Woman left unable to go to bathroom for 14 months no matter how much she drinks
A woman said she was at her "breaking point" when she was unable to urinate for 14 months.
Elle Adams, 30, woke up in October 2020 and was unable to go to the toilet no matter how much she drank.
It would be 14 months before being diagnosed with a rare condition which she says "completely changed" her life.
Elle went to A&E at St Thomas' Hospital, London, and after explaining her symptoms, doctors discovered she had one litre of urine in her bladder.
Women's bladders are usually able to hold up to 500ml and men's are usually able to hold 700ml.
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Elle Adams, 30, woke up one day in October 2020 unable to urinate (Elle Adams / SWNS)
Elle Adams in hospital (Elle Adams / SWNS)Doctors fitted her with an emergency catheter, which is a tube that's passed into the bladder to drain urine.
After visiting the urology centre a week later, Elle was taught how to self-catheter and was sent home.
In December 2021, Elle was finally diagnosed with Fowler's syndrome - an inability to pass water normally.
This means she will have to use a catheter for the rest of her life.
A picture of Elle in hospital (Elle Adams / SWNS)Elle Adams, a content creator, from East London, said: "I was extremely healthy. I had no other problems.
"I woke up one day and I wasn't able to wee. I was very concerned.
"I was at breaking point - my life had completely changed.
"I wasn't able to complete a simple task like going to the toilet."
Elle was "worried" when she woke up unable to wee.
Elle eventually underwent a urodynamics test - a procedure that looks at how well parts of the lower urinary tract work to store and release urine - at Guy's Hospital, London.
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Elle said: "I was told how I was likely suffering from Fowler's. I was talked through the treatment options which were minimal - we did try medication but it just made no difference.
"I only option for me was to undergo sacral nerve stimulation which acts as a pacemaker for the bladder."
Elle was unable to wee even though she felt like she needed to (Elle Adams / SWNS)
Doctors discovered Elle had one litre of urine in her bladder (Elle Adams / SWNS)Sacral nerve stimulation delivers gentle electrical impulses through a probe - a thin wire - that is placed near the sacral nerve.
Similar to a pacemaker but instead of stimulating someone's heartbeat it stimulates someone's bowel muscles, so they work normally.
Elle underwent an operation in January 2023, to have it done.
Elle said: "It is not life-changing, but it can help. I catheterise a lot less around 50 per cent less.
"It has made my life easier, after two years of hell it is all I can ask for.
"I am doing well, I am on the more well side of Fowler's.
"I am grateful for the difference, I am feeling better than I was.
"I couldn't have imagined how I was going on before, it was so draining, and it took up my life it was becoming hard to imagine that would have been the case forever.
"Now I can wee on my own, I have cut down my self-catheterisation a lot.
"It is still difficult, but it is much better than it was."
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