www.incontinentsupport.org

Hi -- this is my first post here. Thanks!!

I'm trying to be somewhat terse here because I don't want to veer off into TMI territory. I'm a 31 year old male. I started taking Ditropan on Tuesday, 5 mg three times daily. By Friday night it was clear that the situation was not improved, and actually possibly a bit worse, so I stopped. All told, I was on the medication for three full days.

Here is what I was expecting/hoping to see happen: Previously, on bad days I would be going to the bathroom very frequently (every 15 - 20 minutes), and not much would come out each time. This isn't an "incomplete emptying" situation, it's just that I have a tiny bladder and my body makes a LOT of pee. So I was hoping that once the Ditropan started working, I would be seeing larger *amounts* come out, each time I went to the bathroom, as my bladder learned to hold more before sending the "full" signals to my brain.

So that's what I was hoping for. What actually happened, Wednesday through Friday, at work, was that I went to the bathroom just as frequently, and when I did go, I didn't notice that the amount in my bladder was any larger than before. And Friday evening I couldn't hold it through my evening commute (about a half hour).

I wear diapers a lot of the time (used to be all the time), but recently I've been trying to wean myself off of them while I'm at home or work (since at both of those places there's always a bathroom nearby). It's been an uncomfortable, frustrating process, and I was hoping that the Ditropan would help significantly. So far I'm not impressed!

What should I expect, going forward? Is this the kind of thing where I should just go back and ask for a different medication? Or a different dosage? What are my options?

I have another question, too, but it's going to take me more time to phrase it properly. So I'm starting with this one.

Thanks again!!!

Welcome to the ISC forum bcca, I wish I could give you advice about the meds, but I have not attempted that route on my journey, may in the future, but with all the non-success stories I read, and the side effects, which in most cases seem worse then the problem it is trying to treat, I doubt I will try any of them. Many members here with great advice, hope you find what you are looking for in that regard, may need to discuss with your doc/Uroogist as to what to try next, Puffy

I'd like to add my welcome to that of Puffy Pants, we are happy to have you on the Forum.

I have no experience with drugs so I cannot help you and I agree with what Puff posted.

I also hope others with drug experience will respond but you may have to be patient; this is a very busy time of the year for everyone and even our regulars don't get to check the site every day.

Welcome to the forum, BCCA. My wife uses Detrol for here overactive bladder and seems pleased with it. She has used it for many years. She doesn't have accidents, but it has helped on her number of trips to the restroom. In my first years of incontinence, I tried a couple of overactive bladder drugs. None of them helped. I believe my doctor just accepted my bladder was overactive to a point I could not control it or so little control it was not effective. That may be your case. But do look at one thing, though, give the drug a chance to work. It may take a week or two to get the drug in your system to be effective. Good luck!! ....Paul Martin

Bcca:

Glad to have you here but sorry it took incontinence to bring you.

First have you called your doctor?
That should be the first thing I would do.

I have an indwelling catheter in 24/7 and have for well over a year.
My problem is different from yours except I also make a lot of urine.
My problem is I cannot release it on command but I also have little to no feeling or sensation of the need to go. Something between feeling the need to go and trying to go the brain or the nerves are damaged but the bladder never gets the message to release and I over fill my bladder causing urine to back up into my kidneys.

But aside from my problems I have been on Ditropan for several years with no problems at all. This drug was giving to me by my urologist for bladder spasms. It helps me but it took several months before I could say it was doing its job.
All I can say talk to your doctor and stay on the medication unless your doctor changes it.
If you are having trouble with the medication most doctors have someone you can call for help. It is usually their PT nurse.

There are options you can try but people on here are against them but condom catheters with a leg bag or a McGuire male urinal with a leg bag. These can be hidden under clothing unlike diapers and they don’t cause skin brake down.
Not being a doctor I hate to mention this one but self cathing may help it worked for me for several years until my hands got so bad.

Best of luck and have a wonderful Christmas.
Lyle

Hi Bcca Nice to have you here Sorry I don't have any real encouraging words for you Other then to say "Well here we are again" Another person tries drugs and it fails Paul's wife is one of the few that I know of that has any luck with drugs. But then they have to work for some people Otherwise there would be no point in making them My experience with drugs was poor, bad, worse As many incontinent people find Diapers are often much better then the drugs. I have a good life I'm perfectly healthy I've got a normal active life style with the one exception that I have little to no bladder control But as long as there are adult diapers I'm good to go
.............................................Sandy

My experience with drugs is very similar to Sandy's. I saw countless specialists when I was younger and took heaven knows how many different pills. The results ranged from no change to actually making my condition worse. I recall one pill (can't remember the name now) that did improve my control some, but it gave me terrible dry mouth so I was drinking water all the time... well guess what water does. Big help that was.

I believe there are a number of us who have chosen to abandon medical treatment and invest in some good protection. Makes things a lot simpler IMO.

hello i have seen this situation a few times.

passing small amounts of urine can mean that you may be leaving amounts of urine in your bladder. it can also be caused by other things.

the only way to know for sure what is going on is to see your doctor and try and get some bladder scans then they can see if you are leaving residual behind.

i had this and my test shocked me i was leaving nearly 700ml.

in some situations it can make you poorly.

passing small amounts and going frequently is a sure sign that all is not well.

mike

Hello! Welcome, and i hope you can find a solution that works. In some respects your situation sounds like mine did. There were times when i was going to the bathroom frequently. But, i don't know if i would say if was every 20 minutes. But, thankfully my incontinence was resolved successfully, due to it being caused by a certian medicaiton i was taking (catapres) and the fact i wasnt relaxing my pelvic floor completly. I went through much of what you are now. I was initally told i had OAB or neurgenic bladder (which i don't, the tests prove that), was taking medications, going thru having to wear protection, going from pads to full-blown diapers within a year, trying the meds, Vesicare, Detrol..didnt do a thing.. VesiCARE actually caused me to be dizzy. Be careful when your on meds like that, it can make it dangerous to drive sometimes. If you haven't done so already, i recommend you ask your urologist to order a urodynamics test to see what exactly your bladder is doing. It actually might take a few of those tests to see what exactly is going on. But, usually the medication is the first step. Stick to the meds, because its important for the doc to know what your reaction long term is..if they dont do anything then they will try something else. I know well the feeling of having to go every 20 minutes.. ive posted frequently on this board, if you look in the archives i think you can see a lot of my struggles. Anyway, keep your chin up and charge forward.. and find good protection you feel comfortable with. My suggestion is you give Tena Ultra a try. I loved how they were cloth backed, so they were very discreet, and the velcro tabs made it easy to take off to use the toilet, and are good for moderate to heavy incon.. if your wetting is really heavy, you may want to try Tena Super, which i believe also has the refastenable tabs. Hope this info helps! Peace out!

Rob

Hi everyone -- wow, sorry to not have replied sooner. I really appreciated all the pointers. What happened last month was that I had the idea fixed in my head that the Ditropan would "fix everything", and when it didn't, there was too much else going on in my life to schedule another doctor appointment or anything else, so I basically just put off thinking about it for a while longer. I *can* put off this project to wean myself off diapers.

Lyle --

2lyle wrote:There are options you can try but people on here are against them but condom catheters with a leg bag or a McGuire male urinal with a leg bag. These can be hidden under clothing unlike diapers and they don’t cause skin brake down.

I tried a condom catheter in 2005. It kept getting kinked, which caused the pressure to back up, which caused the adhesive to weaken. And I really wasn't in love with the fact that one of my pants legs looked bulkier than the other, from the leg bag -- at least a diaper is symmetrical, left-to-right!

I tried to figure out how to use a McGuire male urinal even before that... 2004 maybe. I don't think I was doing it right. It seemed bulky and like it would make a huge bulge in my underwear, and not a natural-looking bulge. It was big and it didn't lie flat against my body -- it jutted out at a weird angle. Should I give them a second try? Is that something you've used?

I don't mind Foley catheters, but the reports of them causing bladder cancer scare me a bit. I'm in my early 30s, which seems too young to be doing that kind of risk-taking. And there's my dislike of leg bags, too. But that *is* an attractive idea. I've tried one brand that seems to leak out around the catheter, and a different brand (same French rating) that doesn't leak. I'm not sure what's going on there. How reliable are they? Do you end up randomly wet if the one you're using mysteriously leaks out around the sides?

Rob (and others) --

sociologygeek wrote:Anyway, keep your chin up and charge forward.. and find good protection you feel comfortable with.

Thanks...!! Diapers are a known technology for me, just... geez. I would like to be one of those guys who just doesn't have to worry about their bladder. I am insanely jealous of those guys who can wear normal underwear, drink all the liquids they want, and can put off going to the bathroom for hours and hours, without dribbling.

So... I kind of got fed up with the diapers. They're the safe route. But I want to sort of take all the bad, embarrassing bladder-related memories from my life and just say "enough."

I'm nervous about taking any test that requires you to have a full bladder when you arrive at the place. I'm not sure if I could do that, especially considering any waiting-room time. I'm also nervous about if I would be asked to hold a full bladder, with no diaper, during the test. When I need to pee, I need to pee RIGHT NOW.

I think what I need is almost an analgesic... I need the "full" sensations to come through less strongly. And I also need to figure out why my body makes AS MUCH urine as it does. My doctor seemed confused when I asked him that. He's not aware of any medical condition that would affect the *amount* of urine someone makes.

Sorry about rambling. And thank you guys, SO MUCH, for the supportive responses!!!