Anti-depressants and incontinence

[Porkchop]

I was prescribed Amytripltlene by my PCP for my interstitial cystitis (not yet diagnosed) he said it had a secondary effect of causing urinary retention and maybe I wouldn't be peeing 25 times a day. Well, it worked ok for that, I was down to 15-17 times, however, I slept for 18 hours the first time I took it, and only slightly less the second time. It also made me impotent, as if there is a chance of impotence, I'm going to be the guy that has those problems. My wife and I only do it 2-3 times a month anyway and there aren't any re-do's if it doesn't work.......if it doesn't work, she's like, see you in a couple weeks......our sex life is fucking atrocious for 34 years old......I'm still raring to go and she couldn't be bothered usually. It makes me so angry......

I am so sorry brother, I can definitely relate! My problem in that regard is that the wife has some sort of issue where sex is often painful for her so it limits us. Her doctors just said use lube and brushed it off, but that wasn't it.

[MSUSpartan]

I also take an SSRI (citalopram). I would have said that I have no side effects, but it's just occurred to me. I wet the bed before I started taking it, about 50% of the time; but now I wet about 80% of the time, and the uptick seems to have been about the time I started the prescription.

[msshendo]

I find it very interesting that we are all talking about this. Common theme here I see is, drugs have side effects, (who knew!) and doctors don't seem to care. (who knew!)

I can't say that my incon started with drugs that is for sure. It does seem to be getting worse lately with the upping of my dossage. I'm not sure though.

[MightyChipmunk]

For more accurate information. It is better to look at drugs.com. They do list loss of bladder control as a Less common or rare side effect. I know the website mentioned earlier only identified 2 cases in the last year. Going off the medication should help. A lot of times one antidepressant will cause problems while another will not. Imprimine is an old school antidepressant that is now used for bladder control. If you are struggling with finding a good medicine. You can now do genetic testing to find the best match. Gene sight does in wa. It is covered by Medicaid and most insurances. It may help you ms something with less side effects. It will give info on antidepressants, adhd, antipsychotics (some mood stabilizers fall in this area) and pain meds. All it takes is a cotton swab.

[JakeJames]

When I went from 25mg to 50mg my Dr. warned me about the side effects of constipation and dry mouth but that was about it. She already knew of the incontinence I have been experiencing and since it was a pre-existing condition, I don't think she gave it much thought as a side effect.

msshendo, I can definitely relate to that one, the adult ADHD service first prescribed me fluoxetine in addition to my current meds and when I mentioned that my IC had gotten worse, she just said "oh well they do tend to do that sometimes." When I told her I had IC during my initial assessment and she asked me how I was dealing with it, I said that "I wear protective undergarments" and as I have been experiencing this ("suffering" just sounds negative to me!) for many years, I guess that she didn't think it would be a problem. Weird that, how a lot of GP's and continence nurses can be hell-bent on any and every treatment available, regardless of the potential implications. Good for those who can be helped, but not so great for those who are tired of embarrassing appointments, tests etc. The way I read the ADHD nurses feelings about it, it felt like she was thinking "well you already have the problem so how could it get any worse." I don't mind this so much as that is kind of how I feel about the situation, but I could be totally wrong. Having said that, when I told her about my IC for the first time, that was definitely something which confirmed her suspicions of me being ADHD.

PB&J32, I'm really sorry to hear that but it could always be worse. At the moment, my gf is out of pills so I just pleasure her and we're both happy with that. As long as you are both happy overall, that is more than a lot of people can ever hope for in this world, but I see how it can be frustrating.

MSUSpartan, apparently most of the SSRI's have similar potential side effects but where IC is concerned it is a low percentage. Here is a study I found about Citalopram and IC, but as far as the credibility of it goes, I can't confirm anything although it does appear to be one of the more reliable websites I've looked at for this kind of stuff: http://www.ehealthme.com/ds/citalopram+ ... continence

MightyChipmunk, thanks for the info. I've looked at drugs.com too, but I couldn't find anything on there that I couldn't find on ehealthme.com - now whilst I am not contesting which of the two sites is more accurate or trustworthy, I do like the fact that ehealthme has some figures. As rough as they may be, as we are such a small demographic, relatively speaking, I do think that there is some interesting statistics in there. Sure, they might not be the most accurate but I do believe they are taken from real reports which is always welcome information, as it brings me a bit closer to the real picture

Thanks for your replies everyone, I'm only new here and already hearing from lots of people in a similar situation to me

[PB&J32]

Thanks Porkchop and company for chiming in. Definitely makes me angry that our sex life sucks to begin with and then I get all these pills to be a Guinea pig for these doctors and it gives me all sorts of side effects including impotence. SSRI's are now known by me to be a strict "no-no". I'm off all meds right now and still experiencing all my problems. My wife is on my case to start taking the Wellbutrin I got off when I started the Amytriptlene as I guess they don't play nice together. I don't know if I want to go back on any meds.
Part of our problem is that I have a foley in much of the time I'm at home, that doesn't help my issue of trying to get intimate at home, but even when I don't have it in, she's still reluctant to do anything with me......I started keeping track and it's only been 2-3 times a month. I still have the drive to do it at least every day.......she just isn't into the sexual stuff, but she's otherwise a great wife, nurse, and mother.......