DMSO Treatment @ Home

Several IC Friends have asked me if I do my own DMSO Treatments... so I decided to post about it. Leave a comment if you need me to clarify anything...

The BLUE Gloves... aren't mine. I just found this picture through a search and thought I would start out this post with it..... JUST FOR LAUGHS!!!! Hoping you found it as funny as I did!!!! Sorry if I scared you!

Directions for doing a "Treatment" at Home....

1. Lay out a clean towel.

2. Wash hands and put on gloves.

Assemble supplies on the towel:

3. Marcaine & Hepran, Syringe Needle (used to remove marcaine & hebran from their vile)

Sodium Cloride to Mix with the Marcaine & Hepran.

4. Cathetor

5. Lubrication Gel (I open the cathetor and lay it in the wrapper. I squirt some of this gel onto the tip of the cathetor that will be put into the urethra. This makes it less messy!)

6. 2 Cups - One cup to mix the Marcaine & Hepran in. One cup to catch the urine that will come out as the cathetor is inserted into the urethra.

7. Bladder Instillation Tool? (I call this the "Bladder Baster!" for FUN!)

Everything needs to be as steryl as possible.

Step by Step Directions for doing an Instillation

*** Empty your bladder FIRST****

1. Syringe the Marcaine, Hepran, and Sodium Cloride into one mixing cup.

2. Swirl to mix. (This is just 3/4 of an ounce)

3. Put the tip of the "Bladder Baster" into the Cup and pull the mixture into it.

4. Put a pea size amount of lidocaine onto the urethra. Wait about 60 seconds)

5. Insert the lubricated cathetor It only needs to go in about 1/4 to 1/2 the length of the cathetor- HAVE THE 2ND CUP READY to collect the urine that will drain from the bladder. Set the cup aside.

6. Attach the "Bladder Baster" filled with meds onto the cathetor.

7. Slowly push the medication mixture into the bladder through the cathetor.

8. Do NOT remove the "Bladder Baster"... holding the cathetor and the "Baster" all at once with a gentle and slow movement, pull the cathetor and "Baster" out.

YOU ARE DONE!

I rest for a while before I clean up! It seems like a lot of steps, but as you get "the hang of it" it will take you less and less time. It is actually quit exhausting at first, but don't give up!

A Word About Storage:

I have emptied a drawer in my dresser and that is where I store my supplies. I don't have little kids around... so if you DO... make sure where you store your supplies out of reach of small children. If I had young kids.... I would purchase a large make up bag and keep all my supplies in it.... and keep it way up high!!! This would be great to have if you ever needed to leave for longer than a week, and you needed to take your "treatment" with you.

Caring for Supplies:

I boil the collection and mixing cup and use them over and over again. I keep them in a clean gallon size baggie every time.

I boil the "Bladder Baster" and use it over and over again... keeping it steryal in a clean baggie everytime.

I boil the lidocane gel applicator and use it over and over again... keeping it steryal in the "Bladder Baster" baggie.
I use a new cathetor every time.
I also use a new syringe needle everytime.

I throw the viles away every time, as they are empty!

A Face Book Friend Messaged me the following information concerning DMSO Treatments. My URO calls this treatment: "Hepran Treatment."

Bladder Instillation
During a bladder instillation, also called a bladder wash or bath, the bladder is filled with a solution that is held for varying periods of time, averaging 10 to 15 minutes, before being emptied. My Uro askes me to hold this solution in for 1 hour, and no longer than 1 hour.

The only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for bladder instillation is dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO, brand name Rimso-50). DMSO treatment involves guiding a narrow tube called a catheter up the urethra into the bladder. A measured amount of DMSO is passed through the catheter into the bladder, where it is retained for about 15 minutes before being expelled. Treatments are given every week or two for 6 to 8 weeks and repeated as needed. Most people who respond to DMSO notice improvement 3 or 4 weeks after the first 6- to 8-week cycle of treatments. Highly motivated patients who are willing to catheterize themselves may, after consultation with their doctor, be able to have DMSO treatments at home. Self-administration is less expensive and more convenient than going to the doctor’s office.

Doctors think DMSO works in several ways. Because it passes into the bladder wall, it may reach tissue more effectively to reduce inflammation and block pain. It may also prevent muscle contractions that cause pain, frequency, and urgency.

A bothersome but relatively insignificant side effect of DMSO treatments is a garlic-like taste and odor on the breath and skin that may last up to 7 hours after treatment. (Note: I have NEVER had this happen... I've asked people around me, and they haven't noticed any garlic-like odor... and they would notice because they don't like garlic!!!!) Long-term treatment has caused cataracts in animal studies, but this side effect has not appeared in humans. Blood tests, including a complete blood count and kidney and liver function tests, should be done about every 6 months.