Urinary Incontinence refers to uncontrollable leak of urine. Women experience Urinary Incontinence twice as much as men. The reasons attributed for this is pregnancy and menopause and the basic structure of the female urinary tract. However, during old age, that is post 60s, both men and women are at risk of incontinence due to stroke, multiple sclerosis and other physical problems that affect old age. Let us go through some urinary incontinence medications
1. Medications for Overactive Bladder in women
• Solifenacin (Vesicare ®)
• Darifenacin (Enablex ®)
• Tolterodine tartrate (Detrol®)
• Oxybutynin chloride (Ditropan®)
All of the above are prescribed medications for Urinary Incontinence, mainly over-active bladder, and have to be taken after consulting and diagnosis from a qualified doctor. There may be side-effects like blurry vision, dry mouth, heart burn, increased heart-rate, drowsiness and difficulty while urinating which may have to be brough to the notice of the doctor.
2. Medications for Underactive Bladder in women: Cholinergic medications like Bethanechol (Duvoid, Urecholine)are prescribed for women who have overflow incontinence triggered by weak bladders. The side effects includes diarrhea, nausea, blurred vision and dizziness.
3. Medication for stress Incontinence: Doctors advise to strengthen the muscle tone in the spinchter that holds the urine in bladder, with Keygel exercise. These are exercises that tighten the pelvic floor muscles, vaginal muscles and anus. In some cases, Imipramine may be prescribed but they may have side-effects. One of the common Keygel exercises is to stand and put a cone shaped object in the vagina. Then change them with cones of different sizes to strengthen the muscles down there so that urethra can be closed when not required to pass urine.
Also check out the different types of urinary incontinence in women
