OAB, stress, and sensory issues

[Prillprillprill]

I don't post on this forum much because I'm not incontinent. However I do have OAB (dry) and I don't think it's caused by diapers cos I actually got back into wearing after lockdown partly because of the OAB.

Its been quite bad lately. Basically I feel like I need to go pee about every half an hour. When I was WFH it was even more regular than this. I have never had an accident due to it and when I go pee only a little bit comes out.

I've noticed that it's worse when I'm stressed and it's really annoying at night when I have to keep getting up to pee. It's not exactly what I read described online as feeling like you got to go, I know I can hold it but it just feels so uncomfortable having anything in my bladder at all and I get anxious thinking that I might leak even though that has literally never happened.

I have seen a GP who suggested medication but I don't want to do that. I'd rather wear a nappy than take meds but funnily enough they never suggest that. Anyway please give me some advice for this. Does anyone else have OAB that they think is linked to anxiety? It has occurred to me that this could be caused by an unconscious psychological need to wear nappies.

Why am I so scared of peeing myself even though I never have? Also I have female parts of that is relevent, and I'm 29.

 

[Jorelaxed]

Hi Prillprillprill, I don't have OAB, but I have the sudden sensation sometimes to pee without any warning due to my l4, L5 disc injuries. I can imagine you have highly sensitive sensory bladder nerves and the brain tries to forcefully empty the bladder.
It could be your bodies way of coping or dealing with the sensory stimulus. Diapers for the meantime would definitely help you manage it.
I hope this helps in someway, I hope you have a good Monday afternoon.
I have been managing my condition with diapers successfully for 11 years now.

 

[Edgewater]

You fear wetting because of years and years of training and experience of not wetting yourself!

GP's are wonderful, but they are not a specialist! As a 24/7, U-IC, I self-monitoring as the loss of continence steals a major indicator of a change in one's body. that I do not have.

There is a continued flow of new medications and surgeries comeing onto the market, many work well for individuals, and many do not. But, first there is a list of possibilities medial changes that one must check!

Diapers are wonderful, but as an incontinent individuals, if a new medication or surgery becames available, I would be checking it out as it is always part of my yearly discussion.

 

[mickdl]

Well I think this is a general problem with doc’s that they throw pills on everyone. In your case it might be better to start with conservativ methods first. This is bladder training.

If you don’t know how to do it ask your doc - and he should also know that this is the first pass treatment when he is following the guidelines…

Basicly the problem consists often in the storage capacity of your bladder. The bladder is a muscle that shrinks if it’s not trained enough. So if you run to the toilet with every urge then the bladder never will be filled probably and in conseqence it will shrink more and more. The only chance to break thru this circel is to train to hold it longer.

And just to clean up some myth about that: If you do nothing here you will not become incontinent but most likely get sooner or later problmes to void and problems with residual urine because at some stage the muscle is to week to press the urine out of the bladder…

Using meds that suppress the urge are helpfull if you are not successfull with the bladder training, how ever they are not good for a permanent use. Normally you use them to support you with the bladder training if you are not able to hold it long enaugh.

 

[Prillprillprill]

And just to clean up some myth about that: If you do nothing here you will not become incontinent but most likely get sooner or later problmes to void and problems with residual urine because at some stage the muscle is to week to press the urine out of the bladder…

I think I may already get something like this. When I do pee and a lot comes out I noticed that I cannot really feel it and can't tell the difference between it being really full and these phantom urges.

I think I will try holding a it and wear a pullup just so I don't feel anxious about it.

 

[mirrored22]

Your symptoms seem very extreme. I would highly recommend asking your GP for a referral to a urologist. Especially since you mention that when you go, only a little bit is coming out. This could be indicative of some sort of obstruction, blockage, or pelvic floor dysfunction, which irritates the bladder and causes it to behave in an overactive way. Untreated, those issues can only get worse and can eventually cause you to be unable to pass urine at all and lead to things like retention issues and kidney failure. I'd also recommend, to the best of your ability, separating the abdl side from the medical side and keeping an isolated focus on your symptoms and the difficulty it is causing in your life as you navigate this. Crossing those wires only makes things more difficult.

I have just gone through this process and your symptoms seem very similar to mine as I started. Though I have male parts and its a bit different for those with female parts (and more common for males), the underlying principles remain the same.

 

[Prillprillprill]

Your symptoms seem very extreme. I would highly recommend asking your GP for a referral to a urologist. Especially since you mention that when you go, only a little bit is coming out. This could be indicative of some sort of obstruction, blockage, or pelvic floor dysfunction, which irritates the bladder and causes it to behave in an overactive way. Untreated, those issues can only get worse and can eventually cause you to be unable to pass urine at all and lead to things like retention issues and kidney failure. I'd also recommend, to the best of your ability, separating the abdl side from the medical side and keeping an isolated focus on your symptoms and the difficulty it is causing in your life as you navigate this. Crossing those wires only makes things more difficult.

I have just gone through this process and your symptoms seem very similar to mine as I started. Though I have male parts and its a bit different for those with female parts (and more common for males), the underlying principles remain the same.

Do you really think it sounds extreme?
I didn't think it was.
At one point I was worried I had a neurological disorder because of my difficulty passing urine and memory issues / amnesia. However we have since found out I have dissociative disorder that can cause somatic symptoms as well as amnesia. We are currently waiting to get specialist treatment for that.

It is very hard for young women to be taken seriously about their health, especially in certain areas like urology.
I once had a UTI so bad I turned yellow and the only way I even got seen was because NHS direct were referring everyone with a fever to a COVID centre.

That said I believe my symptoms are most likely psychological. It not possible to seperate my DL or little side from the part of me with anxiety and bladder issues. My little doesn't have anxiety or problems passing urine she just goes and I don't even notice she's wet until it's time to change.

Sorry if this post is poorly written, my headspace is a bit off atm.

 

[mirrored22]

Do you really think it sounds extreme?
I didn't think it was.
At one point I was worried I had a neurological disorder because of my difficulty passing urine and memory issues / amnesia. However we have since found out I have dissociative disorder that can cause somatic symptoms as well as amnesia. We are currently waiting to get specialist treatment for that.

It is very hard for young women to be taken seriously about their health, especially in certain areas like urology.
I once had a UTI so bad I turned yellow and the only way I even got seen was because NHS direct were referring everyone with a fever to a COVID centre.

That said I believe my symptoms are most likely psychological. It not possible to seperate my DL or little side from the part of me with anxiety and bladder issues. My little doesn't have anxiety or problems passing urine she just goes and I don't even notice she's wet until it's time to change.

Sorry if this post is poorly written, my headspace is a bit off atm.

Yes, I do think your issues sound extreme. A normal amount of urination is 6-8 times per day. Going every half hour, or 20-25 times a day, is quite extreme. Especially if you have not had children before. Especially if its paired with frequent UTI's. Things like fluid intake, caffeine, and other lifestyle factors can contribute to this but not to the extent as you are experiencing.

I feel for you on how hard it is to get care. I originally sought treatment for my problems when I was 29 and was told I was "too young" to be experiencing issues like that and I should just lose weight, with no regard to how the frequent urination was impacting my life. It wasn't until this year where I was actually taken seriously because my issues exacerbated to the point where I had to go every half hour and started to leak/dribble a lot more. Its especially challenging if you are a woman. I've found I have had a lot more success with women doctors over male ones and there are actually studies that back up my opinion!

Even if you believe your issues are psychological, that does not mean they are not valid. When people say its "psychological", they tend to assume it means "its all in my head", but there is a lot more going on in your body than that. Here is a great article that describes the relationship between anxiety, stress, chronic stress and frequent urination. In addition, OAB and Anxiety have an interesting relationship, where you have anxiety caused by OAB, and OAB caused by anxiety, which feed into each other and make each other worse.

However, its important that you find out for sure. Based on how extreme your symptoms are, I would highly recommend pushing your doctor to get you an appointment with a specialist to find out what is really going on in your body. Even if it does wind up being psychological, at least you know for sure and you know what you can target specifically to get relief, but there is a big chance based on your symptoms that it is physiological. You deserve to know for sure and you deserve relief.

 

[Prillprillprill]

Even if you believe your issues are psychological, that does not mean they are not valid. When people say its "psychological", they tend to assume it means "its all in my head"

I agree. I did not mean it in that sense. I have mental health problems and have trouble getting the right help for that.
I may ask my GP again but atm focusing on getting help for complex trauma as sometimes you have to prioritise the most important issue.

Every half an hour is only when it's really bad not 24/7 but I will keep an eye on it. Just don't have the energy to push for tests on that front rn.

I know all too well the failings of the nhs cos I actually work for them. I'm employed as scientist but feel like a bureaucrat sometimes.

 

[DarkQS1]

Not really anxiety here, nor problems with sleeping as long as I wear a diaper for the comfort of knowing I can just relax instead of thinking I need to hold my pee. Once that relaxation is possible I can fall a sleep like a brick and just wake up the next morning with 200-600ml in my bladder and it feels like its bursting. Only when awake I have these kinds of OAB issues, also related to like others are saying mixed signals when your bladder should be full or not, also depending very much on stress levels of day to day business and other mental states.
Depending on the day and how good the day is it can differ from minutes to hours from 30 to 250ml (kinda the max in normal day to day right now) which is also very annoying but using diapers to manage this through the day to release at least one of the stress factors to manage.

Due too regular visits with a urologist for kidney stones, which made me pee blood at that time, just before my stress levels rose more I know that physically nothing was wrong with the urine tract. So a combination of going more often to the loo due to working from home and stress (private issues and corona time) made the bladder smaller and adds up resulting these issues.

I did not go to a GP with these issues because I know how I can fix it for myself, but need the time and piece of mind at the same time to be able to fix it, or at least make it more like average people can hold it lol. So I am not incontinent either, however I should not drink alcohol with a "full" bladder because that gave me big leak a little while back (the first time I ever experienced anything like that, bladder did not like it and it did not feel great either)! Sometimes also certain foods/drinks can be triggers.

Oh by the way I am not sure how it is related but on the overactive bladder reddit pages some people that had COVID said it worsened their conditions. I cannot be certain it does, since my stress levels also rose due too catching COVID end of last year, I did do the vaccination and was only sick for like one day, just focusing on tasks and really hard getting out of bed phase took a couple of months after that.
Interestingly enough it is backed by some science articles it seems: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9554342/

For what ever it is worth, there are so many things in play with these conditions but the origin of it that is the factor you need to know, or be more sure of, to be able to find comfort in the way you will try to counter it if that is an option.

 

[Prillprillprill]

Not really anxiety here, nor problems with sleeping as long as I wear a diaper for the comfort of knowing I can just relax instead of thinking I need to hold my pee. Once that relaxation is possible I can fall a sleep like a brick and just wake up the next morning with 200-600ml in my bladder and it feels like its bursting. Only when awake I have these kinds of OAB issues, also related to like others are saying mixed signals when your bladder should be full or not, also depending very much on stress levels of day to day business and other mental states.
Depending on the day and how good the day is it can differ from minutes to hours from 30 to 250ml (kinda the max in normal day to day right now) which is also very annoying but using diapers to manage this through the day to release at least one of the stress factors to manage.

Due too regular visits with a urologist for kidney stones, which made me pee blood at that time, just before my stress levels rose more I know that physically nothing was wrong with the urine tract. So a combination of going more often to the loo due to working from home and stress (private issues and corona time) made the bladder smaller and adds up resulting these issues.

I did not go to a GP with these issues because I know how I can fix it for myself, but need the time and piece of mind at the same time to be able to fix it, or at least make it more like average people can hold it lol. So I am not incontinent either, however I should not drink alcohol with a "full" bladder because that gave me big leak a little while back (the first time I ever experienced anything like that, bladder did not like it and it did not feel great either)! Sometimes also certain foods/drinks can be triggers.

Oh by the way I am not sure how it is related but on the overactive bladder reddit pages some people that had COVID said it worsened their conditions. I cannot be certain it does, since my stress levels also rose due too catching COVID end of last year, I did do the vaccination and was only sick for like one day, just focusing on tasks and really hard getting out of bed phase took a couple of months after that.
Interestingly enough it is backed by some science articles it seems: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9554342/

For what ever it is worth, there are so many things in play with these conditions but the origin of it that is the factor you need to know, or be more sure of, to be able to find comfort in the way you will try to counter it if that is an option.

It sounds like your problem is very similar to me.

 

[Angelapinks]

I don't post on this forum much because I'm not incontinent. However I do have OAB (dry) and I don't think it's caused by diapers cos I actually got back into wearing after lockdown partly because of the OAB.

Its been quite bad lately. Basically I feel like I need to go pee about every half an hour. When I was WFH it was even more regular than this. I have never had an accident due to it and when I go pee only a little bit comes out.

I've noticed that it's worse when I'm stressed and it's really annoying at night when I have to keep getting up to pee. It's not exactly what I read described online as feeling like you got to go, I know I can hold it but it just feels so uncomfortable having anything in my bladder at all and I get anxious thinking that I might leak even though that has literally never happened.

I have seen a GP who suggested medication but I don't want to do that. I'd rather wear a nappy than take meds but funnily enough they never suggest that. Anyway please give me some advice for this. Does anyone else have OAB that they think is linked to anxiety? It has occurred to me that this could be caused by an unconscious psychological need to wear nappies.

Why am I so scared of peeing myself even though I never have? Also I have female parts of that is relevent, and I'm 29.

They never suggest diaper/ nappies because some of them get kick backs from the drug companies for pushing their meds. I have similar problems and started wearing a pull up style pant during the day also during Covid due to bathrooms unavailable. I also am not really sure when I need to pee not getting signals may be due to a back injury and nerve damage. I was already wearing a night diaper to prevent Vertigo getting up several times at night and the pull up helped during the day. I don't wet the pull up but sometimes rushing to a bathroom I jst let go before I get there so no embarrassing wet pants.

 

[surprise35]

They never suggest diaper/ nappies because some of them get kick backs from the drug companies for pushing their meds. I have similar problems and started wearing a pull up style pant during the day also during Covid due to bathrooms unavailable. I also am not really sure when I need to pee not getting signals may be due to a back injury and nerve damage. I was already wearing a night diaper to prevent Vertigo getting up several times at night and the pull up helped during the day. I don't wet the pull up but sometimes rushing to a bathroom I jst let go before I get there so no embarrassing wet pants.

I have a similar situation both at night and day, slowly my ability to hold it is going down so i'm often wearing either Life Brand briefs or Tranquility ATN's in the day. While I don't always need them it helps my anxiety tremendously to know if a sudden urge comes on I am ok and will not wet my pants in public. I have found it has really improved my ability to enjoy things such as travel, concerts and movies.

I think for many of us it is difficult to know how much we have to wear diapers vs the enjoyment/pleasure of them and if that is even a conflict. Almost all doctors or urologists will advise against diapers or pull-ups but I tried a catheter for a few weeks and it was a total nightmare for me. Even the urology nurse (who was much more supportive and kind than the doctor) handed me a Tena brief after I tried to self-catheter for hours and said "it's ok".

I think out bodies often tell us what we need; from food to water to exercise to protection from wetting ourselves we can often listen to voice that is attempting to help us live life a bit better.

 

[Angelapinks]

I have a similar situation both at night and day, slowly my ability to hold it is going down so i'm often wearing either Life Brand briefs or Tranquility ATN's in the day. While I don't always need them it helps my anxiety tremendously to know if a sudden urge comes on I am ok and will not wet my pants in public. I have found it has really improved my ability to enjoy things such as travel, concerts and movies.

I think for many of us it is difficult to know how much we have to wear diapers vs the enjoyment/pleasure of them and if that is even a conflict. Almost all doctors or urologists will advise against diapers or pull-ups but I tried a catheter for a few weeks and it was a total nightmare for me. Even the urology nurse (who was much more supportive and kind than the doctor) handed me a Tena brief after I tried to self-catheter for hours and said "it's ok".

I think out bodies often tell us what we need; from food to water to exercise to protection from wetting ourselves we can often listen to voice that is attempting to help us live life a bit better.

I had a bad UTI from the doctor using a Cath on me. Never again so now I use the pull ups for daytime and a Tranquility ATN or my new favourite Forsite AM/PM for my night time protection. The ATN was mostly good until I started drinking more fluids in the warm weather and then they could not hold the capacity so I got a sample of the Forsites and they worked very well. I also tried Reaz / Incontrol diapers which are great but a lot more cost.

 

[charliee]

I don't post on this forum much because I'm not incontinent. However I do have OAB (dry) and I don't think it's caused by diapers cos I actually got back into wearing after lockdown partly because of the OAB.

Its been quite bad lately. Basically I feel like I need to go pee about every half an hour. When I was WFH it was even more regular than this. I have never had an accident due to it and when I go pee only a little bit comes out.

I've noticed that it's worse when I'm stressed and it's really annoying at night when I have to keep getting up to pee. It's not exactly what I read described online as feeling like you got to go, I know I can hold it but it just feels so uncomfortable having anything in my bladder at all and I get anxious thinking that I might leak even though that has literally never happened.

I have seen a GP who suggested medication but I don't want to do that. I'd rather wear a nappy than take meds but funnily enough they never suggest that. Anyway please give me some advice for this. Does anyone else have OAB that they think is linked to anxiety? It has occurred to me that this could be caused by an unconscious psychological need to wear nappies.

Why am I so scared of peeing myself even though I never have? Also I have female parts of that is relevent, and I'm 29.

Hi Prillprillprill, I can totally relate to what you wrote because I experience pretty much the same. I have also been diagnosed with OAB (dry, for the moment) and I tend to go to the toilet at least 8 times a day. I always wake up to an aching bladder, sometimes very aching, which makes me hope I'll learn to let go when I wake up in my sleep. I don't wear diapers 24/7, especially now that it's summer (I live in Italy and up to a week ago the heat was unbearable), but I have worn diapers almost 24/7 until June and I think I will restart doing that as soon as the temperature diminishes a bit.

In Italy doctors don't like to suggest pills or botox as a first choice treatment, so my urologist recommended that I do some physiotherapy in order to re-train the pelvic floor. Problem is I could only get an appointment for september through the NHS and since my visit with the urologist my OAB has definitely worsened so that's why I'm going for diapers...

 

[surprise35]

I had a bad UTI from the doctor using a Cath on me. Never again so now I use the pull ups for daytime and a Tranquility ATN or my new favourite Forsite AM/PM for my night time protection. The ATN was mostly good until I started drinking more fluids in the warm weather and then they could not hold the capacity so I got a sample of the Forsites and they worked very well. I also tried Reaz / Incontrol diapers which are great but a lot more cost.

Yeah I have been using the Forsite AM/Pm's for years and love them, excellent for overnight I find too!