Overactive bladder

I’m a 50-something year old woman and I’m finding the urge to urinate is coming on quicker and more frequently. Why is this happening and what can I do about it?

It sounds like this woman is suffering from what is called “overactive bladder” disease and as the name implies, this is a bladder that’s working too well. It can occur at any age although it’s more common as we enter into “middle age” and up. Symptoms range from slightly annoying to terribly annoying and can often produce “accidents” when the restroom is not reached in time.

We call these accidents, “urge incontinence,” not to be confused with “stress incontinence” which occurs when abdominal pressure is increased in coughing, sneezing or jumping. Stress incontinence responds to the Kegel exercises. Urge incontinence does not. Stress incontinence is due to anatomical changes while urge incontinence is primarily a function of the nerves working on the bladder.

Much like being ticklish, the overactive bladder becomes hypersensitive and that equates to irritability, spasm and frequency. Causes of hypersensitivity can be frequent urinary tract infections, certain medications, chronic constipation, tumors, both benign and malignant and one of my favorite reasons, hypersensitivity to foods. It’s the latter one I’d like to spend an additional minute discussing.

Normally Pam and Rochelle, when one has urinary urgency, it’s important to see a healthcare provider to determine the cause, and multiple treatment options exist so suffering is not necessary. However, before running off to the doctor, one simple thing anyone can do first is evaluate whether foods might be contributing to the problem.

In my office, I hand out a list of foods which may produce overactive bladder symptoms and it’s amazing how often people’s symptoms disappear when irritating foods are minimized or eliminated. One lady was urinating every one to two hours during the summer. It turned out she was consuming lots of tomatoes from her abundant garden!

To determine whether foods are a contributing factor, one can do either an elimination or an excess trial. I favor the excess approach where one consumes a hearty amount of a suspected food and monitors what happens. Usually symptoms will show up within 1 to 4 hours but may last much longer. Eliminating a single food may yield a false response since it’s often more than one product,

Foods on this list include, of course, chocolate, caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and much to many peoples chagrin, wonderful foods including fruits and vegetables, especially the more acidic ones.

So, keep a food and symptom diary and pretty soon, you might be surprised to learn the food you once loved and tolerated, is now annoying to your system, and you may just avoid the doctor’s office, too! For a more complete list of foods, please email me care of my website @ www.caremedicalassociates.com or go to the chatwithwomen.com website and click on my link.

To your good health,
Dr. Larry