How Do You Sleep With Oab
Getting a Good Nights Sleep with OAB
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Botulinum Toxin A Injections
Botulinum toxin A can be injected into the sides of your bladder to treat urge incontinence and overactive bladder syndrome .
This medication can sometimes help relieve these problems by relaxing your bladder. This effect can last for several months and the injections can be repeated if they help.
Although the symptoms of incontinence may improve after the injections, you may find it difficult to fully empty your bladder. If this happens, you will need to be taught how to insert a catheter into your urethra to drain the urine from your bladder.
Botulinum toxin A is not currently licensed to treat urge incontinence or OAB, so you should be made aware of any risks before deciding to have the treatment. The long-term effects of this treatment are not yet known.
Bladder Leakage Solutions Treatments & Remedies
Just because you experience bladder control issues does not mean you must resign yourself to embarrassing accidents. Here are tips to prevent and protect yourself from bladder leaks:
1. Stay on a scheduleMake a drink scheduleThough it may be tempting to drastically limit fluid intake for fear of leaking urine, this is not advised. Donât limit fluids to the point of dehydration. Instead, drink prescribed amounts throughout the day in order to avoid overstressing your bladder with a large amount of fluid all at once.
Make a âgoâ scheduleKeeping your bladder empty will go a long way in reducing little bladder leaks throughout the day. Use the bathroom on a fixed schedule, say every two hours. Be sure to go whether or not you feel the need to. That way you can reduce your chances of a bladder leak if you find yourself laughing, coughing, or lifting with a full bladder.
2. Get movingLosing weight can help ease bladder leakage by removing one of its root causes â being overweight. Even a daily walk around the block to get moving can go a long way in shedding some extra pounds. Learn more about how obesity and diabetes can cause incontinence and bladder leakage.
If you want to find out more, read our complete guide on pelvic floor exercises.
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You Dont Have To Live With It Really You Really Really Dont
If you are leaking urine with sexual activity, definitely see a qualified healthcare provider who specializes in pelvic health to fully assess you and guide you towards the best treatment moving forward. This may be a pelvic floor physical therapist, urogynecologist, or your OBgyn. These doctors can listen to your unique story and determine what lifestyle changes and treatments you need to make long-term improvement in your quality of life.
Bladder And Bowel Incontinence
Incontinence is a loss of control of a person’s bowels or bladder which can cause accidental leakage of body fluids and waste. Incontinence can be more than a physical problem. It can disrupt your quality of life if its not managed well.
Fear, anxiety, and anger are common feelings for people dealing with incontinence. You may avoid being intimate or having sex because you are afraid of urine, gas, or stool leakage. Fear of having an accident may keep you from being physically active, enjoying hobbies, or spending extended time outside your home.
Anyone can have incontinence during and after surgery or some other treatments for cancer. Incontinence can also occur because of other non-cancer medical conditions. Be sure to talk to your health care team if you have difficulty controlling urination or bowels. Talking about incontinence can be embarrassing, but being open and honest with your health care team can help manage it.
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What Is Overactive Bladder Syndrome
Overactive bladder syndrome means that the bladder, which is a bag made of muscle, squeezes suddenly without you having control and when the bladder is not full. OAB syndrome is a common condition where no cause can be found for the repeated and uncontrolled bladder contractions.
Overactive bladder syndrome is more common in women than in men, so is included in our womens health information. However, this problem can affect men as well as women.
OAB syndrome is sometimes called detrusor instability or overactivity or an irritable bladder.
Can Urinary Incontinence Be Prevented Or Avoided
You may be able to prevent urinary incontinence by working to keep pelvic muscles strong. But even so, it doesnt guarantee that you will never have urinary incontinence.
There are also lifestyle changes you can make to help prevent urinary incontinence. You may find it helpful to make some changes in your diet. Alcohol, caffeine, foods high in acid , and spicy foods can irritate your bladder. Talk to your doctor if you think your diet may contribute to your incontinence.
Some people find that limiting how much they drink before bedtime helps reduce nighttime incontinence.
Losing weight if you are overweight can also help reduce incontinence.
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What Is Bladder Training
Bladder training is a way of learning to manage urinary incontinence. It is generally used for stress incontinence, urge incontinence, or a combination of the 2 types .
Bladder training can help in the following ways:
- Lengthen the amount of time between bathroom trips
- Increase the amount of urine your bladder can hold
- Improve your control over the urge to urinate
Some bladder training techniques are explained in Bladder Training for Urinary Incontinence.
How Is Urinary Incontinence Treated
You and your doctor or nurse will work together to create a treatment plan. You may start with steps you can take at home. If these steps do not improve your symptoms, your doctor or nurse may recommend other treatments depending on whether you have stress incontinence or urge incontinence or both.
Be patient as you work with your doctor or nurse on a treatment plan. It may take a month or longer for different treatments to begin working.
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Foods To Eat And Drink For Optimal Health
Dr. Fourcroy recommended tackling incontinence by making your diet as simple as possible.
Very often, I have my patients start off with Cream of Wheat and baby food and then add back little by little to see what causes problems, she said.
Since constipation can cause or exacerbate urinary incontinence, you should make sure youre getting enough fiber by filling your daily diet with the following foods:
- Noncitrus fruits
For most of these things you can do a little trial and error try certain elimination diets or eliminate certain fluids to see if theres a positive impact, says Benjamin M. Brucker, MD, a urologist at NYU Langone adding that its best to start with bland foods and slowly add things back.
There are a number of juices that are less irritating to your bladder than others, including apple, grape, cherry, and cranberry. These juices also help by making urine more acidic, preventing the spread of bacteria and controlling urine odor. But beware of additives in these drinks. A study published in March 2016 in the journal Research and Reports in Urology noted that artificial sweeteners can increase the likelihood of OAB. And remember to drink plenty of water, which is the best way to hydrate your body.
Overall, you should drink six to eight 8-ounce glasses of fluid every day. If you drink less, your urine might become concentrated and irritate your bladder. If you drink more, you might overtax your bladder and make matters worse.
There Are Different Types
If you experience incontinence when you sneeze, cough, or exercise, you may have stress incontinence, which is leakage from added pressure on the abdomen that pushes urine past the urethra.
If you stand up and are unable to hold off on emptying your bladder before you reach the bathroom, you may have urge incontinence, otherwise known as an overactive bladder.
Many women have a combination of stress and urge incontinence called mixed incontinence. And although less likely, some women experience overflow, a rare condition which causes frequent urinary leaks due to a constant full bladder.
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What Are The Causes Of Overactive Bladder
In many cases, the cause of OAB is not easily identifiable. OAB symptoms are more common as one gets older, but should not be considered an untreatable consequence of aging. Also, OAB can occur in young women as well. Some women will experience OAB after childbirth or pelvic surgery. Certain neurological conditions can cause OAB symptoms including multiple sclerosis, Parkinsons disease, stroke, and spinal cord injury.
Are Bladder Infections Common
Bladder infections are very common and can affect anyone, however they tend to be more prevalent in women . This is largely because the female urethra is shorter than the male urethra, therefore, bacteria can enter the bladder more easily.
Bladder infections are also more common in people who:
- Have kidney stones, or any condition that blocks the urinary tract
- Have difficulty emptying their bladder
- Have a weakened immune system
- Use a contraceptive diaphragm or spermicidal lubricants/condoms
- Use a urinary catheter
- Men with an enlarged prostate, as described above, and women have who been through the menopause can also be prone to bladder infections.
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Types Of Urinary Incontinence
There are different types of urinary incontinence, each with different causes and treatments:
Stress incontinence: Someone leaks small amounts of urine when they cough, sneeze, laugh or play sport. This happens because increased pressure inside the tummy presses down on the bladder.
Its more common in women around the time of childbirth or after menopause. It can also happen in people who have diabetes, a chronic cough , constipation or obesity.
Urge incontinence: The person suddenly and urgently needs to wee. This condition is sometimes called an unstable or overactive bladder. People with urge incontinence feel like their bladder is fuller than it actually is. They may need to wee very often, including during the night.
Urge incontinence often gets worse with age, and can be triggered by stress or by drinking caffeine in tea, coffee and fizzy drinks or alcohol. Its also linked to stroke, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and other health conditions that interfere in the messages sent between the bladder and the brain.
Incontinence associated with chronic retention: The bladder doesnt empty properly so it leaks small amounts of urine. This can happen due to a blockage in the urethra , an enlarged prostate, a prolapse, or damage to the nerves around the bladder or pelvic floor muscles.
The condition can be caused by some medicines and is also linked to diabetes, multiple sclerosis, stroke and Parkinson’s disease.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Incontinence
The main symptom of incontinence is a leakage of urine. This could be a constant dripping of urine or an occasional experience of leakage. If you have incontinence, you might have large amounts or small amounts of leaked urine. You might experience leakage for a wide variety of reasons often depending on the type of incontinence you have.
You might leak urine when you:
- Have an urge to urinate, but cant make it to the toilet on time.
- Have to get up in the middle of night to urinate .
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How Can You Prevent Leaking Urine
Urinary incontinence isn’t always preventable. But there are some things you can do to reduce your risk, including:
- Maintaining a healthy weight
- Avoiding bladder irritants, such as caffeine, alcohol, and acidic foods
- Trying to maintain regular bowel movements, as constipation can cause urinary incontinence
- Not smoking or, if you do smoke, quitting
If you are pregnant, schedule an assessment to evaluate pelvic floor health with your ob-gyn or midwife six weeks after having a baby, advises Sapienza. If you’ve already had your baby, it’s never too late to make that visit.
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If You Have A Leaky Bladder Issue
1 in 4 women over the age of 35 in the US have experienced incontinence. Is that an attention grabber or what?
Last week my friend and I were standing at the corner of 79th and First Avenue and she sneezed hard, and then she sneezed again.
Oh No! she sighed and smiled shyly at me.
What? I wonderedDid you pull a muscle?
No, I need to get another pair of underwear
Hmmmmm. Wow, that was some sneeze, I thought.
Does this happen a lot? I asked.
Yup, and Ive got to deal with itIm blaming it on those 3 kids of mine.
I laughed, but thought how lucky I am that I had only 2 kids, because I dont worry about sneezing.
Turns out the sneezes were the least of it.
It happens to her all the time and shes planning to see her Dr. about it. By the way she is only 52 years old.
Being, a writer, I get away with asking lots of questions about topics that are often off limits.
Upon further investigation, I learned that it turns out bladder leakage is a huge issue for women worldwide.
1 out of 3 women experiences stress urinary incontinence at some point in their lives, and around 40% of young women experience it when doing sports.
I thought it was an issue for 80 year olds but nope. So, I started surveying my people.
Heres a few questions I lined up about bladder leakage and was not only surprised by the response I got, but was amazed at how many women live with this issue.
There are two main types of urinary incontinence:
Stress incontinence
How Do You Know If Your Bladder Is Leaking
Having urinary incontinence means you pass urine unintentionally.
When and how this happens varies depending on the type of urinary incontinence you have.
Although you may feel embarrassed about seeking help, its a good idea to see your GP if you have any type of urinary incontinence.
Urinary incontinence is a common problem and seeing your GP can be the first step towards finding a way to effectively manage the problem.
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What You Can Do About Urinary Incontinence
Usually, urinary incontinence is a benign condition that can be addressed with a few specific therapies. You should definitely go see a doctor if the condition starts to affect your life in a negative way.
See a doctor if you start to avoid certain activities such as exercise classes or social engagements due to fear of leaking, Dr. Kirby recommends.
At your primary care doctor or OB-GYNs office, theyll likely suggest a few therapeutic options. First, if the incontinence is due to a mechanical problem , you might be sent to a physical therapist who can help you work on pelvic floor muscle strengthening.
Other methods of strengthening the support under the urethra include using a pessary or getting surgery to implant a sling that will support the urethra.
Urgency urinary incontinence is a bit more difficult to treat and may involve trips to a pelvic floor physical therapist to help retrain your bladder. Kirby says this condition can also be treated with medications that decrease bladder contractions and promote urine storage, or with procedures like bladder botox injections, nerve stimulation and sacral neuromodulation, which involves implanting a nerve stimulator next to the nerves that supply the bladder.
What Can You Do For An Overactive Bladder
Overactive bladder, or OAB, is a condition that causes a sudden urge to urinate, and affects both men and women. The urge may be difficult to stop, and overactive bladder may lead to the involuntary loss of urine, known as urge incontinence.
If you have overactive bladder, you may feel embarrassed, isolate yourself or limit your work and social life. The good news is that a brief evaluation can determine whether theres a specific cause for your overactive bladder symptoms.
Is an overactive bladder common?
Overactive bladder affects over 33 million Americans. Urge incontinence is the most prominent form of incontinence among women in the U.S., where 1 in 4 women over 18 experience episodes of leaking urine involuntary.
What causes an overactive bladder?
Pregnancy, childbirth and menopause all are major reasons of the increased prevalence of incontinence in women as compared to men. Normally, when your bladder is full of urine, the brain signals the bladder to empty. Your bladder muscles contract and force urine out of the bladder. When the bladder is not full, your bladder is relaxed.
With a healthy bladder, the brain signals that the bladder is getting full, but there is time to wait to go to the bathroom. With overactive bladder, there is no waiting. People often feel a sudden urge to urinate. This also can happen if the bladder is not full.
When is it important to talk to a health care provider?
What can you do to reduce your risk of overactive bladder?
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