Meds

[BabyHailey1977]

Hello everyone,

It looks like I will be visiting a urologist soon to discuss a couple issues including retention, urgency, and dribbling. I do not like taking medication, even Tylenol. So my question is what happens if I tell the urologist that I don’t want to take medication? What are the options? My GP understands that I want to wear diapers, and wants me to see the urologist to make sure there isn’t a serious underlying issue. She also said that if the urologist agrees that diapers are a viable option, she will prescribe them to me.

Thanks for the help!!

 

[Wetshisbed]

I saw a urologist and then was referred back to the doctor who prescribed vesicare and also refered me to the continence nurse who arranged me a supply of adult nappies or slips as they like to all them. I stopped taking the vesiare as I didn't like the side effects. I just rely on nappies.

 

[nwm]

I tried a few medications (NOT for IC, that it's known is a nerve issue that has been there since day 1, it was for retention).
I ended up quickly stopping them all! - No talking about it at all - just called the urologist and I told him NO WAY am I going to continue using that stuff!
Reason is the side-effects were ridiculous, and didn't get rid of the problem anyway. Mostly I was just wetting and retaining more!
He still tried to tell me that that may be, but it's less pressure on the bladder - but it didn't matter at all! You do not want those side-effects!

 

[ltaluv]

The side effects of the various meds differ from one person to the next. One can't write off all bladder meds because they cause bad side effects in other people - the only way to know is to try them. Additionally, it can take several weeks for the side effects to ebb and the desired effects to ramp up, so it can be necessary to try them for a couple of months to see how they work out.

Clearly, if the side effects of a particular med are intolerable, it's not reasonable to try to keep taking it. But that doesn't necessarily suggest that the next med is going to have bad side effects. Part of pharmacies research is finding meds with similar primary effects but lesser side effects; sometimes these meds are chemically unrelated to each other, and sometimes it's as simple as isolating the isomer that's creating the good effects while leaving out the isomer that's causing problems.

That said, nobody should feel compelled to take incontinence medications that they don't want. If you'd rather manage the issue with diapers, most urologists should be at least accepting of this, even if they're not particularly supportive.

The main exception to this is if the incontinence is caused by an infection, in which case you really do need to take antibiotics, or if it's caused by poorly controlled diabetes, which absolutely must be brought under control to avoid serious and potentially life-threatening complications.

Keep in mind that there are several non-medical treatments that can help as well. PTNS and preoccupied physical therapy (which is not just doing Kegel exercises - it's a while process) are options that have helped many people.

One final thought is that a diaper prescription isn't necessarily of much use. My doctor write me a prescription for diapers several years ago, and I fought a long time with the insurance company trying to get them covered. I ended up losing that battle.

 

[mickdl]

Hi IDDiaperboy,

if I reading this I'm not sure what what you would like to achieve... I mean in general - and really in general there might be three options:

1) You have UIC problems and like to cure them,
2) You have UIC problems and don't like to cure them because you like the diapers
3) You have no UIC problems and just like to get the diapers

Starting with point 3, because this is from my point of view a simple ones: Just buy them - you do not need a prescribe and no discussion with an doc.

If it comes to point 2 - this is also simple - but need a bit more courage... Just tell your GP that you are happy with nappy and just want to make sure that there is nothing seriously bad behind your UIC problems. In this case there it's also no problem with urologist because you are talking about diagnostics - not about treatment.

The first point is propably the most complicated. With UIC it is as with many other things in live - they will not change by pressing a button or swallow a pill. You need to try lot of things and find your own way - even without the guarantee that there will be a cure anyway. In this case you need to work together with your urologist. Yes - not all ideas from your doc might be that brilliant so it's in any case a good idea to ask and try to understand why the doc offer the treatment - and even more important - make sure the doc understand your problem - otherwise he can not help you. This often lead to generic approaches that are often not that helpful.

Depending on the rout cause there might be a couple of circumstances that makes drugs necessary - especially if it comes to retention issues. How ever - this is something only the doc can answer - not the forum. And just to say it clear - retention issues are dangerous - in a worse case live-threading. So it's a good idea to discuss this with a specialist.

 

[KitsuneFox]

1) You have UIC problems and like to cure them,

.
Incontinence meds don't "cure" anything ... they maintain the condition as-is, or reduce symptoms. I'd like to see someone post about how their substantial IC issues were fixed with meds, and they don't have to take pills anymore.
The side-effects on many of the IC drugs are nasty, I would highly recommend reading up on them.

 

[mickdl]

@KitsuneFox: I did't talk about "incontinence meds" - how ever in general you are right - incontinence is not a disease but mostly a side effect of ones or of a physical damage. So you need to cure the disease or the physical damage and you cure the UIC. This is unfurtunatly not possible in all cases especially if it comes to spinal injuries MS or other diseases. How ever - to give you a simple example: Even a stupid UTI can cause continence issues. Eat the antibiotics and cure it out and you dry again... ;-)

 

[BabyHailey1977]

I saw a urologist and then was referred back to the doctor who prescribed vesicare and also refered me to the continence nurse who arranged me a supply of adult nappies or slips as they like to all them. I stopped taking the vesiare as I didn't like the side effects. I just rely on nappies.

Thanks for the response. My primary doctor said she knows the side effects and is ok with me sticking to diapers. She says a lot of people will try whatever they can to stay out of diapers, and take the medication by trial and error.

Thanks again!!

 

[BabyHailey1977]

I tried a few medications (NOT for IC, that it's known is a nerve issue that has been there since day 1, it was for retention).
I ended up quickly stopping them all! - No talking about it at all - just called the urologist and I told him NO WAY am I going to continue using that stuff!
Reason is the side-effects were ridiculous, and didn't get rid of the problem anyway. Mostly I was just wetting and retaining more!
He still tried to tell me that that may be, but it's less pressure on the bladder - but it didn't matter at all! You do not want those side-effects!

Exactly, I’ve read up on a lot of the side effects, and I don’t want them. I worked around a lot of chemicals in the military and don’t want to put more in my body.

 

[BabyHailey1977]

The side effects of the various meds differ from one person to the next. One can't write off all bladder meds because they cause bad side effects in other people - the only way to know is to try them. Additionally, it can take several weeks for the side effects to ebb and the desired effects to ramp up, so it can be necessary to try them for a couple of months to see how they work out.

Clearly, if the side effects of a particular med are intolerable, it's not reasonable to try to keep taking it. But that doesn't necessarily suggest that the next med is going to have bad side effects. Part of pharmacies research is finding meds with similar primary effects but lesser side effects; sometimes these meds are chemically unrelated to each other, and sometimes it's as simple as isolating the isomer that's creating the good effects while leaving out the isomer that's causing problems.

That said, nobody should feel compelled to take incontinence medications that they don't want. If you'd rather manage the issue with diapers, most urologists should be at least accepting of this, even if they're not particularly supportive.

The main exception to this is if the incontinence is caused by an infection, in which case you really do need to take antibiotics, or if it's caused by poorly controlled diabetes, which absolutely must be brought under control to avoid serious and potentially life-threatening complications.

Keep in mind that there are several non-medical treatments that can help as well. PTNS and preoccupied physical therapy (which is not just doing Kegel exercises - it's a while process) are options that have helped many people.

One final thought is that a diaper prescription isn't necessarily of much use. My doctor write me a prescription for diapers several years ago, and I fought a long time with the insurance company trying to get them covered. I ended up losing that battle.

Thank you for your response. From the beginning of my interactions with my primary doctor, I have said that I want to continue wearing diapers and not take medication. She is ok with that, we just agreed to see a urologist to make sure there isn’t a severe problem that’s causing all of this.

I have a 100% VA disability rating from my military service, so I go through the VA for meds and supplies. The diapers are available through them.

 

[BabyHailey1977]

Hi IDDiaperboy,

if I reading this I'm not sure what what you would like to achieve... I mean in general - and really in general there might be three options:

1) You have UIC problems and like to cure them,
2) You have UIC problems and don't like to cure them because you like the diapers
3) You have no UIC problems and just like to get the diapers

Starting with point 3, because this is from my point of view a simple ones: Just buy them - you do not need a prescribe and no discussion with an doc.

If it comes to point 2 - this is also simple - but need a bit more courage... Just tell your GP that you are happy with nappy and just want to make sure that there is nothing seriously bad behind your UIC problems. In this case there it's also no problem with urologist because you are talking about diagnostics - not about treatment.

The first point is propably the most complicated. With UIC it is as with many other things in live - they will not change by pressing a button or swallow a pill. You need to try lot of things and find your own way - even without the guarantee that there will be a cure anyway. In this case you need to work together with your urologist. Yes - not all ideas from your doc might be that brilliant so it's in any case a good idea to ask and try to understand why the doc offer the treatment - and even more important - make sure the doc understand your problem - otherwise he can not help you. This often lead to generic approaches that are often not that helpful.

Depending on the rout cause there might be a couple of circumstances that makes drugs necessary - especially if it comes to retention issues. How ever - this is something only the doc can answer - not the forum. And just to say it clear - retention issues are dangerous - in a worse case live-threading. So it's a good idea to discuss this with a specialist.

Thanks for responding. I’m pretty much option #2. My primary doctor and I agree that a trip to the urologist is worthwhile to make sure that there isn’t an underlying issue. She knows I want to treat the symptoms with diapers, and agrees that it’s my choice. She tried to prescribe me medication for my severe arthritis and I refused, so she knows I don’t want medication.

As far as the diapers go, ifshe prescribes them, that would be really cool. If. It, I’ll continue to wear the ones I already do. I don’t wear the ABDL diapers.

Thanks again!!

 

[nwm]

The main exception to this is if the incontinence is caused by an infection, in which case you really do need to take antibiotics, or if it's caused by poorly controlled diabetes, which absolutely must be brought under control to avoid serious and potentially life-threatening complications.

Antibiotics do not usually cause any BAD side-effects (unless you are allergic to that one), AND you have a good idea when to stop taking them - not all that long in most cases.
In the case of poorly controlled diabetes - that is a totally different thing - yes some people have bad effects from that medication too - but from what I have seen, it does not take too many tries to find one that works without any bad issues.

One final thought is that a diaper prescription isn't necessarily of much use. My doctor write me a prescription for diapers several years ago, and I fought a long time with the insurance company trying to get them covered. I ended up losing that battle.

I was getting them through medicaid for a long time - they actually were pretty good at one time. I stopped because all they want to pay for any more is total garbage!
As for private insurance - I have never heard of any paying for diapers - but they can be a tax deductions, if you remember to save the recipes from them.

 

[BabyHailey1977]

Antibiotics do not usually cause any BAD side-effects (unless you are allergic to that one), AND you have a good idea when to stop taking them - not all that long in most cases.
In the case of poorly controlled diabetes - that is a totally different thing - yes some people have bad effects from that medication too - but from what I have seen, it does not take too many tries to find one that works without any bad issues.

I was getting them through medicaid for a long time - they actually were pretty good at one time. I stopped because all they want to pay for any more is total garbage!
As for private insurance - I have never heard of any paying for diapers - but they can be a tax deductions, if you remember to save the recipes from them.

I go through the VA and the cover them, and ship directly to my house.