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 Post subject: lithium and incontinence
PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 9:45 am 
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turns out it's possible that might be the cause of mine, it might be a side effect of the medicine. so today i'm making an emergency appointment with my psychiatrist. but anyone else experience total incontinence as a side effect of a medicine?

i got one for wednesday at 2:30


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 9:15 pm 
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I take Lithium for Bipolar Disorder. My advice to you would be to call your pharmacist, find the manufacturer of the Lithium you take. Then call the drug company and inquire about incontinence in the FDA trials. I have complete incontinence. So I did the above and the drug manufacturer told me that the Lithium I take is linked to diarrhea, fecal urgency, and bladder and bowel incontinence. It is hard to find this data online. Webmd and google don't report it. You have to call the manufacturer. I have chronic diarrhea, OAB, and urge incontinence of the bladder and bowel. This is all related to Lithium. I have to take the Lithium though as it gives me the greatest stability. I have tried numerous drugs for Bipolar. None of them worked as well as Lithium. Maybe you will be different. Talk to your psychiatrist. I discussed my incon issues with my Pdoc, Gastroenterologist, Neurologist, and Urologist. They all feel my incon is related to Lithium. My Pdoc however says that I'm her only patient on Lithium complaining of these side effects. I know I'm not alone however. I know for a fact that Lithium is a very powerful medication.


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 10:08 pm 
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yeah i'm not 100 percent sure its caused by the lithium or something else, but its a start. my mom says its stressed and suggested hypnosis, everyone else says i'm too young to be incontinent that something else is going on. I just got approved for disablity for schizoaffective so i'll have money each month, not a ton but the fact because of my illness i can't work in a stressful enviroment until i'm more stable and all the jobs i can get are stressful, i was gonna get a part time job but my mom thinks that i won't be able to handle a part time job on top of everything else, i want a job, but i also don't want to end up in the hospital was there 3-4 times in the past year cuz things got to much and i wasn't working or in school.


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 28, 2016 5:36 pm 
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i know this is an old thread, but i am curious as to how this turned out.
im also on lithium, but my incontinence started before i started taking it.
im actually on all new meds since the incontinence started and lithium is the only med (in combination with thorazine and klonopin) that have worked. and i have literally been on everything.


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PostPosted: Sat Jul 30, 2016 10:29 pm 
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I never read this thread before, but I know that lithium is associated with incontinence. In particular, higher doses reduce the sensation of a full bladder.

I'm also fairly certain that Klonopin is known to cause bedwetting in a significant portion of patients.


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PostPosted: Sun Jul 31, 2016 6:37 pm 
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like don, lithium (and for me thorazine and klonopin) are the only things that work for me.
i dunno, i am hospitalized off my meds so i guess if incontinence is a side effect than ill take it....i guess....


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2016 12:30 pm 
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I have bipolar disorder type 1, GAD, AD/HD, and OCD. I take 900mg of lithium, lamictal, Intuniv, Wellbutrin, and Asenapine. And I have Ativan (PRN). But I never take it. My incontinence started from all my medical treatment. In order to treat my disorder(s), some of my meds have been titrated from very high doses. Unfortunately, what they don't tell you is these medicines have neuropathic problems in some people. I am one of those people. From all my treatment I developed an autonomic neuropathy. It affects my digestion, heart rate, blood pressure, and my bladder and bowel continence. My condition is very rare as I am told. But is possible. So my incontinence is neurogenic and I will probably be in diapers for the rest of my life. A little disheartening but considering I have been hospitalized about 15-20x (I lost count after about 12), I'd rather be in diapers than the hospital all the time. So I'll keep wearing them and taking my medicine and carry on.


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 20, 2016 5:11 pm 
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There is believed to be a link between lithium and urinary incontinence. A 1985 study in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry stated "Four (17%) of 23 consecutive female outpatients developed significant urinary or urgency incontinence when treated with lithium carbonate. The symptoms remitted or abated with the addition of oxybutynin (an anticholinergic drug), imipramine, or with decreased lithium dosing." Pharmacy Times and several online Pharmacy sites also associate Lithium with incontinence.

Definitely should discuss this with your physician. Then the issue will be relative priorities.

--John


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PostPosted: Sun Apr 19, 2020 10:22 am 
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I recently confided in my very good friend about my IC issues; it turns out he has some issues with daytime urgency/bedwetting that seem to be caused by his lithium. I do not know if it would cause total IC, but I do know that can be a side effect. If someone has a pre-existing issue with IC, that would seem to make sense though.


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PostPosted: Sun Apr 19, 2020 12:58 pm 
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Since this post I’ve since found out my incontinence isn’t caused by my use of lithium. It was definitely from my accident but we were looking at all angles. I’m still on the meds in fact.


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