www.incontinentsupport.org

Hello once again, It was suggested that I let folks know how well the drugs work. There doesn't seem to be any success stories on the site so I'm going to try to log my experience with Oxybutynin/Detrol. From what I can tell Oxybutynin is fairly representative of the main group of Over Active Bladder drugs (anticholinergics). This group of prescription drugs seems to have a reputation of considerable side effects and less than stellar performance. I'll try to stay with this till Oxycontin fails for me or there turns out to be a success story.

Also, as I'm fairly committed to avoiding a surgical solution I'll update any changes to a different prescription. I hope this will help other folks considering a medication solution to OAB and Urge incontinence. During the day I experience OAB with Urge leakage and night time heavy incontinence. The night time issues may be due to complications with Bi Polar disorder though.

1/1/16 Started Oxybutynin

1/2/16 No noticeable change in symptoms or side effects

1/3/16 No Changes

1/4/16 Had a bout of dry mouth that lasted about 2hours. 3 hours after taking the drug. No change in OAB. I think I'm noticing my urge building up a tiny bit slower. It had been an almost instantaneous overwhelming event. Now the urge builds to the same overwhelming event over about a minute.

I hope you will have better luck with these medications than I did.

Ted here, day six; Had a little success story yesterday. I took a chance as I was in a BIG hurry and drove 40 miles to a store. I spent time finding what I needed, checked out and headed for home. I actually made it home without an accident. I haven't done that on this trip in a long time.

It felt like I was about to get the big URGE when I reached the store so I tried to focus on "I won't let it happen" and the feeling went away. When I got home though it was the "run for the border" if you know what I mean.

I celebrated with a couple cups of coffee and a lot of water. I was rewarded with the same old pee every 30/60 minutes. I've been installing a hardwood floor and I'm getting a harder workout that I usually do get. I've noticed that when I do heavier labor that the exercise seems to relieve the symptoms somewhat. So it's possible that it was the exercise and not the Oxy that was at work(???). Anyways, last night in bed was the same old story up every hour after an accident during heavy sleep. It's always the same. I fall into a deep sleep (possibly other med. related) and wake up 3 to 4 hours later wet. Then light sleep and a trip to the bathroom every hour.

As far as side effects, the only thing I've noticed is minor bouts of dry mouth a couple times a day. So far so good with side effects. The problem is I could get the same results by taking M&M candies. At least they taste good and don't cost near as much. I'll keep you guys posted Ted

May I ask, if you're wet after 3-4 hours of sleep, why do you bother getting up after that?

Hi MSU, I guess I just don't like being wet. There are times when I'm just too tired and give in and fall back to sleep. Ted

Hi All, Well, It's been another five days on the Oxybutynin. I'm starting to wonder if the stuff they gave me is really just sugar pills. Actually that's being a little hard on the drug. I've been taking it for well over a week and the benefits I see aren't all that great. A few days ago I thought I had a breakthrough. I was pretty optimistic when I went two hours without an URGE attack. So yesterday I was looking for a repeat of that success. I drove 45 minutes to the same place and went in the store. I wasn't there ten minutes and my old friend The URGE hit me. I lasted about two minutes and lost it. Fortunately I was still wearing as I didn't have much trust in the med yet. So, well over a week on the Oxybutynin 5ml a day and not much to show for it.

The side effects have been interesting. The classic "dry mouth" comes and goes. It doesn't cause any problems. A glass of water and a few minutes and it's gone. I've also had a few bouts of sleepiness. Not cool when you're driving. The one really odd side effect; The doctor warned me that if I had prostate issues that I could run into real trouble with not being able to urinate.
So, I was a little worried that being 61 I could run into trouble. What happened was just the opposite. Since I started taking, I've been able to pee over small buildings. HUH??? While this is convenient when home, it's not cool when you're out and about and the URGE hits. That makes the protection take a real test. I slept really well last night. The first time in ages. I'm hoping that the Oxy had something to do with that. The downside being unusually soggy when I woke up. ....I'll take the sleep though. Soap and water take care of the soggys....

I haven't given up though. I still have a bunch of pills. I'll at least see them thru. At the end of the prescription, I'm going to call the doctor and discuss the less than favorable results. There's the possibility of upping the dose. I'll also voice my concerns about the preliminary study I ran across linking anticholergenic medications to dementia.

I have read that people that take the drug go for a few months and get good results, can sometimes go off the drug and maintain their ability to stay dry. So, I'll keep on keepin on for a while yet. I'll keep posting as I explore the "pill" option.

Take care everyone, Ted

Best of luck, Ted.......I had no luck with the meds. Keep us posted!!

Hello everyone, I started taking the Oxy at nighttime. It seems that it's affecting me by making me sleepy. The first couple times I wrote it off as me. But since then I've seen a pretty consistent trend towards drowsiness in the afternoon and evening. I'm hoping taking at night solves this problem. Today I seem to be more alert. I'm still not seeing much of an improvement on the OAB/Urge symptoms. I'm still hoping for the best though.

I have not attempted any meds yet either, doc offered them, as they all seem to do, but I manage fine now without them, and I don't like them at all to begin with, so avoidance of any of them is a given for me, unless it's life threatening of course, and I have not encountered that , YET! I am the same at night, my sleep is very hit and miss, but I wear enough coverage to avoid getting up, and I personally would rather have the sleep then anything else. I did that for years, and it did me no good at all being a zombie sleep deprived person the next day, so I changed methods of attack! I hope you find success with them in some form or another, keep us updated! Puffy

_________________
Puffy
BC, Canada
Fighting the "Bladder Battle" since 1995

Hello All, it's been about a week and I thought I'd update on the Oxybutinin. Of all the drugs I've ever taken I don't think I've ever had one the has been less effective than this stuff. Neither the OAB or the urge symptoms have changed enough for me to notice. As far as side effects, there hasn't been too much to worry about. I've noticed some bouts of blurred vision, but they don't seem to last very long. I mainly bothers me when I'm reading. The Oxy definitely makes me drowsy and I have moved taking it to night time. This side effect has actually improved my sleep as I fall right back asleep if I wake. It has also improved my flow, which is really odd as it is supposed to cause retention problems I've got about another week to go of these 5mg tablets. When I'm about out I'll contact the doctor and see what he thinks. Seeing I'm tolerating the stuff pretty well I could probably double the dose to 10mg. Problem is though, zero improvement times two is still zero. I'm a little skeptical.

My other concern is a preliminary study released last June showing a link between anticholinergics (the whole group of OAB drugs) and a doubling of the rates of dementia in people my age (60s +). I don't quite know what to think about that study. So that said, I'm going to press the doctor pretty hard about the risk of taking Oxybutinin in a really hefty dose. The max dose recommended is 15mg

I really want to see the drug option thru to the end as I'm not too thrilled with the other options. I'm well aware now of timing my liquid intake to when I go out. Coffee is a real no no when I plan an outing. As everyone here knows, timing only works when you can live a rigid schedule. Even with that I get some surprises. Also, it seems there's no relationship between the foods that are known to irritate the bladder and my symptoms. I've played with that. Bladder training isn't gonna get it for me. The darn thing's got a mind of it's own. I was pretty optimistic about Oxy resolving my bladder issues. But after nearly a month in on it I'm starting to have some doubts.........Either way I'll continue posting this till there's a victory or a defeat. Ted