www.incontinentsupport.org

I went to a neuro last year before the incontinence started. I was tripping and falling a lot. They did an MRI of my brain and neck and checked my balance and told me there was nothing neurologically wrong with me and was sent on my way. Now, I have the incontinence thing going on. Started with bowels and now urine. In addition to tripping, I am having numbness in my feet and midsection. I am also dropping things a lot. When to the GI. Had bloodwork done- all normal. Had colonoscopy- normal. Had an anorectal manometry- I was told I had a very weak anal sphincter muscle and that my anal canal resting tone was virtually absent. Was told to do biofeedback and go back to Neuro. Bio-feedback starts Thursday and my appointment with (a different) neuro is next week. Anyone know what neurological causes could be? Is bio-feedback helpful? I thought maybe just go once to see what to do at home. Not sure if I want to continue with the scheduled appointments after that.
Thanks for listening.

LA,

First of all, welcome to the forum and thanks for your first post!

It sounds like you are already doing all you can trying to find out your problem. There probably are a number of conditions (Neurologically) that can cause your problems. I don't know anything about bio feedback, but maybe it will work.

Any other forum members out there who may know something? .....Paul Martin

I would certainly suggest something neurological as the possible cause. The numbness is highly suggestive of that. That the anal canal is more of less wihtout tone suggests something wrong with the lower motor neurons not the spinal cord and brain. However, the important thing is to get it checked again as what you describe is not normal in any sense.

Thank you for the welcome and your feedback. I started bio-feedback almost a month ago and have not seen any improvement. I was a little disappointed in that I was not able to see the screen during the session. The doctor only showed me at the very end the whole session. Not to mention, it is rather uncomfortable. I have a follow up with the GI tomorrow.

I saw a new Neurologist who is convinced something is wrong and is determined to find out what is going on. I am much happier with this one than the one I saw last year. I told him my symptoms and he noticed I had decreased sensation from the waist down and had an abnormal knee reflex. (It swings back and forth more than once). He was concerned about Cauda Equine Syndrome, so he send me directly to the ER and had an MRI done. I have now had MRI's from the head to the tail bone - no lesions. Blood work is all normal. I am going for an EMG in a few weeks.

It is a weird feeling, after every test I have, I pray it's normal but hope they find something (that can be treated) at the same time.

LA, did the Dr do an A1C blood test? That tells you the blood sugar levels over the last 3 months or so and whether you have diabetes. Any time you get numbness in your extremities, peripheral neuropathy is suspect. Neuropathy can cause incontinence too. I've been trying to convince Drs that any time they do a physical and do blood work, they should check the A1C box. Real simple and that one test tells you if you are diabetic or not. I've had incontinence issues for over 30 years and no Dr thought enough to check for diabetes until I was trying to get a new life insurance policy. They turned me down because I was an out of control diabetic. No kidding. I had no idea. I didn't connect the diabetes and incontinence until I started feeling tingling in my feet and hands. Upon going to neurologist, he indicated that my diabetic neuropathy was very advanced for a recent diabetic. He also asked if I had any urinary issues. He can't be certain, but he suspects that my early incontinence issues were probably diabetic related and I'd probably have reduced my symptoms if I had been treated over 30 years ago when the first symptoms occurred. So the end result, I don't have a favorable opinion of most Drs. I try to do my own research and work with my PPO to get the stuff I need.