gettingonabit
Is Overactive Bladder a symptom of the menopause? I've had this condition since I was 42 and although taking tablets, the condition hasn't really improved.
Will I have this for life?
Having an over active bladder means you suddenly need to wee, often when there is only a small amount of urine in the bladder, and find it very difficult to ‘hang-on’, which can lead to very embarrassing accidents. It's caused by the muscles in the wall of the bladder suddenly going into spasm, but why this happens isn’t known. It is a surprisingly common problem, affecting about 1 in 6 adults, and though it is more common in women, it can occur in men as
well. It can occur at any age – including in children, but it generally occurs more often in older people. Though it is not generally a symptoms of the menopause, some women do find it gets worse in their fifties, and the tissues in the genital area become thinner with the loss of oestrogen. It is usually treated with drugs that relax the bladder muscle, and several of these are available, including skin patches. They can cause side effects, such as a dry mouth and constipation, and their effectiveness varies between individuals, so if the tablets you are taking don’t seem to be helping, it is worth asking your GP if you could try something else.
Many people with an over active bladder get into the habit of going to the loo very frequently, in order to avoid having an accident, and unfortunately this can make the problem worse, as the bladder shrinks, and goes into spasm when holding even less urine. Bladder retraining exercises can help with this, where you learn to delay going to loo, and so gradually your bladder copes with more urine. You can start doing this yourself, but help from a specialised physiotherapist can be really useful (ask your GP for a referral ). You probably know this already but caffeine and alcohol ( especially gin, I am told!) can really irritate the bladder and make the problem worse – so avoid them as much as you can.