www.incontinentsupport.org

Many people here have incontinence because of things like MS, Diabetes, Nerve damage, or traumatic accidents. I have it supposedly because of my psych medication making me leak. I have urge incontinence from OAB, bedwetting, and urge fecal incontinence from frequent diarrhea associated with IBS. The IBS is unofficial too. My GI doc says that he thinks my lithium is causing me to have diarrhea. But my PCP has me down as having IBS. He gets all the results from my GI doc so I don't know. I feel alone because I talk to my doctors, including my psychiatrist, and they report that I'm their only patient with symptoms of incontinence because of their meds. I think I'm the only one that talks about it. There has to be more people than me. I posted a thread on a bipolar disorder website looking for people like me. I found no one that has incontinence to the extent that I have it. I only located a couple people that wet the bed for a short time due to a drug called seroquel. Seroquel is an antipscychotic that puts you to sleep pretty quick and pretty deeply. And its not as simple as changing my pscyh meds either. This current concoction is what has worked the best over the last 3 yrs. I have tried many different psych meds. None worked this well.

I feel like since I don't have one of the above illnesses that the reason I have incontinence isn't real. Its not like I want any of the above illnesses, I have enough to deal with. When I go to a new doc or see a new nurse and they ask why I have incontinence...I feel like because my psych meds make me leak isn't good enough. The incontinence is very real. It turns my life upside down at times. I just wish I had something more concrete. I need a firm answer. Maybe this new round of urodynamic testing will give me something more definitive. I just don't know what to think.

Hey Don, sorry to hear you feel this way, but hope that the next round of tests will give you some answers. Medications and their wonderful side effects can affect different people in a variety of ways, some will have certain side effects, and others will have totally different side effects. Psych meds can be ever more troublesome, and powerful then then average meds on the market, so I do feel for you that the docs wonder why you have incon issues, not too bright on their part for sure. Hang in there, the answer is out there somewhere, you just need to find the right medical person who has the drive to want to find it. Most would just rather push another pill at you and see their next patient, so it seems... Do you have people around you that you can talk to for support? Keep posting here as well, I find it does help to share with this group on the Forum, I am really glad I found it! Puffy

Puff,
I do have my wonderful wife to talk to and I also talk regularly with my therapist (Tdoc) and psychiatrist (Pdoc). I think they are good doctors and they genuinely care. This Pdoc got me stable. She found the right meds at the right level and I am not cycling anymore. My life has improved tremendously after meeting her.

My incontinence on the other hand has gotten steadily worse since the middle of 2008. I have been to 2 urologists so far. The first one did a complete urodynamics with a cystoscopy. The first urologist was the one that hypothesized that I had incon problems secondary to the depakote I was taking. I no longer take that med. And nothing abnormal was found on my tests. That was 2 yrs ago. I now have severe urge incontinence with bedwetting and occasional fecal incon like 2x a week because of what seems to be IBS. I'm hoping this new round of tests from the Naval Hospital will yield something new. I'm gonna stroke if they tell me nothing is abnormal. Something is definitely wrong. I wouldn't be wearing diapers if nothing was wrong.

Don, I can understand how you feel. I have diabetes with peripheral neuropathy yet my urologist says I'm on the far end of the bell curve. He's found several issues while doing the various tests, but continence is not something urologists understand very well, so incontinence is even more baffling. So don't worry about what Drs. think. Your Pdoc sounds like the real smart one. I'd keep her and keep shopping around until you are happy. After all, you are the customer, let your feet do the talking.

Don, I am 23 years old and I'm Bipolar as well, In the past 5 years I been on almost every psych med there is out, I have been in the psych hospital several times which isnt fun. In that time period I began having leaks which just got worse over the years. The meds I'm on now is Lithium, Zoloft, trilafon and restiral for sleep.

The med combination keeps my moods stable but caused me to have OAB and spasmodic bladder/bedwetting and IBS which causes me to have fecal incontinence do to diahrrea. I now have to wear diapers 24/7 it definetly sucks especially a person at my age but the bright side is the meds I take keep my moods stable which keeps me out of the psych hospital and if I had to pick the psych hospital or wear diapers I would pick the diapers because the hospital is not fun at all, and after all a diaper in a nutshell is just an absorbent peice of clothing that lets you go throught the day and gives you the freedom to do whatever you want instead of being locked up, unstable and bored out of your mind. Only thing that really bums me out is trying to find a girlfriend, that will be extremely difficult .
I have had the same experience s you with urologist/ GI doctors for the past couple of years and both of the doctors I go to think its do to my psych meds that I take. I just wanted to let you know Don you are not alone, I relate to you a lot and I feel like I'm in the same boat as you are.

Thanks Shyguy. I am glad I finally found someone out there that experiences the same side effects as me. I thought I was alone. My Gi doc doesnt think I have IBS. He thinks I have diarrhea because of the Lithium that I take. My Lithium level is like 0.7. So its not high. Its actually kind of low. Diarrhea is common with Lithium toxicity. Which I don't have. So I don't know.