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MEDICATION FOR OVERACTIVE BLADDER

Posted , 5 users are following.

jennie43338
jennie43338

Hi all, I am on the waiting list for a rectocele & cystocele repair. I am on medication for an overactive bladder for which there is no other treatment. I have tried various tablets & patches and they all leave me with a very dry mouth & very sore, dry eyes which weep all the time. I also do not feel well at the same time. I wonder if anyone has been prescribed a medicine that does not give these awful side effects.I honestly feel 10 years older when on them. Thanks.

0 likes, 41 replies

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  • Kegel8Stephanie
    Kegel8Stephanie jennie43338

    Posted

    Dear Jennie 

    I am sorry but these are common side effects of the medications. There are lots of women like you who end up thinking it is not worth the discomfort and stop taking the medications. You could try neuromuscular electrical stimulation for your OAB, it is very successful and you can use it home. I will also help strengthen your pelvic floor when you have your prolpase repair operations. If you don't have vaginal atrophy it could benefit you greatly.

    S

  • Jan999
    Jan999 jennie43338

    Posted

    What have you been prescribed jennie and then I may be able to help?
    • jennie43338
      jennie43338 Jan999

      Posted

      Sorry Matron,only just saw this message. I am on Oxybutynin 3.9mg transdermal patches as the tablet form had awful side effects. Unfortunately, so didthe patches, I was on the tablets for months beforeI saw the Consultant again & she said to try the patches. Up until last week I had been using them since January. I had to change the patches twice a week. Jennie.
  • Clementine55
    Clementine55 jennie43338

    Posted

    Hi Jennie

    I personslly wouldn't be taking those drugs. Did they not offer you Tvt op for your bladder ?

    • Jan999
      Jan999 Clementine55

      Posted

      worried jennie is waiting for surgery which will help her but what is wrong with this type of medication? It's taken by thousands of women who suffer overactive bladder, some who for whatever reason can't or don't want surgery.
    • jennie43338
      jennie43338 Clementine55

      Posted

      Hi Worried. Apparently TVT op does not help with an overactive bladder, the only thing for it is medication. My consultant told me TVT is for stress incontinence & could make my symptoms worse. Thanks for replying.
    • Jan999
      Jan999 Clementine55

      Posted

      Dry mouth? They don't all give you a dry mouth which is why I asked which medication she'd been prescribed.
    • jennie43338
      jennie43338 Jan999

      Posted

      Hi Matron, according to my Consultant the surgery I am waiting for will not help with an overactive bladder and I need to be on medication for life but as I said the side effects are so bad that I cannot face being on them. I was put on a new medicine recommended by my Chemist but both my GP & Consultant did not want me to stay on it as it is so expensive for the NHS.
    • Clementine55
      Clementine55 jennie43338

      Posted

      Jennie

      Sorry you have this, have you tried giving up caffeine ? I gave it up after my Tvt op with significant results. Just a thought.

      Did the docs say what causes your over active bladder?

      Have you seen Michelle Kenway on YouTube ?

    • Jan999
      Jan999 jennie43338

      Posted

      You're consultant is right regarding TVT surgery. There are misconceptions about just what that operation can do.
    • Jan999
      Jan999 jennie43338

      Posted

      That's sad that something that is expensive not prescribed readily. Sometimes a drug becomes a generic drug once it's been produced for a few years. Then it is much cheaper. 
    • jennie43338
      jennie43338 Clementine55

      Posted

      Hi worried, yes I gave up caffeine many months ago. Thanks for the suggestion though. I believe it is the muscles of the bladder that are overactive. I haven't had an explanation just a diagnosis. I don't have stress incontinence which is annoying really as that can be helped by an op. The Consultant is going to look in my bladder when I am under the knife to see if I have a stone in it. However, I have had a 'weak'bladder since I was a child so maybe there is nothing to be done. : ( I haven't seen Michelle Kenway on You Tube, I will look now. Thank you.
    • Kegel8Stephanie
      Kegel8Stephanie Clementine55

      Posted

      You are right worried, caffeine is such an irritant so too is alcohol. Lots of women have 'accidents' after a glass of wine, not being able to reach the loo in time, its all connected. Cranberry extract tablets can help calm a bladder too - anything natural is worth a try to get some relief. Good luck for your op Jennie.
    • Jan999
      Jan999 Kegel8Stephanie

      Posted

      Cranberry is not recommended in the UK for an overactive bladder following some research that was undertaken. The research did come to the conclusion that it may prevent UTI. It was something I always recommended and used to take cranberry tablets myself although they never had any effect.
    • jennie43338
      jennie43338 Clementine55

      Posted

      I became fed up with the GP telling me how much I was costing the NHS and then the new Consuktant agreed with her about the expense & rapidly moved me back on to the family of drugs which caused my awful side effects. She quoted 'better a dry mouth & dry knickers' but I couldlive with the dry mouth it was all the other side effects!
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