What are symptoms of an overactive bladder?

The symptoms of an overactive bladder include frequent urination, urgency of urination, and urge incontinence. Overactive bladder may cause significant social, psychological, occupational, domestic, physical, and sexual problems. Again, these symptoms should not be considered a normal part of aging.

You may be able to get to the toilet in time when you sense an urge to urinate and not suffer any leakage. Nonetheless, frequent and nighttime urination, as well as the need to suddenly "drop everything," can significantly disrupt your life.

Who gets overactive bladder?

The brief answer – lots of people! One estimate is that at least 2.9 million Canadians have an overactive bladder or suffer from incontinence. An overactive bladder is more common in women, and in older adults, but can be found in younger folks and in men. Unfortunately, many people who have symptoms of an overactive bladder suffer silently and needlessly because they do not seek medical help.

What causes overactive bladder syndrome?

The cause is not fully understood. The bladder muscle seems to become overactive and contract (squeeze) when you don't want it to.

Normally, the bladder muscle (detrusor) is relaxed as the bladder gradually fills up. Normally, as the bladder is gradually stretched, we get a feeling of wanting to pass urine when the bladder is about half full. Most people can hold on quite easily for some time after this initial feeling until a convenient time to go to the toilet.

Overactive Bladder Treatment

Bladder training. This is the most common OAB treatment that doesn’t involve medication. Bladder training helps change the way you use the bathroom. Instead of going whenever you feel the urge, you urinate at set times of the day, called scheduled voiding. You learn to control the urge to go by waiting -- for a few minutes at first, then gradually increasing to an hour or more between bathroom visits.

Medication

Drugs such as oxybutynin chloride (Ditropan XL®) and tolterodine (Detrusitol®, Detrol LA®) are taken orally, once a day, for overactive bladder. These medications are antimuscarinics, which affect the central nervous system and muscarinic receptors in smooth muscle.

Behavioral Therapy

Behavioral therapies are noninvasive, free of side effects, and don't limit further treatment options. These therapies include "retraining" the bladder and doing exercises called Kegels.

Bladder retraining helps the bladder to hold urine for longer periods of time. The individual is instructed to empty the bladder at scheduled times during the day, and then to gradually extend the time between bathroom trips.

Prevalence of Overactive Bladder:

OAB is a bothersome medical condition that affects more than 17 million men and women of all ages, although its incidence increases significantly with age. In the past, many experts believed that such voiding dysfunction symptoms as urgency and frequency were harmless and did not cause significant problems for individuals.

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