Whether 'tis nobler to suffer the leaks & drips of an overactive bladder

July 2, 2024 4:06 PM

A video lecture: "To pee or not to pee." The problem is clinicians don’t ask about urinary incontinence. It’s under recognized, under diagnosed, under treated, under discussed, understudied despite the fact it affects close to half of older women and about a third of older men. FAQ for an overactive bladder.

More from the Geripal podcast transcript:

I’ve seen many cases where patients come in and they’re basically homebound, and then you see that, you know, they shouldn’t be homebound. Their mobility isn’t that bad. And then you realize the reason they’re homebound is because, you know, they have urgency or urge incontinence, literally every hour, every half hour...

Dr. Jen Gunter on menopause and incontinence and how best to clean your vulva if you have incontinence.

More on urology.

posted by spamandkimchi (16 comments total)

One of the main symptoms of magnesium deficiency is over active bladder, many adults in the US are deficient.
posted by bannana at 4:19 PM on July 2

My friend is a sonographer, and some of the interesting work she's been doing lately is scanning bladders, telling people they've only got a teaspoon or so in there and they can definitely hold, and in holding build up a tolerance to hold larger amounts for longer.
posted by freethefeet at 6:50 PM on July 2 [5 favorites]

The gerontocracy approves.
posted by y2karl at 8:04 PM on July 2 [1 favorite]

Overactive Bladder Syndrome, pelvic floor dysfunction, benign prostatic hyperplasia—a perfect storm of discomfort. Physical therapy can help with some of it, but retraining the bladder, odd as it may sound, really is both necessary and useful.
posted by the sobsister at 9:37 PM on July 2 [1 favorite]

Hmm. I wonder what it is when you don't particularly have the urge until you're coming home and steps away from the bathroom and then you really have to go... uh, asking for a friend.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:16 AM on July 3 [2 favorites]

Halloween Jack: this is a known thing. It’s (likely, IANAD) in your mind. You need to train your mind to be the intentional “boss” of your bladder and calm it down instead of running straight to the loo. With practice this gets better!
posted by samthemander at 8:29 AM on July 3 [1 favorite]

Yes, it's called "key-in-lock syndrome," i.e., you're cruising along just fine with no urge at all until you get to your front door, and then it's off to the races.
posted by the sobsister at 9:41 AM on July 3 [1 favorite]

Yep, I learned about it here! I have this problem from time to time. I noticed once that I took some medicine for another entirely unrelated thing and it made that weird symptom vanish. Bodies are so weird. Thanks for this post.
posted by jessamyn at 11:53 AM on July 3 [2 favorites]

Is this the thread where we rewrite Shakespeare as piss play?
posted by slogger at 12:27 PM on July 3

Is this the thread where we rewrite Shakespeare as piss play?

Don't dream it, be it.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 1:05 PM on July 3 [1 favorite]

I recently celebrated being prostate free for 1460 days. Had it removed due to prostate cancer. So far, so good!

Except the bladder. Far more difficult to prevent flows since the surgery and I've not yet figured how to strengthen my pelvic floor enough.

My urologist understands the issue. She's just recommended physical therapy, bio feedback, electrical stimulatation, and or massage in order to help.

I'm a few years shy of 60 and now understand the challenge of UI. Lots of pads in my future until I figure this out.
posted by bacalao_y_betun at 3:07 PM on July 3

I think one of the other things that people don’t discuss is how sex plays into this. Like - there’s this expectation that women Of A Certain Age just have no desire to have sex and that is not necessarily the case at all. And there’s very little research or medical work into how to have better sex given medical realities, like UI or fears about a more full bladder.
posted by corb at 6:00 PM on July 3 [2 favorites]

Am also a few years shy of 60. Still have prostate. It does not matter if I don't drink fluids for 12 hours before I go to bed, and pee right before I go to sleep. I will still wake up four times during the night with a full bladder and have to pee for real. Where the fuck does it come from? No idea. Gods, it's so frustrating.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 8:28 PM on July 3 [1 favorite]

Key-in-lock syndrome, eh? Huh.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:45 PM on July 3

> Where the fuck does it come from? No idea. Gods, it's so frustrating.

outgrown_hobnail: Is it possible that you are a mouth-breather when you sleep? Breathing through your nose suppresses the need to urinate during the night. I first read about this in James Nestor's book Breath and I can personally vouch that it's true (though I was never getting up four times a night). I'm not saying that you should rule out prostate issues, of course! (Full disclosure, I'm not a doctor, but I sometimes watch them on TV.)
posted by cadlackey at 2:43 PM on July 7

When in doubt: kegel! kegel! kegel! Works for man, boy, woman, girl.
posted by y2karl at 11:49 AM on July 12