Overactive bladder (OAB) is a chronic condition with symptoms that can disrupt your normal activaities during the day and disrupt your sleep at night. It can lead to discomfort, depression, and emotional distress. While the condition is often treatable, finding the right treatment can take time.
See a healthcare provider if you experience any symptoms of an overactive bladder. Age-related OAB may develop gradually and slowly worsen over time. If your symptoms develop suddenly and you have heavy leakage, your OAB may be a symptom of another condition, such as an infection or a neurological issue.
Overactive bladder affects performance of daily activities and social function such as work, traveling, physical exercise, sleep and sexual function. If this condition is left untreated, it leads to impaired quality of life accompanied by emotional distress and depression.
Overactive bladder is caused by a malfunction of the detrusor muscle, which in turn can be cased by: Nerve damage caused by abdominal trauma, pelvic trauma or surgery. Bladder stones. Drug side effects.
The best OAB medications available are anticholinergics and beta-3 adrenergic agonists. Be sure to ask your healthcare provider if it's safe to take them with your other potential medications and health conditions.
Because the bladder can only hold so much fluid volume, increasing water intake will increase the frequency of urination, and may make people with an overactive bladder more likely to leak. If you have overactive bladder (OAB), more fluid intake typically equals more trips to the bathroom.
There's no cure for OAB, but the good news is that there are effective ways to manage it. These include behavioral treatments, lifestyle changes, medications, and sometimes surgery. OAB can happen for several reasons. Sometimes treating the underlying cause of your OAB can help your symptoms.
Your doctor will recommend that you restrict your fluid intake before going to bed. Stop drinking beverages a few hours before bedtime, but make sure you get enough fluids throughout the day. Other lifestyle changes that can help reduce and prevent nocturia include: avoiding beverages with caffeine and alcohol.
Stress, anxiety, and depression may actually contribute to OAB and urinary incontinence. In a study involving more than 16,000 women in Norway, having anxiety or depression symptoms at baseline was associated with a 1.5- to two-fold increase in the risk of developing urinary incontinence.
Our urologists treat patients with OAB with combinations of behavioral therapy, medication, and in severe cases, a therapy called Interstim, to treat overactive bladder. Another option is the injection of Botox into the bladder to relax and paralyze the overactive muscle.
"Overactive bladder and urinary incontinence worsen with age: New study suggests association between age and menopause status with increased urinary symptoms." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 December 2021.
Not only does OAB not go away on it's own, but the condition will likely get worse if left untreated. Over time, our muscles get weaker and the tissues of our pelvic floor grow thinner. If OAB is left untreated, it can become harder to control the urges, and leaks may be more frequent.
Urinalysis. Taking a urine sample allows your doctor to check for conditions that can cause overactive bladder. A urinalysis looks for the presence of these substances in the urine: Bacteria or white blood cells, which could indicate a urinary tract infection or inflammation.
Signs and Symptoms of Overactive Bladder
Sudden, urgent need to urinate. Difficulty holding in urine. Frequent urination (often eight times or more within 24 hours) Unintentional loss of urine with urgent need to urinate (urgency incontinence)
Magnesium. Magnesium is important for proper muscle and nerve function. Some doctors believe better magnesium levels can reduce bladder spasms, a common cause of incontinence. Magnesium levels can be checked through a blood test at your next doctor's visit.
Vitamin C found in foods.
A study done on vitamin c intake in 2060 women, aged 30-79 years of age found that high-dose intake of vitamin c and calcium were positively associated with urinary storage or incontinence, whereas vitamin C from foods and beverages were associated with decreased urinary urgency.
Pharmacologic agents including oral estrogens, alpha-blockers, sedative-hypnotics, antidepressants, antipsychotics, ACE inhibitors, loop diuretics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and calcium channel blockers have been implicated to some degree in the onset or exacerbation of urinary incontinence.
Urinate frequently: OAB may also cause people to go to the bathroom many times during the day. Experts say that " frequent urination " is when you have to go to the bathroom more than eight (8) times in 24 hours. Wake up at night to urinate: OAB can wake a person from sleep to go to the bathroom more than once a night.
The most common symptom is a sudden, uncontrolled need or urge to urinate. Some people will leak urine when they feel this urge. Another symptom is the need to pass urine many times during the day and night. OAB is basically the feeling that you've “gotta' go” to the bathroom urgently and too much.
The bladder antimuscarinics evaluated in this study were oxybutynin, solifenacin, tolterodine, propiverine, trospium, darifenacin, and fesoterodine. Patients using these medications exhibited a 2.46-fold increased risk of dementia compared to non-users (95%CI: 2.22–2.73) (15).
Can overactive bladder cause constipation? According to a 2016 study, some aspects of OAB can lead to constipation. For example, when experiencing urinary urgency, you might contract your urethra to hold in pee. This can prevent proper functioning of the anal sphincter, which is responsible for releasing stool.
These behaviors may be driven by anxiety and stress related to urinary urgency and incontinence episodes as well as ensuing distress and embarrassment. Prior research has linked anxiety and OAB: up to 40% of women and 30% of men with OAB also have generalized anxiety disorder.