Confusing Urinary Incontinence - Please Help!
Posted , 4 users are following.
Hi everyone,
I really just need some outside advice. I am a 25 year old female - 5'3 and maybe 117 pounds. Since about October I have been having the WORST time trying to hold my bladder. I went to the doctor (just my regular doctor) multiple times and they immediately thought "you must have a UTI" but surprise! I don't have one. Lately it has started to get worse and a little over a month ago I decided to visit the Urologist. They took a test and I didn't have a UTI.. Once again. I went in and had a cystoscopy done which I was so terrified for! I don't want to get into the details but it was not a pleasant experience. Once they finally got into my bladder, they saw nothing wrong and sent me home with pills that ended up making me sick. Now I am trying to set up another appointment but they are so booked up I won't be able to get there until the 29th of May which I scheduled back in April.
I am starting to get really frustrated that they want to just send me away with pills hoping they work and not wanting to find out what's actually going on. I'm a young woman and I can't even go a day without peeing myself, it's absolutely terrible and makes me so self conscious.
I'm thinking it's possible I have type 1 diabetes which my aunt has but no one else in my family does. Is that something that I can inherit?
If someone could just give me some advice I would be SO grateful.
Thanks in advance.
0 likes, 11 replies
mary1280 scarletpaige
Posted
about diabetes yes you could have inherit it, but you should have other symptoms too, like be very thirsty, tired and lose weight. To give you advice and have an idea of what is going on we should know a little more about your incontinence, like how many times a day it happens, only in daytime or in the night too, what are you doing right before it happens, have you urgency always, occasionally or never, how big are the leaks (a pantyliner is enough or a normal pad, an incontinence overnight pad, a pull-ups...), do you feel burn, are you anxious, depression, pregnancy, big changes in your life lately....
scarletpaige mary1280
Posted
Hi Mary1280,
Thank you so much for your reply. I am not too bad with thirst, it's usually bad at night and I'm always tired but that could also be because my diet isn't that great. (Lots of fast food) I have not been losing weight. It happens mostly when I am sitting or laying down. I pee the bed probably every night almost and it can get hard at work to hold it because I'm sitting most of the time. On a good day, I usually change my pants or underwear from incontinence twice a day. I'm pretty sure it's urge incontinence just because one second I can feel like I'm going to pee my pants but if I get distracted it doesn't bother me as much.. It's very strange. The leaks can be as little as just a tiny bit or as big as half my bladder, it's super embarrassing. I bought some pantyliner's and they're okay. I do not feel a burn at all but I have been on medication for my anxiety for almost 12 years.
No big changes in my life at the moment.
The fact that I have anxiety makes it a little worse, I am so scared to eat sugar but I also don't know much about diabetes. I think I'm just psyching myself out.
mary1280 scarletpaige
Posted
Hi Scarletpaige,
from what you say it could be urge incontinence, like detrusor has frequent involuntarily contractions that causes leakages. So for all I know if this hyperactivity is there all day long the causes could be several, but if it happens only in specific situations it could be just due stress and anxiety (and you have to work only on this, no surgery, botox, incontinence pills,...). May be your pelvic floor and/or sphincter are a little weak too so in conjunction with detrusor hyperactivity you have incontinence accidents. I've mix incontinence, something like that, small leaks due weak bladder and occasional strong urgencies due hyperactive bladder. I mean urge incontinence/bladder hyperactivity happens regardless what you are doing, stress incontinence/weak bladder happens in specific situations like sitting or laying down, coughing, lifting weights,... so it could be a mix for you too and in this case the first thing you should do is just kegel exercises or anything to strengthen your pelvic floor. Did you have urodynamic test? It's very helpful to understand the cause.
Then check your anxiety medications, a typical side effects is just bladder problems, after 12years it could be the main cause.
IMHO it seems like mix incontinence where anxiety (and probably anxiety medications too) plays a big role.
You wrote pantyliners are okay for you, but sincerely if your leakages go from few drops to half your bladder and you have to change your pants or underwear twice a day, then pantyliners are totally not enough. If anxiety plays a role in your incontinence you just need to cut it or reduce it as much as you can. An incontinence pad with heavy or maximum absorbency could do it. There are good pull-ups too with higher absorbency than pads or even regular adult diapers that would give you total peace of mind about accidents in public. Don't understimate that, fear of accidents adds stress that favours accidents, a vicious circle.
About diabetes I don't know, just take its long boring test to rule it out as cause. I don't think you have it but I'm not a doctor and you just need the diabetes test to say that.
SassyKJ scarletpaige
Posted
Oh my friend I know exactly what you are going through. For me this started overnight and I have been to two urologists they have had me on 4 different medications of which the side effects are horrible. Tomorrow I an having the Interstim put in and honestly I am scared to death. I cannot live like this, it has taken over my entire life. I hate not being able to get fro one place to another let alone be able to go shopping. I am only 49 and I have never had an urinary issues until now. I was going to have the botox injections but I was afraid to have to self catheterize myself. I am sending you many prayers and I will let you know how my surgery goes. I too have had no negative results many times but I did have a serious uti which was a esbl infection. For me I think my infection wasnt taken seriously and I believe this has caused my bladder damage but I cant prove it I suppose. I just want the peeing to stop I can go sometimes every half hour. It has made me severely depressed so I know how you feel. Don't lose faith we will get through this together :-)
mary1280 SassyKJ
Posted
I'm sorry we are on this together. When my incontinence got a lot worse I were really depressed too. With the time, medical helps, trying to stay positive and finding a good way to manage it, I come back to my normal life. Just to say for sure we can find a solution or a way to still be happy. It's not the end of our world.
Good luck on your surgery tomorrow, I will keep my fingers crossed for you!
jane46811 SassyKJ
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scarletpaige SassyKJ
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SassyKJ jane46811
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jane46811 SassyKJ
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SassyKJ scarletpaige
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SassyKJ scarletpaige
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