www.incontinentsupport.org

This is a question for those suffering from Refractory OAB (OAB that has not improved with behavior or medication). If you opted not to do Botox or Intersim, and decided to cope through management using pads/diapers did you continue with seeing a urologist?

I feel as though I am wasting my doctor’s time since I do not wish to pursue Botox or surgical solutions. Is there a point to continued yearly or 6 month appointments? My original 2 urologists seemed to think I should continue to see them during those intervals just to make sure things don’t get worse. I moved out of state from my first urologist and my second urologist left the medical group I see. So has my third, making the one I am seeing now my fourth in ten years.
It’s not that I have given up as much as accepted over 20 years time that this is my normal and have adapted to deal with it.

Were my first urologists correct that it is important to continue seeing a urologist or were they perhaps trying to pad their patient count for insurance reimbursement?

My medical tale is similar. The issue came to a head when my then urologist, tired of my complaining, put me under anesthesia, inserted a scope, and, when I woke up, told me that he had witnessed my bladder go into a "hissy fit," did not know what to do, and sent me on to a university urologist service, where I was given Botox injections, and, later, a sphincterotomy. The issue for me is that my bladder was threatening my kidneys, making the surgery necessary. If you can endure this long-range treatment, wonderful. However, if your OAB threatens reflux damage to your kidneys, something more drastic may become necessary. Good luck, and report back to inform us.