I haven’t peed in five years — now I’m forced to use tubes, and doctors are baffled

Kirstie Scothern, a 29-year-old mother of two from Nottingham, has been unable to urinate without a catheter since suddenly retaining urine in April 2021. Doctors have not found the cause despite investigations, and the condition has reshaped her work and daily life.

An ambulance took Scothern to Queen’s Medical Centre, where doctors drained 2.5 litres of urine from her bladder. She has since had CT scans and bladder tests, stopped migraine medication and tried Botox, without improvement; she now uses small tubes to empty her bladder every four hours and says the process can be painful and difficult.