Urge Incontinence

Post your incontinence questions here.

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Ali99
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2012 9:46 am
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by Ali99 on Tue Oct 13, 2020 10:15 am

Urge Incontinence

I suffer periodically with urge incontinence. There doesn't seem to be a pattern (although it only happens in the day) and I probably only have one episode a week where I have a sudden overbearing need to pee and making it to a bathroom in time can be very much hit or miss. I don't wake up in the night to use the bathroom, I am not overweight, I had a caesarian with my daughters (so not a natural birth) and I don't suffer with any leakage when exercising (which I do regularly). Is this just age related and something to be expected during this period in my life? (I am 52). If you can please kindly offer any advice that would be great.

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Mr Ased Ali
Posts: 24
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2019 12:48 pm
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by Mr Ased Ali on Wed Oct 14, 2020 10:31 pm

Re: Urge Incontinence

It sounds like you might have an overactive bladder with incontience. Filling in a bladder diary where you measure how much you drink and how much urine you pass on a few days may help clarify this. The good news is that it can be managed in a variety of ways including:
• Lifestyle Changes
• Medication
• Bladder Botox Treatment
• Sacral neuromodulation

Lifestyle changes
These would consist of:
• Limiting food and drinks that bother the bladder e.g. Coffee/caffeine, Tea, Alcohol, fizzy drinks/pop, some citrus fruits, and spicy foods.
• Keeping a bladder diary to show you things that make symptoms worse e.g. certain foods.
• Bladder training and delayed voiding. This is when you practice waiting before you go to the bathroom, even when you feel the need to go. At first, you wait just a few minutes. Gradually, you may be able to wait two to three hours at a time.

Medication:
There are two types of drug used: anti-muscarinics and beta-3 agonists. They can help stop your bladder from squeezing when it’s not full and relax the bladder muscle to increase the amount of urine your bladder can hold and empty. They are available in various forms including pills or a sticky transdermal patch to give you the drug through your skin.

Bladder Botox Treatment:
If lifestyle changes and medication aren’t working, Botox injections could be used. Botox works for the bladder by relaxing the muscle of the bladder wall to reduce urinary urgency and leakage from urge incontinence. It can help stop the bladder muscles from squeezing too much. The Botox is injected using a telescope into the bladder (cystoscope). This can usually be done in Out-patients with you awake and under local anaesthesia. The effects of Botox last up to six months. Repeat treatments will be necessary when symptoms return.

Sacral neuromodulation:
Another treatment is sends electrical pulses to stimulate the nerves that share the same path for the bladder. In overactive bladder, the nerve signals between the bladder and brain do not communicate as well as they should and so stimulating with electrical pulses helps improve the communication so the bladder can function properly and improve symptoms. In Sacral neuromodulation, pulses are sent to the sacral nerve using a pacemaker to control the signals to and reduce or stop overactive bladder symptoms. There is a two-step surgical process. The first step is to use a test wire stuck into the skin in your lower back. This wire is connected to a small pacemaker on a belt to test if the treatment helps you. If it helps, the second step is to implant a permanent pacemaker tucked inside your buttock that can regulate the nerve. Both steps are quick day-case procedures.

This is just a brief outline of the common options available. If you see a urologist, they will be able to give you much more information and guide you as to which is the best treatment option for you.
Mr Ased Ali
Consultant Urological Surgeon

http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/on ... ed_ali.php

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