Oxybutynin,Toviaz and Tamsulosin,Codeine......retention problems?

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Hi all,

Been on the prostate forum and had some amazing people help me out,very kind indeed.Thought i needed to start another thread relating to my issue.

I have mainly at night had what can only describe as a burning bladder and urge to void keeping me awake all night on some occasions Saw Urologist and first time said could be Painful Bladder Syndrome the next possible Prostate problems.Neither times did any real testing.

Few months back was tried on Toviaz and very slowly have realised my urinary stream was getting smaller so saw Doc who put me on Tamsulosin.After about 4 days the urine stream was back to normal but the doc then doubled my dose of Toviaz and within a couple of weeks the stream weakened again.I just thought "Well its one of those prostate things" but then ended up with my burning bladder problem being almost 24/7 so went to see local doc at a walk in clinic who put me on Oxybutynin.I said i was on Toviaz but she did not say anything and just gave me the prescription.Over the weekend i found it a struggle to urinate to the point monday ended up in A&E who scanned me and said i had 540ml retention and straight away catheterised me.I am now at home wearing a bag feeling very down about it.

I also have to admit that i have CFS/ME which ironically i find it hard to drift off to sleep.About three years ago i had some pains and used codeine approx 60mg a night which eased pains but also helped me drift off.For three years now i have taken 60-90mg every night which really i guess i have been taking it the wrong way and as of sunday stopped it for good.

I am just wondering if anyone had retention with Oxybutynin or Toviaz and how long it took to return to some normality.

Also been looking around to try to find out the effect of codeine on the bladder?Could this have added to the problem and if so is it possible once stopped that it would ease and is it a long or short process.

Thanks so much everyone for viewing,really appreciate peoples views and comments...and yes i was a total idiot reagarding codeine! :-(

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4 Replies

  • Posted

    Oxybutynin and Toviaz can certainly cause urinary retention. In fact, some people can't take this kind of medication at all because retention is a major side effect. And to add Oxybutynin on top of your current prescription of Toviaz is crazy. When my doctor upped my dosage of Vesicare (same type of OAB med), I got retention because the dose was just too high for me. So my dr had me discontinue all meds immediately for several days and it's out of your system pretty quickly, like within a day. I can now take Oxybutynin ER 10 mg with no problems but other overactive bladder meds and doses don't work well for me. If you are already cathed, you need to call your doctor and discontinue your meds until this issue subsides. Retention is so bad for you because the residual urine left in your bladder can lead to UTI or even worse, start to harm your kidneys.

    • Posted

      Hi Middle,

      Thanks for your kind message.How did the retention manifest itself with you?Was it just stream got very small or was it indeed not being able to go at all?I have to admit i am terrified about going back on thursday to hospital and still not being able to go at all.

    • Posted

      Oh and sorry forgot to say as soon as i was in hospital the doc stopped my meds apart from the Tamsulosin.This was a week ago today.
    • Posted

      For me, the retention manifested in always feeling like I had to pee even right after voiding and going frequently in small amounts. Well, those were both symptoms I was already having 24/7 at the time due to my overactive bladder so I didn't make the connection that the higher dose of meds could be making me pee/feel like I had to pee all the time. I didn't notice a weaker stream and I was able to go so I never thought of retention. When I went back to my urogynecologist and mentioned my symptoms and he did a bladder ultrasound (like they do on every visit anyways) to measure post void residual, I still had a ton of urine in my bladder, way more than normal. So he told me I was having retention and needed to stop all meds immediately. After all the meds cleared my system I was able to resume the Oxybutynin at my original dose without any issues so it was just too high of a dose for my bladder.

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