F is for fowlers
Fowlers patients use anything from supra-pubic catheters (mine pictured above) to urethral catheters, mitrofanoff channels or full urostomy stomas to empty their bladders as voiding is no longer possible.
First described and recognised in 1985, Fowlers syndrome is failure of the sphincter muscle (which keeps you continent) causing urinary retention typically occuring in women.
It’s a lifelong chronic condition. This rare condition occurs secondary to a trauma or another illness triggering the sphincter muscle to tighten to the point it cannot relax anymore. Typically, a woman with Fowlers Syndrome does not get a normal sensation to want to pass urine, they suffer with pain and discomfort associated with having a wee. Most women either self-catheterise (if you are able to, however this is rare for women with Fowlers), have a supra-pubic catheter (either long term or short term) or have had bladder augmentation (a Mitrofanoff, a Neo-bladder or a Urostomy).
I currently have a supra-pubic catheter that needs changing every 6-8 weeks.
With limited funding and research into this condition, there hasn’t been much up to date information published about it. I hope to change this by sharing my own personal experience.
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ion/national-hospital-neurology-and-neurosurgery/fowlers-syndrome
Written October 2019
