be any real answer. Some people sail through it with no problems, others struggle to keep it in. I hope it goes well for you. Best wishes.

Best wishes to All, rily.

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mpb1963 over 2 years ago

Hi trynab_stoical . The "BCG cystitis" and in general inflammation is frequent with BCG. I have had the same. The last BCG of the first course of the second year I could only keep for 20 minutes ... We discussed with the oncologist that it may be better to stop as after one full year of treatment the risks are more than the benefits as the majority of benefits from the BCG are in the first year. You can try though (I have had some success) with combined effect from NSAIDS (make sure you can take them!) and paracetamol. That would calm my irritation for some time... or you may ask your doctor about Ialuril treatment, although I have heard that this last treatment takes a while to work.

trynab_stoical over 2 years ago in reply to mpb1963

Thank you both for your replies.

This evening I am drinking nothing at all, so my bladder will have had more than 12 hours to empty itself. I don;t know how beneficial that might be. I'll look into NSAIDS and Ialuril treatment. Maybe it's help if i have some paracetamol tomorrow?

trynab_stoical over 2 years ago in reply to trynab_stoical

I wonder if I time it right, a dose of Ibuprofen could help reduce urine frequency in the target period but will have worn off by the time my immune system responds to the BCG (which is usually a couple of hours later). A sane theory or am I’m just grasping at straws?

mpb1963 over 2 years ago in reply to trynab_stoical

I wouldn't have thought that the immune system interacts with Iburofen. First though, if you time it correctly, you might extend the period you can keep the BCG in, which is I think the most important thing (I was told 2 hours is the optimal, but at least 1 hour ...). I have used ibuprofen + paracetamol during the days after the treatment to lessen the inflammation. I hope your treatment is successful!

Marco

trynab_stoical over 2 years ago in reply to mpb1963

Yes it was successful, thank you. I feel so relieved. Having need to pee every 10-15 minutes for the last few days (admittedly I drink a lot of water) I managed to keep the BCG in for the full 2 hours - bloody miraculous! My strategy was to stop all fluid intake a full 15 hours before the installation and on the day take 400mg of Ibuprofen about 2 hours before the installation so it should be wearing off after the 2 hours I'm supposed to keep the BCG in my bladder.

nb A doctor told me once that all anti inflammatory drugs work by supressing the immune system and that includes ibuprofen so obviously the risk is that it could lessen the immune response the BCG. It's 6 hours after the installation and i feel ill, but maybe not quite as ill as i sometimes do, but then it does vary anyhow so might be unrelated to ibuprofen

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Tips for keeping the BCG in bladder for longer