Urgent ® PC Patient Stories
Percutaneous Tibial Nerve Stimulation with Urgent ® PC is indicated to treat overactive bladder and associated symptoms of urinary urgency, urinary frequency and urge incontinence.
PTNS worked for these patients, but not all patients respond to the same treatment. Talk to your doctor to learn more.
Christy's Story - More Like a Normal Girl Again
When Christy wa
s just 21 years old, the car she was riding in was in a serious collision. Although her seatbelt protected her from more severe injuries, Christy was ejected from the car and suffered head injuries as well as multiple pelvic fractures and probable nerve damage. She was in a coma for about 6 weeks.
Some of Christy's first memories following the crash involve problems with Overactive Bladder (OAB). "It was extremely severe. I know I had it in the hospital because I had to wear diapers. I know frequency, urgency to urinate, and leakage were huge problems. I couldn't walk down the hall of the hospital without having to go and wetting myself. For more than a year afterwards I had bladder spasms and it was painful and annoying and I couldn't get it out of my mind. I was probably in the restroom 4 to 5 times every hour. It was a long, hard recovery."
Even after Christy was released from the hospital, her OAB symptoms persisted. "I would wake up sometimes at night and go to the bathroom. A lot of times I didn't wake up so I'd wet the bed. So I had to sleep on pads so I didn't get it on the bed."
Christy tried medications, cutting out caffeine, and even had a trial assessment for InterStim ®, a neuromodulation device surgically implanted in the buttocks, all with no success. That's when she learned about Urgent ® PC. Christy started with the standard 12 week series of treatments, with mixed results. "So we started doing this and at first it was a kind of lessening of symptoms. Not a major difference. Then some weeks turned out to be great. I mean I still had to go more than a regular girl should and more than I had before, but it was quite a bit less. It was noticeably different. I had less urgency during that period of time. And I actually did it for more than 12 weeks before I saw significant, miraculous improvement."
After about 20 treatments, Christy was dry during the day and finally able to make it through the night. "One of the best improvements I see is that I'll wake up at night when I have to go. I don't wet the bed. I wake up. So that's a big thing for me. I don't wet the bed anymore."
Christy is now able to get away from the bathroom and resume some of her favorite activities. "I'm not running - I can't due to the pelvic injuries. But I can walk though, and I do almost daily, which is good for the rest of my health."
Christy also has a successful career and says she would not hesitate to recommend Urgent PC to others. "It's easy, it's painless, and it made a huge difference for me. I am more free to do things a normal girl would do. And it has controlled all the bladder spasms. I haven't felt like that in a few years which is a huge improvement."
Christy credits Urgent PC with helping her get control of her life back. "This is the first thing and the only thing that showed any difference whatsoever. It's been a lifesaver."
Thomas' Story - Improved Quality of Life for Husband and Wife
Thomas, 78, had the full spectrum of OAB symptoms - urgency, frequency and wetting accidents - for about 6 years. The thing that made Thomas seek out treatment was getting up more than twice a night to urinate.
His doctor began with RF Therapy but that didn't work. Next, he was prescribed 3 different medications, the last of which reduced some of his symptoms, but his doctor thought there was still room for improvement and prescribed Urgent PC. And, indeed Urgent PC has helped Thomas a lot. "I don't have to go the bathroom as frequently or as urgently," he says. Not only that, but Thomas' pad usage is way down. "Sometimes I am dry all day," he says. "I still have occasional leakage but it is much less."
Thomas' wife is also pleased with the improvements. She says, "I was always washing pants and underwear. We had pads on the couches. His problem is much improved and my cleaning and washing is much less."
Iradine's Story - This is a Miracle
This therapy has been like a miracle for me! It changed my life!!In the past, I would have uncontrollable urges to void that I couldn't manage. And it would happen suddenly - I wouldn't realize I needed to go and then I would void!
I tried numerous medications, controlled my fluid intake (even though I knew this wasn't the best thing to do), and saw several doctors. Nothing was making a difference.
I was unable to go on a trip because of these sudden urges to void and then my inability to control voiding. I was at a point where I slept with a towel next to me because I knew when the urge came during the night, I wouldn't make it to the bathroom before I voided. When I left the house, I had to take a change of clothes with me, carrying fresh underwear so I could throw away the wet underwear.
I was always tired because of the nighttime frequency, and associated voiding problems.
Then, I was referred to a physician who had been using nerve stimulation therapy to treat patients like me with voiding problems that drug therapy wasn't helping. I started getting more rest at night after about six treatments with this therapy, my nighttime urges were dramatically reduced.
My attitude toward life has greatly improved! For me, the single most important aspect of this therapy is that I'm now well rested. And, I feel free from the constant worry about accidents!
I'm a totally different person now. My family - even my doctor - comment that my personality changed after I started this therapy! For me, this therapy has really been a miracle.
My doctor found that for me, the best treatment for my overactive bladder is a combination of drug therapy - but at half the dose - with the stimulation therapy.
Other people with this same problem need to know about this therapy; for so many like me, that drugs weren't helping the problem, they need to know about this alternative.
Marty's story - A more meaningful life
Successful brain surgery in 2006 left Marty, then 50, with another problem: incontinence due to bladder overactivity. She would wake up from naps only to discover that she had wet herself. She couldn't ride in cars without worrying about ruining the upholstery. She avoided visiting friends because she might stain their couches. Every time she left her house, she worried about embarrassing herself. "I was wearing pull-ups and still making messes," she said. "I couldn't do anything."
Sometimes a slight need to urinate would escalate quickly and Marty would rush to the bathroom. Often she wouldn't make it in time. Because of her brain condition, her balance has been affected so she can't walk in a straight line and would sometimes fall. So getting to the bathroom in a hurry was often a dangerous undertaking.
Two bladder medications didn't work. A third medication provided some relief, but worsened her existing problem with constipation.
"After two years of complaining," Marty said, "my doctor referred me to the bladder control clinic" in her town. She received weekly Urgent ® PC treatments in conjunction with bladder medication. Within six weeks, she felt better and was able to stop taking the medication. After six more weekly treatments, Marty now receives a treatment once a month to maintain her results. She's moved from pull-ups to pads.
At home, Marty's able to nap worry-free. And when she wakes up, she can get to the bathroom in plenty of time. "I'll always have to go often, but now I have the ability to control it when it comes."
Marty gets out more too. She visits friends and family. And, she is able to go shopping when her children go along to help with her balance. "I live a lot better," she said. "My life is a lot more meaningful now that I'm not worried about making messes all the time."
Judith's story - Sister to Sister
Judith, 69, had experienced Overactive Bladder Symptoms for 15 years. When she decided it was time to get help, her doctor prescribed several different medications. While the drugs worked for a while, each time she saw her symptoms return. She heard about Urgent PC from her sister who had found the treatment helpful. "The fact that I wouldn't need to take pills, use creams or patches appealed to me," Judith says. "As I age, I don't like the idea of taking so many meds that can work against each other."
Judith says that Urgent PC treatment is easy. When she's receiving treatment, she feels the stimulation in different parts of her foot. "Sometimes it's a numbed feeling and other times a pulsing or vibrating or a simple, single twitch of a toe," she says.
Judith started to see changes after 2 weeks of Urgent PC treatment. And, after completing 12 weekly sessions, she's absolutely thrilled. "I went from urinating every 1-2 hours and 5 times a night to no need to urinate between 7:45 a.m. - 3:30 p.m." She's also happy that she doesn't have to change her clothes everyday as a result of an accident. "It really is a great treatment - easy and effective. I'm so happy that my bladder isn't running my life," she says.
Ann, a Continence Nurse, spent her whole life dealing with mixed incontinence resulting from a birth defect of her urethra. While multiple surgeries corrected her stress incontinence, she was still bothered by urgency, frequency and urge incontinence.
Ann tried pelvic floor rehabilitation and OAB drugs but neither gave her sufficient relief. A Nurse Practitioner Ann knew suggested Urgent PC. Ann gave it a try and was impressed by the results. "I have less urgency and frequency, especially at night," she said. "I can go out with confidence and not worry about having accidents and not have to urinate so often."
Ann describes PTNS as, "Very painless. I usually feel tingling in my toes and the bottom of my foot during treatment. It's a very comfortable and relaxing. I read during the treatments."
Ann has been able to maintain her symptom improvements during the past three years by receiving an Urgent PC treatment every 4 - 6 weeks.
Ann is such a believer in Urgent PC therapy that she regularly performs the procedure on her OAB patients who have failed other therapies. "I would recommend this treatment to all patients," she said."It is painless and effective. It is worth trying, especially if other treatments have failed."
Joyce's Story - Doubtful to Delighted
Joyce, 72, was very skeptical when her doctor first presented Urgent PC. She had exhausted all the OAB drugs available and surgery wasn't an option. So, she decided to give Urgent PC a try. Amazingly, Joyce began seeing improvements after her 1 st treatment. "I know this as I kept a weekly chart of pads and Depends used and whether they were wet or dry." After her early success, Joyce was hooked. Driving 150 miles for each of the 12 sessions didn't even deter her!
Joyce approached her treatments as relaxing downtime. "My preference was to recline on the examining table, lights out with classical music in the background," she says. "On occasion, I would feel the needle electrode being placed and you can feel the stimulation but the entire process is quite pleasant."
Since receiving treatment with Urgent PC, Joyce says, "Life is good! I can go places and do things without packing a bag of pads and Depends. I no longer need to watch for rest stops and to know where the bathrooms are in the stores." And, she's gone from taking three different incontinence medications to just one a day. But most of all, Joyce says. "I feel good about myself. This treatment has given me back my life!"
When asked if she would recommend Urgent PC, Joyce responds with an emphatic, "Yes, yes, yes!" And she has a message for people who may doubt whether Urgent PC can work them. She says that when she was presented the treatment, "It was in the back of my mind that the medicine show was coming to town." But now she admits, "I was so wrong. Don't be skeptical. I am proof that the treatment works. No longer will the incontinence rule your life. And, the return of your self-esteem will be a bonus."
Kathy's story - A better view
For nearly 15 years, Kathy, now 59, had a system to manage her urinary frequency and urinary urgency. The first thing she did when she went to a mall was locate the restrooms. Before being seated at a restaurant, she asked the waiter to point out the ladies room. On the long car ride from Michigan to Florida, where her daughter lives, she pulled off at almost every rest stop. During the night she woke up two or three times to go to the bathroom. This was the most disruptive and upsetting part of it all. Kathy couldn't remember the last time she had slept through the night.
Kathy thought her life would go on like this forever. It was a huge drain on her, her family, and friends, but she didn't know what else to do. Two different medications and Kegel exercises didn't alleviate her symptoms. She still went to the bathroom ten times during the workday. She still couldn't take her twin grandsons to the movies. "I couldn't leave them alone in the theater while I ran off to the bathroom," she said.
Then one day while reading the local newspaper she came across an article about an upcoming clinical trial for Urgent® PC and signed up right away. After receiving weekly Urgent® PC treatments for thirteen weeks, Kathy now receives a treatment every five weeks to maintain her results. The results have been "life-changing" and a "huge relief."
Within four weeks of beginning treatment, Kathy was taking fewer trips to the bathroom. Now she can watch a movie with her grandsons, uninterrupted. She can book a window seat on a flight without worrying about bothering her seatmate with frequent trips to the restroom. She can drive nonstop for three-and-a-half hours to visit family. She can golf without fear of wetting her pants."I don't know how it works. I just know that it does," she said about Urgent® PC.
Most important, Kathy is sleeping through the night for the first time in years. "This has been the biggest change," she said. "I don't get up once."
Ann's Story - It's not another medication …
In 2006, Ann, then 79, had enough of her urinary symptoms. Her frequent bathroom visits made her feel like a nuisance when she went out with family and friends. She was tired of rushing to the bathroom again and again and only voiding a small amount.
Ann's doctor referred her to a urologist in Ohio who determined that she had a "small capacity spastic bladder." He prescribed a series of drugs to treat her bladder overactivity. However, Ann could not tolerate the side-effects. She was also reluctant to add another drug to her litany of medications for diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.
Her urologist then presented Urgent PC as a non-drug method of treating her symptoms. Ann was eager to try it. After the initial series of treatments, the frequency and urgency of Ann's bathroom visits decreased to a comfortable level. She was able to maintain these results with periodic refresher treatments.
When Ann moved to Kentucky in 2007, she found another provider for her Urgent PC treatments. She is now able to maintain her symptom improvements with a treatment every eight weeks. "It is such a positive thing," said her daughter. "It's not another pill and it works; her symptoms are gone!" Now at 82 years old, Ann is still active without the bother of frequent bathroom visits or bathroom emergencies.
Ann is so thankful to have an effective drug-free option for her bladder symptoms that she's happy to tell the world about it. If you have bladder problems, Ann's got an Urgent PC brochure with your name on it.
Elaine's Story - My Secret Problem
My problem started five years ago. For two years, I tried to keep my secret. And, as a teacher, I couldn't just leave the classroom when I had an urge. When I did have the chance to go to the restroom, I would void before I made it to the toilet.
When my problem started to interfere furthe 
r with my lifestyle, I went to talk with my doctor, a General Practitioner. She referred me to a Urogynecologist.
When I walked in to the Urogynecologist's office, I was anxious, scared and nervous. I wanted the diagnosis to be stress incontinence, because I knew there are surgeries to cure this condition. What I heard, instead, was that I have overactive bladder, and that to fix it, one option was to have surgery to implant a nerve stimulator in my spine. This didn't appeal to me.
So I then tried a drug often prescribed for overactive bladder. However, the dosing schedule and side effects didn't fit with my lifestyle.
We then started me on a therapy to apply stimulation to the nerves controlling my bladder, but this stimulation product didn't require an implant in my spine. This product provides stimulation to a nerve near my ankle; the stimulation travels up the nerve to affect my bladder. We started me on a combination of the drug product plus this stimulation, then weaned me totally from the drug. When I can continue my maintenance therapy with the stimulator, I don't need extra help from the drugs. But, if travel interrupts my stimulation sessions, we've found that adding drug therapy during this time keeps me in control.
For me, the biggest change since starting this therapy is that I'm in control of my restroom trips and I no longer void before I make it to the restroom.
Sylvia's Story - My Life is Richer
I had been treated for about 19 years for bladder urgency. I actually would go every hour, hour and a half and sometimes more than that in an hour. I couldn't go anywhere without knowing where there was a bathroom. And I would always have to go to the bathroom before I left the house if I was going on any kind of trip or even to the mall. It even impacted when I went to a movie because if a movie was longer than 2 hours, I couldn't possibly make it through the entire movie. And, I was getting up every hour to two hours so I really wasn't sleeping
When my new urologist first told me about this procedure, I got a little nervous because I'm needle-phobic. I can't look at needles. I have a hard time with blood tests - I do them but I really struggle. After the first treatment, I was a little light-headed. During the second treatment, the needle needed repositioning and I got a little nervous as well. But after that, it was so beneficial that even when the needle needed repositioning, I could bear it.
PTNS is so worth it. It has changed my life, it really has; it's much richer.The benefits have been incredible. I sleep through the night which has been the biggest difference and I'm more refreshed during the day; I'm a different person. I still, out of habit, look for the bathrooms and where they are. But I know I don't need them. It reminds me of when I was shopping with my two daughters recently. And I said, "Does anyone have to go to the bathroom." And they looked at me and said, "No, but I know you do." And I said, "No, actually I don't."
The recommendation I would have for others if they were suffering, the way I did, is that they certainly give it a shot. It can change the quality of your life .
David's story - Urgent ® PC Works
David, age 73, had frequent and urgent urination for about 6 months. When a surgical procedure didn't work, his doctor suggested Urgent PC. After receiving treatments for 5 weeks, he saw an improvement in his symptoms. David says that the biggest change in his life is "no more diapers."
David describes the treatment as "painless" and wouldn't hesitate to recommend the treatment. "It works," he says. "Go ahead and take the treatments."
Joan's Story - Free to Do What You Want
As a result of two surgeries, I had some bladder problems that tended to get progressively worse -- basically leakage I wasn't able to control.
After a while it got to be more and more and more. It would be leakage all during the day as well as pretty much all during the night. During the night I would be sleeping fine but when I woke up I would have to go very, very fast to the bathroom. And where I live right now the bathroom is kind of far away. So many times I did not make it.
I started taking some medications but my problem was still not improving enough to be able to make my lifestyle and problem coordinate.
My urologist suggested a therapy that would help stimulate the nerves in my leg to be able to tell my bladder to work better. I saw a change in my symptoms very gradually. By the time I got to the end of the treatment there was a significant change. Sometimes I would sleep the whole night and not have to get up and go to the bathroom. And, no accidents!
For people who have my particular kind of problem of bladder control, I would like to encourage individuals to consider the possibility of PTNS because it gives you a chance to see how it works for you. And, you don't have to tie yourself to other types of treatments or perhaps lack of treatment. If you can have the relief I had, you can be free to do what you want to do when you want to do it. You can go back to your regular lifestyle.
Dee's Story - Finally the right treatment for her urinary urgency
Dee, 73, had urinary urgency for about 10 years. During that time, she underwent 3 bladder suspension (sling) surgeries but none of them worked. When she asked her doctor why, the response was that her pelvic floor muscles were too weak.
Urgent PC was presented to her by a urology nurse who urged her to give it a try. She completed her initial series of treatments in December 2011. Dee says that she began to see improvements after about 4 treatments. And while she still wears a pad all the time, she's pleased with the results. "I have gone from 6 - 8 pads per day to 2. Maybe 3 if I drink too much Starbucks coffee!" Plus, finding the bathroom is no longer the first things she does when she goes somewhere.
Dee urges people consider Urgent PC. "Try it." She says. "It won't hurt. It might help."
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