Metformin and Cystoscopy

[LauraPerg]

I'm having a cystoscopy on Friday for some bladder issues I've been having over the past couple of years. I have 2 questions:

1. Has anyone had this done, if so, what kind of experience was it (easy, any side effects, etc.)? My dr. has stated that it's no big deal, but I would like to hear from other people that have gone through the procedure.

2. I'm currently on 1000mg of metformin and I know I should discontinue use for a certain amount of time before and after, but how long?

TIA for responses! :D

[littlemia]

I had a cystoscopy a couple of years ago. It wasn't pleasant but it wasn't horrible. The worst part was when they inserted the catheter. They gave me some medication that was supposed to help with the pain but it didn't. I was really worried about going to the bathroom afterword, I got myself really worked up about it, but it didn't hurt at all. I took it easy for the rest of the day but basically I felt fine.

Good luck with everything!

[LauraPerg]

Littlemia thanks for the quick response. Did you dr. do this with anesthesia (sp.)??:eek:

They are planning on putting me "under", my doc said that it's pretty painful if they just use pain meds!

[littlemia]

I can't remember what they gave me, something intravenously. Whatever it was, I think I was supposed to be really drowsy and not remember anything afterword. When they were doing the aftercare they gave my mom all of the instructions, telling us I wouldn't remember anything. But I remember everything and I was only a tiny bit out of it.

[LauraPerg]

Gotcha, my dr. is treating this like a surgery, but said that the procedure would only last about 10 min. I think I'm more nervous about the i.v., they usually have problems getting a vein.

Anyways, if you don't mind me asking, what were they doing your cysto for? I've been having pain during urination for about 3 years now (just like a bladder infection, but no infection) and I've finally got a dr. that seems to take an active approach. She says that it may be interstitial cystitis (sp), I'm just hoping she finds something conclusive!

[littlemia]

I was having bladder pain. Not upon urination, but the area felt pretty sore and was painful often enough. I had a probable diagnosis of interstitial cystitis but they wanted to check everything out with the cystoscopy. Cystoscopy showed my bladder was normal, but they still diagnosed me with IC, since it's one of those disorders that there's no definitive test for. I didn't end up having any treatment because nothing I hadn't tried sounded worth it but luckily things got better on their own.

[Myra]

I had a cystoscopy with hydrodistension in December 05. I had to have it with a local anaesth and sedation b/c my urinary tract was so sensitive. When the sedation wore off, it was really painful (sorry) but the intense pain only lasted 10 or 15 minutes. For the the 24 hours following, it really hurt to pee, and the pain meds really didn't do anything for the pain. Again, it was over really quickly. I take a lot of medications, and I only had to stop them the day of, and that was only because of the no liquids rule. I was allowed to take my inhalers.

[LauraPerg]

littlemia good to hear that sometimes these types of things can go away! I was hoping that might happen for me, but so far no luck. I imagine I'll have to have some treatment if that's the diagnosis they come up with. Thanks again for your response!

Myra, I hadn't even thought about the peeing afterwards!! EEk!! Thanks for the heads up though, I'd much rather be prepared for that kind of thing. Of course, it may not be a whole lot different from what I experience now. I go for my pre-op today, so I may discuss that with them too.

[Myra]

How did it go? Not too bad, I hope!

[LauraPerg]

Hey Myra, everything went pretty well. It did hurt like hell every time I peed for the rest of Friday and early Sat. and I had some bladder spasms, but nothing too bad. The good news is she didn't find anything wrong with my bladder or kidneys, but the bad news is she's still not really sure what the heck is going on with me. I basically have the symptoms of a bladder infection with no bacteria present, so I guess we are starting back at square one. Thanks for asking!!

[littlemia]

Glad it went well. Sounds like you had about the same results as me. It's good to know that there's nothing really wrong but it's frustrating to have symptoms with no obvious cause. They ended up giving me a diagnosis of interstitial cystitis anyway, but as I said before I didn't elect any treatment. I still have symptoms from time to time (like when I forget that I shouldn't have multiple glasses of tea in a day) but things are a lot better. I think being pregnant has helped since my worst times were during AF. I hope you and your doctor can figure something out so you can feel better soon.

[LauraPerg]

Thanks littlemia! This has been going on for almost four years, so I've gotten somewhat use to the frustrations! It sounds like we have really similar situations, but she did not make the IC diagnosis. It's funny how this can affect such little things, like I'm sitting here drinking sweet tea and thinking I'll have to double my water intake to make up for it so I won't be in pain. Mine also gets worse with AF, although I haven't had one of those in a while due to PCOS and not ovulating (working on that as well, I'm just a bundle of medical fun!).

Anyways, I've been doing some research on what else this could be and I came across urethra syndrome, aka urethritis. These symptoms sound VERY familiar, so if you're interested you may want to look it up.