www.incontinentsupport.org

Well, i have decided with nurse approval and recommendation to go off VESIcare. Not only did it not keep me from leaking, it has caused diziness. Today it was dangerous, a dizzy spell struck me just as i was driving home. I really don't know what to do now, i dont know if medication can help me.

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"We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love" Mother Teresa

"THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!" - Captain Picard from Chain of Command, Part II

Check with your doc and see if there is another med that might work. I'm sure there must be a few more meds that are worth a try. What do you have to lose by trying?

Hi Sociologygeek---

Over the last several years I had trials of all (and I mean ALL) the meds, and even a trial of Interstim (surgically implanted sacral nerve stimulator). My experience with the meds was that they may have been partially successful in some cases, but always had a price to pay in side-effects. Dizzyness, headaches, stomach pain, nausea---always something. We even tried one enablex combined with one sanctura, but again, it wasn't more than 30% successful in reducing wetting, and was causing slowed cognition and poorer memory (something only recently talked about by doctors).

By all means, try anything---but always remember, it's a trial to see what happens, not a lifetime commitment to a med. Quality of life is the question, not only "do I still need to wear diapers?".

Good luck with the search,

Gimwet

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Gimwet

Gimwet,

In my case, i'm not sure what effect the VESIcare had. It may have helped some what.. but really, its irrelevant. It was causing me dizziness, which was quite dangerous. Any medication that makes me suddenly dizzy while driving is not a good one for me to take. And, i cannot give up driving. No way! especially with my parents leaving. Yet again, i put on a pair of undewear to see what would happen, and yet again, i got them wet. it wasnt a big wetting.. But they were still wet. Sigh. No matter what i do, take medication or dont take medication, use the bathroom in the morining or dont, i still end up getting a diaper wet. i suppose i could avoid wetting diapers if i go to the bathroom at the drop of a hat. but i dont want to do that.

Ug, im starting to get diaper rash.. this is when being incontinent and diapered is really starting to get to me.. before this, it didnt bother me as much.

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"We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love" Mother Teresa

"THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!" - Captain Picard from Chain of Command, Part II

There's already a topic titled diaper rash, but I thought I would make a few fast comments about it. I use A&D cream ANY time I start to get a rash. Anyone who is incontinent gets rashes sooner, or latter. NOT a good feeling. Make sure you use a lot of the cream before bed at night. Try to keep the diaper rash area as dry as possible day, and night. The rash shuldn't be to bad unless you also been soiling the diaper too. A wet and soiled diaper can cause a rash in a matter of a few hours......much long for just a wet diaper depending on your skin condition. The important thing here is to get the rash under control as fast as you can. I use the A&D every night just to prevent getting a rash and even then, I still get them sometimes. Good luck.

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"We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love" Mother Teresa

"THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!" - Captain Picard from Chain of Command, Part II

Hello again,

I understand what your saying. I was just making a comment that a soiled and wet diaper will cause a diaper rash much faster than just a wet diaper. As I have said before, not many people who are incontinent talk about not being a slave to the bathroom and use the diaper. It's just one of those areas that is really personal. I don't think it is being lazy at all. I know I feel much better about my bladder problem by not being concerned about making it to the bathroom on time or not. I really don't care about it any more and it does not bother me to use the diaper......I'm diaper dependent anyway.

I don't like these "new" incontinence drugs. It always seems that they either make the problem worse, or have bad side-effects. I've tried a few perscriptions throughout the years on my doctor's reccomendation... but I've found that I prefer diapers over feeling dehydrated, getting headaches, or being "zoned out" by the drugs. Seems there is a pill for everything now-a-days, but I'd rather keep as many chemicals out of my body as is possible.

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~~PuddleGuy

From what I have read, for many people meds can really make a difference depeing on the type and cause of the bladder problem. Like many, I've tried different meds and experienced side effects. If the med would have worked, I might have stayed with it even with the side effects. But when the med made little to no differnce that I could tell, plus having the side effects I gave up the med. From time to time, my doc still comes up with a med he wants me to try. The last med I tried was about a year ago, and it did nothing to help plus I had side effects.

Like anyone here, I would like to find a simple way to solve the problem and a med that worked would be better than GREAT! However, the root of my bladder problem is nerve damage and there is no pill that can solve that problem. The only thing a med can do is treat some of the symptoms (bladder contractions).

I've been incontinent of urine since 1986. I know my bladder is much smaller now and the muscles are very weak from lack of use over the years. It is very true that if you start out with a small problem and use your bladder muscles less and less over time what was a small problem will become a bigger problem (loss of bladder control) over time. I don't think there is a med that can reverse this process even if the underlying condition can be improved it would still be difficult to become continent again after so many years of being incontinent. As I've mentioned, my condition is nerve damage to the bladder and I am not going to be a slave to the bathroom. If meds will can improve you bladder condition and way of life....GREAT! .....but this does not work for everyone.

Hi ive stopped taking it for similar reason.was getting realy bad dry eyes even worse than normal? plus since stopping my eyes have improved so much and no longer have a mouth like the bottom of a baby pram? covered in pee&biscuits!
Plus didnt Think that it would have memeory effect? as was thinking i was going a bit more gaga with short term memory as of late more?
also think it was causing me eyes to be slow to respond to change etc.