Does Oxybutinin work ?

[kruznkru]

I’ve been prescribed Oxybutinin for Urge Incontinence this last Tuesday. So I’m 4 days in with really no sign of improvement.
Is anyone out there taking it good or bad.
I’m on the 1 tablet a day - 24 hour release
Does it help stress incontinence too
Does it take a while to “kick in”

 

[mochi]

Your doctor should have talked you about this. It varies (effectiveness) per individual and can take a couple weeks to take affect.

 

[kruznkru]

I had RP surgery in July - university of Chicago- top hospital I thought -
Close to 3 months and still almost 100% incontinent standing up.
the thing is I can’t even get into see a incontinent urologist till Oct 28th !
So I Mychart them about the urge I’ve been having and some Nurse Practitioner orders Oxybutinin. I guess she discusses this with someone but who knows.
I don’t even know my PSA score !
I haven’t talked to a doctor since July except the surgeon called a week later and said 100% of cancer gone and did not spread !
Frustrating to say the least !

 

[mochi]

I am sure that it is. Maybe call the office and reach out to the nurse practitioner to discuss your concerns. Voice and video conference calls are common these days and are easier to get an appointment booked.

 

[kruznkru]

Thanks for the advice
I’ve already talked to them. I’m on a cancellation list. Thats the best they can do.
They know my frustration by the mychart messages.
Trouble is if you look elsewhere another month wait or longer !
But I’ll make some calls tomorrow

 

[unease]

I have been using oxybutin for urge incontinence. I have nerve issues and have had an RP and now have stress incontinence. Everyone is different but the oxybutin does nothing for me for the stress incontinence. It helps me be able to hold more urine before having to go so it helps some with urge.

 

[kruznkru]

Seems we’re in the same boat !
Does your urge coma and go ?
This morning I was fine now the urge is back - I take Oxybutinin once a day at 12 noon so I’ll see if it calms bladder down
Stress still there too - Oxybutinin gives me really bad dry mouth and insomnia !
Living thru hell !

 

[unease]

Because I have the nerve issue I always feel as if I have to go similar to when a catheter is installed causing bladder spasms. But the bladder urge comes on suddenly and I end up wet. Now I have a catheter for which allows me to sleep but it is very limiting and I still have bladder spasms and when they occur it hurts because the catheter blocks the residual urine from coming until it slowly bypasses the catheter. The oxybutinin i was taking, I still take trying to calm the bladder with the catheter.
The oxybutinin gives me dry mouth which people have pointed out can give you teeth problems and there are comments about not being good for older people memory. I am going to try not to use. I am getting bladder spasms all the time and with the catheter in, the bladder is not expanding so the oxybutinin does not seem to be helping.

 

[kruznkru]

Mine urge is mild ? But just enough to keep from sleeping - hard to go to sleep when you have the feeling to pee.
Maybe it’s not urge ? I can easily get up out of bed make it to the toilet hold it till I sit and go.
I have a meeting at Univ of Chicago morning ( not with urologist) and my wife is gunna chew them out on their existing patients help !
I could see a new patient but this is awful

 

[Bobsyeruncle]

My prostate surgery left me with an overactive bladder. I tried physical therapy, bladder training, pumpkin seed oil, etc. as I was trying to avoid Rx drugs, but I had little improvement. Finally tried Oxybutin. It helped almost immediately but the side effects were extremely dry mouth (so dry that I could not talk). After a few days I stopped taking it as the side effects were not worth it.

I've been on Myrbetriq recently. Started with 25 mg, then after a few weeks moved up to 50 mg. It takes a few weeks to really kick in, but It has helped (especially with nocturia) and I haven't had any side effects so I'll stick with it.

Hope this helps.

 

[CalebKrawdad]

I didn't respond to it well. The headaches and dry mouth weren't worth it, so I cycled through a few before I landed on botox.

 

[kruznkru]

With Oxybutinin I had:
Bad dry mouth
Insomnia/nocturia
Dizziness
Weird dreams

So doc ditch it after a week n started mirabegron /myrbetriq and I’ll see how that goes for a week - maybe have to wait longer - that nocturia is brutal

How’d the Botox work ? I’ve been thinking of it

 

[Eden98]

For many Botox works well. It kind of paralyses the bladder muscles and prevents unwanted contraction and loss of urin. It's more invasive then pills but i guess more people benefit from Botox as from Oxibutinin. Downside is some loose the ability to urinate and have to selfcath for a certain time. Botox treatment has to be repeated after several months.

 

[CalebKrawdad]

Initially I had a hard time urinating, and was pushing to void. Urologist had me with a high PVR after the procedure, and was "monitoring" but there was not an after thought because she thought the botox would start losing strength after a month. I stopped going back since It was costly, and it did get easier to void. I ended up in a nice happy medium spot where the urgency and frequency were mostly gone. I'd say I had a good 6 months before symptoms started returning.

Bad news is that, due to cost, I didn't stay in the "loop" concerning appointments. I decided that the net effect was positive and am waiting on another appointment to start again. I'm going to ask the urologist about CIC up front. I decided that, even if I did that for a few weeks for retention, it was still worth it.

 

[kruznkru]

Hey CalebKrawdad
What is CIC ?
Plus do you feel you will always have to get Botox injections ?
Thanks for your input - interesting

 

[CalebKrawdad]

CIC = Clean Intermittent Catheters. I know it's a hassle, but personally, I decided I'd rather take the treatment and CIC if my urologist agreed. Not sure, possibly? I figure I'll go as long as it's feasible for me to (time/money) wise.

 

[kruznkru]

So let me get this straight -
You get the Botox treatment then have to CIC ?
Does Botax ease your “urge” but than prevent you from urinating for a while ?
And than after you cic for a while it starts to open up urinating ?
Just curious-

 

[CalebKrawdad]

Botox doesn't always cause retention, but I had a high PVR after treatment. I believe the urologist should have had me do it for starters, but she was "watching it". Anyway, the botox loses strength after a while and it got easier to urinate without pushing. I'm interesting in getting botox and using a CIC to get through the initial part where it's hard to void. Again, everyone's different, so some folks may not require it at all.