IC Disease

Many times, doctors will recommend that female incontinence sufferers try Kegel exercises.  The purpose of Kegel exercises is to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles.  The pelvic floor muscles are used when we give birth, urinate, have sex, and have bowel movements.  There are many things that can cause the pelvic floor muscles to become weak, leading to incontinence.  Some of these are being overweight, childbirth, surgeries, and age.  Having a chronic illness like IC Disease can also lead to incontinence for some patients.

Performing Kegel Exercises

To perform the Kegel exercises, a woman needs to practice contracting the vagina.  In order for her to feel the contraction, she can use her fingers, specially designed exercisers, balls, or foam objects.  The overall goal with doing Kegel exercises is to regain vaginal tightness.

How a doctor treats overflow incontinence depends on the cause.  See Part 2 to read the causes of overflow incontinence. 

Removal

If the patient’s overflow incontinence is caused by a tumor or stones, the obstruction must be removed. 

Medications

Alpha-1-adrenergic blocking agents are used to treat overflow incontinence caused by prostatic hyperplasia. These types of medications relax the bladder muscle and help relieve symptoms.

An anticholinergic medication like oxybutynin chloride, brand name Ditropan, can be used to treat overflow incontinence that is caused by certain diseases that affect the nervous system (like multiple sclerosis).  This medicine helps to relax the bladder muscle.

Self-Catheterization

Intermittent self-catheterization can be done by patients (under the care of a physician) every 3 to 8 hours to treat overflow incontinence. Self-catheterization helps to keep the urine volume low. Patients must make sure they do this in a timely manner and not miss any self treatments. Drinking too many fluids can also cause more of a problem.

Yesterday, Part 1 covered what overflow incontinence is and what the symptoms are.   Today I’ll cover the causes of this form of incontinence.

The causes of overflow incontinence may include any of the following:

• Tumors or cancer.  Tumors can block the urethra and this in turn can cause overflow incontinence.
• Certain types of medication.  Some of the most common medications known to cause overflow incontinence are narcotics, sedatives, antidepressants, antipsychotics, anticholinergics, alpha-adrenergic agonists, and beta-adrenergic agonists.
• Scar tissue.
• Nerve damage to the bladder.  This type of nerve damage can be caused by surgery to the rectum and/or colon, spinal cord injuries, and pelvic fractures.  Nerve damage can also be caused by diseases like multiple sclerosis and diabetes.
• Benign prostate hyperplasia.  The prostate is located directly beneath the bladder and in front of the rectum. The upper portion of the urethra passes through the prostate, so when the gland becomes enlarged it may obstruct the passage of urine through the urethra.

I admit that overflow incontinence is a type of incontinence I had never heard of.  I knew about stress incontinence, urge incontinence, and a combination of the two but not overflow incontinence. 

Overflow incontinence is where patients don’t necessarily feel the need or urge to urinate.  Their bladder never empties and they are continuously leaking small amounts of urine.  Overflow incontinence is typically seen in elderly men who have problems with an enlarged prostate.  This form of incontinence is rarely ever seen in women.

Symptoms

Symptoms of overflow incontinence include:

• Bladder never feels empty
• Frequent urination at night
• Unable to urinate even when there’s an urge to go
• Urine leaks uncontrollably

Tomorrow Part 2 will discuss the causes of overflow incontinence.

For more posts about incontinence on this blog, please visit the link below.

Incontinence on IC Disease

There are people who suffer from daytime incontinence, people who suffer from nighttime incontinence and some who suffer from both.  But what sets daytime and nighttime incontinence apart are the causes and how they each are treated.

What typically causes incontinence during the day are stress incontinence, urge incontinence or a little of both.  Daytime incontinence can also be caused by surgical/medical procedures or UTIs. 

Nighttime incontinence is typically attributed to an overactive bladder during sleep, also known as nocturnal enuresis. At night, people may have a poor sleep pattern that is the primary cause of their frequency. It is also common for men who have prostate problems to have nighttime incontinence because they’re not able to completely empty their bladder.  This causes them to have more frequent trips to the bathroom.

Part 2 tomorrow will cover treatments for each type of incontinence.

As an incontinence sufferer myself, I have probably heard all of the myths and “wive tales” surrounding the condition and admit that  I have probably believed a few of these myself.  Here are the five most common myths surrounding incontinence.  After reading these myths, see if you have found yourself believing them also. 

Myth 1:  Incontinence is a normal part of aging. 

Incontinence is commonly found in older people but it is not a “normal” part of aging.  You will not develop incontinence just because you have gotten older.  Incontinence is caused by damage or disease.  There are almost 36 million Americans over the age of 65 and only one in five suffers from incontinence.

Myth 2: Incontinence is an incurable disease.

Incontinence is not considered a disease but a symptom of other health issues. The good news is incontinence is highly treatable. A patient has a greater probability of improvement if he or she sees a doctor when the problem starts and doesn’t let it go.

Myth 3: Staying healthy and active will prevent incontinence.

While a balanced diet and exercise are important to overall health and longevity, it’s no guarantee against the occurrence of bladder leakage. The factors that contribute to incontinence include obesity, pregnancy/delivery complications, smoking, pelvic surgery, bladder infections, certain prescription medications.

Myth 4: Everyone will be able to tell that I suffer from incontinence.

This was my main fear when I first wore Depends. I thought for sure everyone would know that I was wearing them because I thought they would show through my pants. But I was so wrong. You can’t tell because of the way the undergarments are made and I feel so much less stress and anxiety because I am always protected, especially now that I’m working. Today, disposable undergarments are made thinner, but provide greater absorbency so you don’t have to fear leakages.

Myth 5: Surgery is the only option for treating incontinence.

Thanks to advancements in medicine, there are some great prescription drugs that can help treat incontinence and are much less invasive than surgery. While there are some patients who only respond to surgery, it is usually used as a last resort of treatment. Exercises such as Kegel are also used to treat incontinence.

Above is a great and detailed video that explains female incontinence and pelvic floor disorders. The doctor featured in the video specializes in pelvic floor disorders. I felt prone to post something on incontinence because of something that happened to me at work yesterday.

It was extremely busy at work and I was there a little over two hours and I needed to go to the bathroom. I asked the boss if I could take my break so I could use the restroom (I made it known that I needed to go pretty badly) and I was told that I would have to wait five more minutes until the next person came in to work. I was okay with that because I knew I could wait five more minutes and I did wear Depends. Fifteen minutes later, I still was not sent for my restroom break and people were purchasing all kinds of items that really affect me and cause me to sneeze (the smells of the items). Whenever I sneezed, I urinated myself some and I was getting frantic. Even though I had the Depends on, I always have this fear of leakage and the smell.

We were still extremely busy but I knew I needed to get to the restroom ASAP. I once again asked if I could go and I was told that I could not go until she was able to get over to my register and take over for me. I finally was able to go but what a worry. I am really starting to rethink my getting a job. The next time this happens, I am just leaving the register. I’ll have to take the chance of getting into trouble.

Watch the video and let me know what you think! It includes lots of great information.

I try to read as many articles and research studies as I can on IC Disease and bladder problems and I found another article that I thought was worth mentioning.  This article from the Kalamazoo Gazette shares a female patient’s story with her own battle with Interstitial Cystitis and her trials of getting a proper diagnosis. 

What else I found interesting in the article is where it was mentioned that  approximately 25% of all women suffer from some sort of pelvic floor and/or bladder disorder.  These include IC Disease, prolapsed uterus, incontinence of the bladder and bowel, and recurrent bladder infections. Twenty-five percent - that is an alarming number of women who are out there suffering like I am.

That percentage increases as women age.  The article states that…

A recently released study by the National Institutes of Health indicates the prevalence of pelvic-floor disorders increases with age, affecting more than 40 percent of women from 60 to 79 years old and about 50 percent of women 80 and older.

It also increases with the number of times a woman has given birth.

There is a new book available for chronic pelvic pain patients by Amy Stein titled Heal Pelvic Pain: The Proven Stretching, Strengthening, and Nutrition Program for Relieving Pain, Incontinence,& I.B.S, and Other Symptoms Without Surgery .

This book has been highly recommended by the Interstitial Cystitis Network because it covers many topics that have not typically been written about for IC patients and chronic pelvic pain patients.

Physical therapist, Amy Stein, covers many of the needed topics surrounding pelvic pain in her new book, including:

• Pelvic floor dysfunction
• Pain during intercourse and intimacy
• Bladder pain

The book also provides exercises that patients can do to help relieve their pain and symptoms and:

I just read an article tonight that talks about how many people ignore symptoms of bladder trouble and that most people are not paying enough attention to what their bladder is telling them.  November is Bladder Health Month and urologists across the country want to make the public aware of many of the bladder problems people face:

Incontinence - More than 15 million people in the United States suffer from stress incontinence or urge incontinence.

Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) - Approximately 40% of women and 12% of men will suffer from at least one urinary tract infection sometime during their lives. 

Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS) - People who have an enlarged prostate can suffer from LUTS which causes frequent urination, the need to push or strain to initiate urination, nocturia and urgency.

Bladder Cancer - Approximately 53,000 Americans are diagnosed yearly with bladder cancer.  One symptom is blood in the urine along with frequent urination and pain with urination are also common symptoms of bladder cancer.

Bedwetting - Bedwetting may be caused by many several factors from age to neurological problems. 

Interstitial Cystitis - I was happy to read that IC Disease was included in this article.  To read more of the article, click HERE.