over active bladder medications and RLS/WED

[SandraLee863]

Is anyone taking a medication for overactive bladder? I don't have that during the day...just at night. I read somewhere that Oxybutynin can affect the WED. I really need to take something though since getting up so many times during the night for the bathroom (plus feeling like I still have to go when I've just went) is taking it's toll on me. My WED hasn't been too bad lately and I sure don't want to take a medication that is going to make it worse.
Sandie

[Polar Bear]

Feeling like you still need to go, when you've just gone, is a symptom I had with cystitis. But that was daytime as well and with discomfort.

[ViewsAskew]

I have an overactive bladder and try to manage it with food and drink modifications and frequent potty stops. I do pretty well. I decided I didn't want one more medication, but if it gets worse, I'd consider it.

When I was at my new gynecologists a few months ago, she mentioned she could help without meds. I didn't ask what she meant and need to...they are a holistic group, with an Ayervidic practictioner, chiropractor, etc. So, not sure if she meant her or someone in the group.

I find I cannot have anything with acids in them - no soda, no citrus, no no bottled teas, no Margarita's, etc. Caffeine is next in terms of bothersomeness. So, I stick to water most times. And, that alone, solves 70% for me. But, I have no idea if that is typical or not.

And, if it's cold out and I come into where it's warm???? I better head for the bathroom as fast as I can. There is nothing to resolve that except moving!

[Chipmunk]

I have interstitial cystitis and a treatment for always feeling like you have to go is to put you under sedation and inflate your bladder a couple times. Relieves the symptoms for about six months although I have been able to keep mine at bay for years by avoiding artificial sweeteners.

[SandraLee863]

Thanks for all the thoughts. I'm now trying a bladder medication to see if it helps but if I notice a flair in the RLS I'll be off it in a flash. I'm going to see my GYN soon and have her check me out too. My problem is somewhat different from the usual overactive bladder in that my issues are mainly at night. I can go hours and hours during the day...but at night I have the sensation that I have to "go" even though I've just "gone." Very troublesome and affects my sleep.

[ViewsAskew]

Thanks for all the thoughts. I'm now trying a bladder medication to see if it helps but if I notice a flair in the RLS I'll be off it in a flash. I'm going to see my GYN soon and have her check me out too. My problem is somewhat different from the usual overactive bladder in that my issues are mainly at night. I can go hours and hours during the day...but at night I have the sensation that I have to "go" even though I've just "gone." Very troublesome and affects my sleep.

Sandra, I only have read about the urge incontinence and urgency components. I didn't realize that "nocturia" is a category all to itself. I looked that up, and found a reference to it and RLS together! Huh.

http://www.nafc.org/bladder-bowel-healt ... ia/#causes

No idea how accurate the above site is, but it's got adverts from Pfizer, so one would assume the description info is accurate even if the treatment may be a bit skewed (no idea it is, just that there is a possibility).

So, another search and here is a PubMed article linking nocturia to sleep disorders.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19912187

I didn't read this one, but it seems useful:
http://www.icsoffice.org/Abstracts/Publ ... 000149.pdf

The things I don't know....such a loooooong list, lol, and so little time .

[sleepdancer]

Don't know if this applies to you or not, but just in case, I'll mention two common contributors to this problem. 1) Fluid retention that flushes out once you get your legs up. 2) Sleep apnea. Before treating my sleep apnea with CPAP I got up to pee every few minutes. Since my treatment has been working well, I get up when my edema flushes out of my legs after 2-3 hours of sleep and that holds me till morning, so the apnea was a primary culprit with me.

[badnights]

In my reseach on PGAD, I found a study that noted a strong association among over-active bladder, RLS, and PGAD in a group of 18 women with PGAD.

PGAD is Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder and is probably the same thing as "RLS in the genitals", which is mentioned in some other things I've read.

So ya, there seems to be something going on with OBS and RLS.

[veldon7]

I have overactive bladder and cystitis. I have taken Oxybutinin in the past and I'm going back on it. It didn't bother my legs. It helped me sleep. I didn't take it for a long time, because I didn't want to add another med. to my list. But I have been going to bathroom alot lately the older I get my bladder is getting weaker. I do better when I cut back on caffiene. Urologist said to do pelvic squeezing excercises every day to firm up the bladder.

[Chipmunk]

Something they use to treat interstitial cystitis is to inflate your bladder to its capacity under general anesthesia. They think it overloads the nerves and "resets" them for a while so they don't send the urgency signals when nothing is in there. I would encourage you to talk to your urologist about the procedure. It really helped me.

[lsinrod]

I know this is an old discussion so my thoughts probably won't help you, but might help someone else reading this. I have nocturia and tried potassium citrate for my restless legs. It didn't help that but it did make my urine more alkaline and I found instead of having to get up every hour, I only had to get up 3-4 times during the night. Checking my pH with easily bought strips on Amazon, I found a pH of 7.0 worked.