Question:
How do they do a stress incontinence test?

OK..Heres the problem. I have to have a Stress Incontinence test done and I am wondering if anybody has had to have this test done and if so how do they do it. I had this really nice lady email me regarding how SHE had it done and I would rather gouge out my own eyeballs out then have the SAME test that poor soul had to have done. So please let me know your experiences with this test..maybe she was just unlucky!! Thank You..Cheri    — mastrnservnt (posted on November 8, 2001)

November 8, 2001
Huh - I'll be interested in the answers to this. I had no idea there was a test! Mine was bad enough that all they would have had to do was make me sneeze and watch me wet myself! -Kate-
   — kateseidel

November 8, 2001
When I had it done, it was no big deal. They had me go to the bathroom. Then they measured what was left in my bladder. The fact that a certain amount was remaining confirmed the stress incontinence, which results from not completely emptying your bladder when you go. I had a bladder lift (along with TT, thigh lift and hernia repair)in August and it is all fixed. Ann RNY 9/10/99
   — [Deactivated Member]

November 8, 2001
They usually do what's called a urodynamics study, which includes a cystometrogram. They essentially check your flow to see how fast you urinate, see what the residual urine in the bladder is after urination, and whether or not your body releases urine with any pressure; they do what's called a Valsalva manuever, to have you put pressure down there like you would have with a cough or sneeze. It should be painless and noninvasive, and I can't imagine what happened to the poor lady who told you about hers.
   — [Anonymous]

November 8, 2001
I am the person who posted this question and to just answer the last posters question..from what the lady told me the Urologist put 2 cathaders up inside her urrethra(sp?) and one inside of her recutum (no clue why there) and then made her stand up and cough and laugh to see if she leaked...she said it was unbelievably awful..can you now see why Im sweating bullets (frown).
   — mastrnservnt

November 8, 2001
Perhaps they've refined them.....I had it done in 1993, and it was incredibly invasive and humiliating. I had to have a catheter like thing stuck in, drink gallons of water, try to hold it, stand up and try to hold it, then let go and pee on a drain in the floor while the tester was watching, then have another catheter inserted to see what was left in my bladder... THEN the Doctor came in and did a cystoscope - by that time, I was so upset and humiliated that I couldn't relax and he had to cram the cystoscope in my urethra and I just about died.... I will never go through it again.... You asked for true experiences - sorry, but this was mine...
   — Cathy J.

November 9, 2001
I have a question...does your insurance company ask for this test as a part of the approval process? I would think they should just believe you have it...I hope your process is as easy as one can be.
   — Patricia R.