Is overactive bladder serious?

It is actually very common to have an overactive bladder. This condition is very treatable, but it does require assistance from you and your doctor. Treatment for an overactive bladder can range from changing certain behaviors to medications to nerve stimulation (neuromodulation).

Should I worry about overactive bladder?

Although it's not uncommon among older adults, overactive bladder isn't a typical part of aging. It might not be easy to discuss your symptoms, but if they are distressing you or disrupting your life, talk to your doctor. Treatments are available that might help you.

What happens if overactive bladder is left untreated?

Overactive bladder affects performance of daily activities and social function such as work, traveling, physical exercise, sleep and sexual function. If this condition is left untreated, it leads to impaired quality of life accompanied by emotional distress and depression.

Is overactive bladder curable?

There's no cure for OAB, but the good news is that there are effective ways to manage it. These include behavioral treatments, lifestyle changes, medications, and sometimes surgery. OAB can happen for several reasons. Sometimes treating the underlying cause of your OAB can help your symptoms.

Is overactive bladder permanent?

More often than not, OAB is a chronic condition; it can get better, but it may not ever go away completely. To start with, doctors often recommend exercises such as Kegels to strengthen pelvic floor muscles and give you more control over your urine flow.

Overactive Bladder

Can you live a normal life with OAB?

Living with OAB

But the good news is that with proper treatment, you can take control of OAB and live a healthy, active life without worrying about OAB symptoms.

Why did I get OAB?

Common Causes of OAB

Obesity and being overweight. Neurological conditions that affect the brain and spine including diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, stroke, cerebral palsy and spinal cord injury. Bladder tumors, stones and infections. Certain medications such as diuretics, sedatives and ...

When should I worry about frequent urination?

Make an appointment with your doctor if you're urinating more frequently than usual and if: There's no apparent cause, such as drinking more total fluids, alcohol or caffeine. The problem disrupts your sleep or everyday activities.

Can your bladder repair itself?

The bladder is a master at self-repair. When damaged by infection or injury, the organ can mend itself quickly, calling upon specialized cells in its lining to repair tissue and restore a barrier against harmful materials concentrated in urine.

How do you fix OAB?

How do you know if something is wrong with your bladder?

Frequent need to urinate more than eight times during the day and more than two times at night. Sudden and urgent need to urinate. Pain or burning before, during or after urinating. Cloudy urine.

What are the four main symptoms of an overactive bladder?

Overactive bladder is a combination of symptoms that can cause you to need to urinate more frequently, have more urgency, experience incontinence (leakage) and a need to urinate at night. One or all of these symptoms can cause considerable stress and a negative impact on your quality of life.

Does OAB make you tired?

Fatigue. Nocturia is a common symptom of OAB. It's defined as the need to get out of bed two or more times at night to urinate. It can cause chronic fatigue and lack of energy that may worsen other OAB complications.

What does a urologist do for overactive bladder?

Treatment for Overactive Bladder

Our urologists treat patients with OAB with combinations of behavioral therapy, medication, and in severe cases, a therapy called Interstim, to treat overactive bladder. Another option is the injection of Botox into the bladder to relax and paralyze the overactive muscle.

When should I see a doctor for overactive bladder?

an urgent and uncontrollable need to urinate. frequent involuntary loss of urine. frequent urination (more than eight times in a 24-hour period) waking up more than once a night to use the bathroom (nocturia)

Can OAB start suddenly?

With OAB, you can't wait. You feel a sudden, urgent need to go. This can happen even if your bladder isn't full. If the nerve signals between your bladder and brain don't work properly, OAB can result.

Is urinating every 2 hours normal?

It's considered normal to have to urinate about six to eight times in a 24-hour period. If you're going more often than that, it could simply mean that you may be drinking too much fluid or consuming too much caffeine, which is a diuretic and flushes liquids out of the body.

What vitamins are good for your bladder?

Can you live without a bladder?

It can affect your body image, and you may worry about its impact on your relationships and sex life. With enough time, you should be able to do almost everything you did before. Even if you now use a urostomy bag (to collect your urine), you can go back to work, exercise, and swim.

Is it normal to pee 20 times a day?

Regularly urinating more than seven times per day may be normal for some people and may not be a sign of a health problem. But the National Institute of Aging suggests talking to your doctor if you regularly urinate eight or more times.

What can a doctor do for frequent urination?

Urologists work with both men and women to manage the symptoms of overactive bladder (OAB) and urinary incontinence. If it is OAB, lifestyle modifications, medications and surgical treatments can help get the symptoms under control.

Is it normal to pee every 30 minutes?

However, frequent urination can be linked to other health issues that aren't normal parts of life and don't fade over time. It can be a symptom of more serious conditions like diabetes, overactive bladder syndrome, UTIs or prostate problems. Needing to urinate frequently can even disturb your sleep.

Can anxiety cause overactive bladder?

Stress, anxiety, and depression may actually contribute to OAB and urinary incontinence. In a study involving more than 16,000 women in Norway, having anxiety or depression symptoms at baseline was associated with a 1.5- to two-fold increase in the risk of developing urinary incontinence.

Why do I feel like peeing after peeing?

Interstitial cystitis (IC)

With IC you also typically urinate small amounts and often feel like you still have to pee even after peeing. You may feel chronic pain or pressure in your pelvis and abdominal region, a symptom responsible for IC's other name: painful bladder syndrome (PBS).

How long does an overactive bladder last?

To sum up, optimal duration of OAB pharmacotherapy and efficacy sustenance have not yet been determined. Based on our survey and literature review, it is proposed that OAB patients can be treated for their symptoms for 6–12 months and persistence to the drug therapy should be encouraged.