Bladder Control

[terrifree]

I am a 48 yr old female who for the last several months has had problems with frequent urination and constant bladder pressure... I cannot even drink a small glass of water without having having to urinate immediately. Tests for bladder/urinary infections have come back negative, including urine cultures. I had a cystoscopy and it came back clear...I have no pain or burning when I urinate and no other pain in my abdomen and no leaking, so basically my urologist is treating me as though I have an overactive bladder even though I am not incontinent. She has prescribed enablex, which basically causes such bad dry mouth, that I am constantly thirsty which contributes to the problem and it has not worked after taking it for 3 months. I do not feel as though I have OAB because I have no leakage and no accidents...so I am totally perplexed on what could be causing my bladder pressure and frequent urination. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

[mik123]

Hi I am a 43 year old male with similar problem but I have urge continence with leakage I had a indwelling cather put in and that saved me from having to go to the bathroom. Latter I developed a reaction to having the catheter in my penis so they put a suprapubic catheter into my abdomen and now all is well. They wanted to put in a interstim stimulator in my back but I dont like the idea of having somthing thats electronic implanted into my back so I hope this helps you feel free to contact me if you wish.

[Susan C]

Hi Terri. I know exactly how you feel. I'm going through the same exact thing. I have to urinate every 30 minutes and I have bladder pressure - not pain, mostly pressure. I saw my urologist thinking it had to be a UTI, but an urinalysis and culture was negative. I then had a spiral pelvic CT scan which was clear except for a small ovarian cyst, but not in the area where I'm feeling the pressure. I don't have what you'd call pain, just a feeling of pressure. I no sooner urinate than I feel like I have to again. Azo Standard helps a lot, but when I stop taking it I get the symptoms again. The doctor had me try some Prosed and that helped, but again when I went off it I got the frequent urination and pressure again. Plus those meds give me such dry mouth. I'm wondering if this is a form of Interstitial Cystitis or just an overactive bladder, but it sure is uncomfortable. To make matters worse I've been trying to drink 64 ounces of water a day because I take fiber.

[christy719]

I have the same problem I am a 36 year old female, went to two different doctors, it all started after I did not urinate before sex, the only thing I show is a moderate level of micro hematuria. Had ct scan, cysto and ultrasound and everything is good. I am very grateful that it is but frustrated because the problem is still there. The doc gave me 15mg of Enablex I have been on for about a month I have had severe dry mouth that is managable and it does help with bladder contractions but have developed dry vagina to the point I don't know if I can take it any longer. OTC ky does not help and the GYN wont give me anything for it because of my age. Has anyone else experienced this side effects with Enablex? One doctor said it could be IC and the other that looked at my bladder in the scope says that is not it.

[bluesky]

I've got the same story. I'm 35 and at the start of April I was sure I had a UTI but it came back negative. I've had blood tests and urinalysis and an ultrasound of my pelvis to make sure that it wasn't fibroids pushing on my bladder and it all came back normal. It is irritating during the day, but my nights suck!- I get up to pee between 7-9 times a night. I've been on vesicare 10mg for 2 weeks. It gives me headaches but the doctor says I should still give it more time to work. I'm on a non-acidic IC diet. No fruit, coffee, alcohol, chocolate. I'm wondering if you have gotten any relief yet. Has anything helped decrease the feeling like you need to pee? this sucks. I also don't have leaking.

[mik123]

Hi

What you discribed is what I have but on a higher scale. I tried the drugs also with no effects so they ruled it a neurogenic bladder which means they do not know what is wrong with your bladder. Since the drugs did not work I wanted a catheter. So they gave me a indwelling catheter through my penis and it did wonders I could drink what I wanted when I wanted and not worrying where the nearest bathroom is located. Sounds nasty but it works,then I started having reactionto the cath in my penis and had to take it out and that is when they put in a suprapubic catheter and seems a lot better the only draw back is im prone for frequent infections but if you drink cranberry uice and plenty of water seems to minimize the infections. When you had your test done did the Dr. do a urodynamics test? This is where they test your bladder for how much you are retaining leakage, propper squeezing at the propper time. You may want to self cath yourself for now until they can see what is happening sounds like to me is your bladder is full all the time and when you drink water puts you over the threshold to go to the bathroom. Or it might be where there the bladder is too sensitive ( in my case) and causes you to go to the bathroom often. I dont leak either and I can hold it to a point then then the pressure and pain over takes my control so inturn I have to let it out or it will come out on its own. Oh one more thing, if the Dr. still cannot figure out what is going on with your bladder do not let them talk you into having a neuro stimulator (interstim) put in your back unless you are 100 percent comfortable with the idea because the Dr. tried to get me to have a stimulator put in and I said no! and if you talk to a neurologist he will also say do not have one put in in afect a couple of Drs.told me not to have one becaus if you have one you cannot have no MRI done or cat scans done becaus of the device in your back and it limits how much investigation they can do for you escpecially in the future if somthing else developes. Sorry for all the info I know it is a lot, but I want you to be informed of what to expect if or when you pursue your issue farther. Please feel free to contact me at my e-mail [moderator note: e-mail address has been removed] if you want to talk more, sorry if my gramar is not the greatest I was in a hurry.

Mike

[christy719]

what dosage of Enablex are you on? It does help for me but I have been doing bladder retraining also . Sounds like the same symptons as mine and my doctor (gyn) said that she thought it was IC. I do keep microscopic blood in my urine do you have that? Have you had any hairloss with enablex?

[mik123]

I am not on any medication for the bladder because none of them worked for me and gave terrible side effects. I just use the catheter now (I am not a big drug fan). I have no blood although if I were you I would definately keep an eye on your urine becaus you dont want it to turn cancerous. How is the training going? Also, are you emptying your bladder completely when you go to the bathroom? What does IC stand for? I cant think of the name.

[christy719]

As for the blood in the urine, I have had a cystoretrograde, and ct scan with dye and they say everything is ok. IC stands for Insterstitial Cystitis. Bladder training takes time but it seems to help along withthe enablex.

[mik123]

are you emptying your bladder all the way when you go? if youhave any other questions please feel free to contact me.