Aging & Attitude
Overactive bladder is a scary phrase for someone my age. According to Dr. Paul Donohue, there are several ways to wet your pants. His daily column in the local News Journal Newspaper answered a reader’s concerns and the good news; you can retrain your bladder, and or take medicine.
Leakage or stress incontinence is the loss of urine that comes when swinging a golf club, laughing, and sneezing. Laughter and golf may not go well together. If you anticipate a good time golfing, tee up with pads, not knee, the other kind. Perhaps you have seen Whoopi Goldberg’s TV advertisements. Another option is to be a straight-faced golfer committed to not laughing.
Urge incontinence is the other overactive bladder condition. Early symptoms (in my non-medical opinion) are, fear that a bathroom is not readily available when needed, and using a bathroom when you do not really have to go resulting in bladder shrinkage.
Dr. Donohue states that the medicines Vesicaare, Enablex, Detrol, Ditropan, and Sanctura help control the urge resulting from bladder contractions. He suggests retraining the bladder by delaying going to the bathroom for five minutes for a full week and gradually increasing the time before “going” until you are “going” every two hours or more. This process may result in doing the pee-pee dance, but it does work.
He also recommends avoiding alcohol, carbonated beverages, milk, milk products, honey, sugar and artificial sweeteners during training periods. This man is no fun.
Dr. Donohue goes on to describe a more barbaric invasive procedure, called InterStim no one wants to talk about, although it does stimulate a nerve somewhere in the lower body.
Thank you Dr. Paul Donohue. It is comforting to know there are options. We can take medicine or give up wine, ice cream and going out to retrain our bladder. . . .just saying.
Hi Claudia,
I think I just wet myself reading your blog…!
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Somehow it doesn’t feel right to say thanks. I’ll sign you up for retraining….just saying
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Who knew you were such a comedian! Oh wait, Clara Bell! A clown is a comedian, so I guess it’s all in the name. Makes me think of our Moms saying “No more bathroom talk”. I don’t know about yours, but my mother would be horrified at the subject matter!
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I’m a real risk taking. Glad you enjoyed the piece. Thanks for commenting. Claudia…just saying
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You go girl. left me in stitches
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Sad to say this is all too familiar – why did no one tell us!!!
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Been there done that and worried about the bladder
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Had fun meeting you at the FWA conference. Now onward and upward with great blogging! Go, Claudia, go!
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Me too, thanks for the encouragement….just saying.
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I have the sudden urge to take a leak–thanks a lot!! 😉 Good article!
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Thanks for the encouragement.
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