Urge incontinence

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Female urinary tract

Male urinary tract

Overactive bladder; Detrusor instability; Detrusor hyperreflexia; Irritable bladder; Spasmodic bladder; Unstable bladder; Incontinence - urge; Bladder spasms

The choice of treatment will depend on how severe the symptoms are, and how much they interfere with your lifestyle. There are three main treatment approaches for urge incontinence: medication, retraining, and surgery.

MEDICATION

If evidence of infection is found in a urine culture, your doctor will prescribe antibiotics.

Medications used to treat urge incontinence relax the involuntary bladder contractions and help improve bladder function. There are several types of medications that may be used alone or in combination:

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• Anticholinergic medicines help relax the muscles of the bladder. They include oxybutynin (Oxytrol, Ditropan), tolterodine (Detrol), darifenacin (Enablex), trospium (Sanctura), solifenacin (Vesicare)
• These are the most commonly used medications for urge incontinence and are available in a once-a-day formula that makes dosing easy and effective.
• The most common side effects of these medicines are dry mouth and constipation. The medications cannot be used by patients with narrow angle glaucoma.

Flavoxate (Urispas) is an antispasmodic drug. However, studies have shown that it is not always effective at controlling symptoms of urge incontinence.

Tricyclic antidepressants (imipramine, doxepin) have also been used to treat urge incontinence because of their ability to "paralyze" the bladder smooth muscle. Possible side effects include:

• Blurred vision
• Dizziness
• Dry mouth
• Fatigue
• Insomnia
• Nausea

DIET

Drink plenty of water:

• Drinking enough water will help keep odors away.
• Drinking more water may even help reduce leakage.

Some experts recommend controlling fluid intake in addition to other therapies for managing urge incontinence. The goal of this program is to distribute fluids throughout the course of the day, so the bladder does not need to handle a large volume of urine at one time.

Do not drink large quantities of fluids with meals. Limit your intake to less than 8 ounces at one time. Sip small amounts of fluids between meals. Stop drinking fluids approximately 2 hours before bedtime.