www.incontinentsupport.org

From 2008-2009, I was a mess. My whole life was like one big psychotic episode for around 2 years. It was just one after another rotating between mania and depression with repeat hospitalizations, sometimes back to back. I was first hospitalized in July 2008 for mania. It was there that I met a psychiatrist. I'll call him Dr. M. He was treating me for Bipolar Disorder with a mood stabilizer called depakote, an antidepressant called Lexapro, and an antipsychotic called Geodon. Dr. M could not control my episodes and they were increasing in severity. So he just kept increasing my medications. I was taking 1500mg of depakote, and 280 mg of Geodon. I don't remember how much Lexapro but it wasn't much. At 1500mg of depakote, I had ataxia. I could barely walk. The maximum recommended dose of Geodon was 160mg. I was taking 280. Geodon has been linked to bladder weakness. Before I met this guy, I was continent. After taking 280mg of Geodon, I became incontinent of bladder, and bowel continence ceased later. I was heavily over-medicated. My current pscyhiatrist said Dr. M could have killed me. I haven't seen him in 2 years and never want to see him again except in court. I believe this man is responsible for me losing my continence. I think he somehow damaged my central nervous system with his over-the limit medications. These are very powerful drugs that effect the brain. I am thinking about suing this guy for medical malpractice. The only problem is he is in Texas and I am in Florida. I wouldn't know how to begin.

Sorry to hear that a doctor did this to you.

I lost a relative due to her doctor prescribing two medications, one which was known to interact with the other and caused her to have a stroke. The doctor was asked why he gave her two drugs that cannot be taken together. His answer was that he was going through a divorce and he was distracted and didn't catch the error -- he admitted it.

If you are thinking of suing you need to talk to an attorney. There are statutes of limitations on medical malpractice suits, in some states they can be just two years. So if you are thinking of taking action you don't have much time to wait.

I suppose that it would be in your interest to get legal advice.... and you really should look at that option. The bigger thing to work on is how you are dealing with incontinence. That may never get fixed (and I hope for your sake it does) so living with it won't make it any easier long after the legal payoff. You need to get in the right frame of mind and live your life and you can. My incontinence is due to a lifting issue that happened going on three years ago. It happened at work but being the owner I can only blame myself for not following my own rules. Hence my own pity party was short lived. Any more incontinence is just part of my life. I use the timed changing method and it works just fine for me. I've been able to do everything I ever was with limited breaks throughout any given 24 hour period. I've got the products I use down to a science and I never have any problems. Anybody who has these problems learns over time the things they need to do to manage the problem. Hopefully the problems you have will somehow go away but keep your chin up. It always could be worse!

I don't think I could win a case because it is not concrete. I don't think any doctor can say 100% that my incontinence is caused by this one med. It probably is, but you cant say for sure. The doctors have said that my medications do cause my incontinence. However, which med caused it in the first place is unclear. And its been almost 3 years. And I don't have the money for a lawyer. Being its not concrete, and if I lost, I would have to pay the fees. I just don't have the money.

Don0417,
I do not let my incontinence hold me back. The VA provides me with quality free diapers every month. I am able to care for myself quite well. And the VA pays me a stipend every month for my incontinence being its service connected. So I get money and free diapers from the government. The incontinence doesn't really bother me too much anymore. I live very well and manage successfully.