Bladder Problems

[cindybubbles]

Actually, I will drink sips of water when I am thirsty. I figure that it takes two hours for everything to come out, so between the two hours before bed I only take small sips if needed.

As for the urination, I need to have an empty bladder before I leave the washroom, or at least the feeling of an empty bladder. Then I will be more relaxed when I DO leave. When the urge hits, and there's no bathroom available, I will fight it, however, and it goes away until I really need to go.

You see, I have an overactive bladder. The reason is unknown, but I suspect Benadryl. Just recently, I was taking 75 - 100mg of Benadryl a night for sleep. The urologist told me that my bladder was constantly contracting, so he doubled the Detrol dosage and (surprise!) I'm no longer taking Benadryl anymore. I found that 20mg of Melatonin and 2500mg of Tylenol taken over six hours did the trick for me. That's 500mg of Tylenol at 10pm with dinner, 1000mg at 12am after my bath and 1000mg at 4am before bed.

The problem with getting up to pee is that, no matter how quiet I am, it will wake my mother, and she will insist that I hurry up and go back to bed, making me more anxious, which is worse! And the way I tuck my sheets is that I tuck them underneath a very heavy mattress and I need to ensure that they are extra tight (don't ask me how I get in between them to get into bed, but I do).

So TLDR, I get 8mg of Detrol a day, 2500mg of Tylenol and 20mg of Melatonin to sleep, and no Benadryl or caffeine (which means no tea )

Sorry for the rant. I just need to vent.

[42_42_42]

Taking 2.5 g of Tylenol a day every day isn't really good for your liver or your kidneys. Why are you taking so much Tylenol? It isn't a sleep aid (it is a pain med and an anti-fever med).

Benadryl, as an antihistamine, does have urinary retention, dysuria, and frequency as side effects, so, yes, it was exacerbating your problem.

Detrol is a medication for the treatment of your overactive bladder. It doesn't help you sleep, except for the fact that your bladder isn't waking you up.

Are you on any other meds?

Try talking to your mother about her reaction to your nighttime bathroom usage. Explain to her that going once or twice a night is normal, that you are as quiet and as quick as possible and try not to wake her up, but that her urging you to get back to bed has a negative effect on you.

[cindybubbles]

She leaves me alone now. And I would rather have six hours of solid sleep than have to go once or twice a night. Without meds, I will be up ALL night. Even last year, I was taking just 750mg of Tylenol to help me sleep (it lowers my body temperature so I won't wake up hot).

Also the warnings on Detrol say that it may cause drowsiness, which is what I want. And Tylenol does help me to sleep, as with my anemia, I tend to get sick more often. This was even when I was clocking 7 to 8 hours of sleep last year.

[Rock Lobster]

You may have interstitial cystitis. It is where the cells that protect the wall of your bladder come off and the pee irritates your bladder. There is medication for that called Elmiron. Also, I have my urologist stick a tube in my bladder and pour liquid medicine in. This coats my bladder for a number of months till I have to go back for more. I also have trouble peeing due to my ovarian surgery where the butcher cut me from hip to hip cutting the muscles that control the bladder. When I pee I have to distract myself in some way so that my bladder will relax. I can also lean to the right and that tells my bladder I have to go. I also am incontinent at times when sneezing or coughing too hard but don't want the surgery for that.

Have you had the test done where the doctor sticks a camera inside your bladder and kidneys and looks at them on a screen? That is how I was diagnosed. He was able to see the spots where the cells were missing.

Has the doctor talked to you about diet? Things like tomatoes are bad for your bladder. He or she should be able to refer you to a list of offending foods.

I am not saying you have any of these conditions and always check with a medical professional first but thought this might give you some ideas as how to cope.

[cindybubbles]

No caffeine. No alcohol. And no tests done other than urine samples and ultrasounds already performed by other doctors. The urologist just read the reports and told me to double the dosage. If I can still pee, I'm fine, but I will need to see him again in 6 weeks.