Fail to postpone the
need to urinate, need to urinate more than 8 times per day, Leakage
of urine with urge to urinate and need to get up at least twice at
night to urinate?
You might be
suffering from “Overactive Bladder (OAB)” that comprises urinary
urgency, frequency, urge incontinence and nocturia (described above).
An overactive bladder is not an illness per say, but rather a term
used to describe the above 4 of urinary symptoms.
The first sensation
of bladder filling is experienced at a volume of 100 to 150 mL in an
adult, and the first desire to void is elicited when the bladder
becomes distended with 150 to 250 mL of urine. A person becomes
uncomfortably aware of a full bladder when the volume is 350 to 400
ml. An increase in volume to 700 mL creates pain and, often, loss of
control.
Overactive bladder
is a fairly common condition, which affects about 33 million
Americans. This equates to about 30 percent of all men and 40
percent of all women in the United States living with symptoms of an
overactive bladder.
It may be a
neurological problem or may be that the bladder muscles are
overactive to give rise to premature contraction of bladder.
Sometimes people
with OAB also have "urgency incontinence." This means that
urine leaks after they feel the sudden urge to go. This isn’t the
same as "stress urinary incontinence" or "SUI.”
Women with SUI leak urine while sneezing, laughing or doing other
physical activity.
Common conditions
that give rise to frequency, urgency, urge incontinence or nocturia
are;
For Women:
• UTI – urinary
tract infection
• Fibroids
(Myomas) – non-cancerous growths of the uterus
• Cystitis –
inflammation of the bladder
• Childbirth –
pelvic muscles can become out of sync after childbirth and contract
when they shouldn’t
• Idiopathic –
cause is unknown
For Men:
• UTI
• Enlarged
prostate
• Bladder Stones
• Bladder Cancer
Therefore, all these
serious conditions are to be rules out by your doctor, who may like
to order tests like;
- Post-void residual urine
- ultrasound scan of your bladder
- Measuring urine flow rate by uroflowmetry.
- Testing bladder pressure by Cystometry etc.
After investigations
to rule out a definite causes, diagnosis of OAB (Idiopathic) can be made, so to say
by method of exclusion.
Medications that
relax the bladder can be effective for relieving symptoms of
overactive bladder (Idiopathic) and reducing episodes of urge incontinence. These
drugs include:
Tolterodine
Oxybutynin
Oxybutynin as a
skin patch
Solifenacin
Darifenacin
Mirebegron
Common side effects
of most of these drugs include dry eyes and dry mouth, but drinking
water to quench thirst can aggravate symptoms of overactive bladder.
Constipation — another potential side effect — can decrease
bladder capacity, also aggravating symptoms. Extended-release forms
of these medications, including the skin patch or gel, may cause
fewer side effects.
Other treatment
options like surgery, injection of Botox and sacral nerve stimulation
are being talked about.
But, in most of the
cases reassurance, less intake of coffee & alcohol, avoiding
drinking of a lot of fluid after evening and some sedative for good
night's sleep may work without having to take the medications.
