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Overactive Bladder: What You Need to Know

When the muscles of balder contract abnormally it can lead to the frequent urination. This abnormal constriction of muscle may be due to a condition known as overactive bladder. People suffer from the loss of control over urination and hindrance in the passage of it. As this condition is not a rare difficulty around the world, OAB has a huge impact over the life of millions of people. The disruption in the quality and efficiency of life can be due to the symptoms of OAB such as urinating frequently, especially at night, urgency to urinate even after urinating, etc. there is no specific treatment of this condition as it is very difficult to now the actual cause of this disease. However, in some cases life style changes and medicinal treatment is given to manage this condition.

How is an overactive bladder at night more problematic?

The symptoms of overactive bladder can immensely disturbed the sleep cycle of the person by making him wake up again and again. As sleep is the integral part of everyone’s health, people which overactive bladder at night suffer a lot of secondary health conditions due to lack of sleep. The feeling of urgency to urinate again and again completely makes the person stay awake at night, slipping into the condition of nocturia. This overall disruption in the circadian rhythm of the patient causes him to become lazy and inactive in the daytime. This diminishes there scope to perform any function with active efficiency

Going to the loo just before getting down to sleep, not drinking water or any fluid close to sleep time and certain changes in lifestyle are the most important things advised by the doctors in the condition of OAB. This is because these are the only three ways to reduce the exaggerated symptoms that emerge from taking in irritating fluids and food product.

Antimuscarinics, beta-3 agonist are the most important medication among other to reduce bladder constrictions.

Consulting a doctor is important, especially when the nocturia is affecting the sleep and quality of life. The doctor may help with different treatment options, and rule out any underlying medical conditions that could be contributing to the symptom.

One may find this condition not serious enough to get consulted by a doctor but only a fool will act upon it. This is because once an overactive bladder disrupts your sleep, there will not be a more irritating condition. So it is better to see a better urologist in order to rule out your condition.

What are the different ways to prevent OAB at night?

Symptoms of overactive bladder can be avoided by following certain measures:

  • Regulate drinking water: It is seen that if you don’t drink water or any fluid to close to the time of sleeping, there are chances your OAB will get better.
  • Make a routine of your trips to washroom: Routanizing your urination, if you have overactive bladder, will help you to predict your urgency to urinate more properly. This will also facilitate you to reduce the frequency of urinating at night. 
  • Avoid medications such as diuretics
  • Living in accordance with the protocols of healthy lifestyle will certainly help you to reduce this overactive bladder. one should remember that the healthy life does not contain smoking and drinking alcohol

Apart from taking precautionary measures to prevent the symptoms of OAB, one must still take a consultation of a doctor, especially when this condition causes nocturia. The doctor primarily looks into the origin of this condition no matter how underlying that would be.

Some important symptoms of OAB

Along with the most important and common symptoms of OAB, to not have any control over urination, there are some of the other common symptoms of this disease such as:

  • Urgency: A strong, sudden need to urinate that may be accompanied by discomfort or pain.
  • Frequency: The need to urinate more than eight times in a 24-hour period.
  • Nocturia: The need to wake up multiple times during the night to urinate.
  • Urge incontinence: The accidental loss of urine associated with an urgent need to urinate.
  • Urine leakage: The leakage of small amounts of urine due to urgency or urge incontinence.
  • Straining or difficulty in starting to urinate, or feeling of incomplete emptying
  • Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common among people with OAB, due to the increased frequency of urination.

It’s worth mentioning that, some of the symptoms of OAB can be caused by other medical conditions, such as bladder infections, urinary tract stones, or bladder cancer. So it is important to see a doctor for diagnosis and treatment if you are experiencing symptoms of OAB.

It must be kept in mind too that already present medical conditions can also cause the expression of the symptoms of OAB. These symptoms may include stones in the urinary tract, cancer in bladder, infection in urine, etc. If you suspect yourself with any of the symptoms of overactive bladder, consider getting a check up for diagnosing your condition properly.

Treatment options for OAB

The treatment for overactive bladder heavily relies on the practice of changing life style and medicines.

Changes to bring in lifestyle to treat/manage OAB

  • Reducing the intake of water before 2 hours of sleeping
  • Trying to urinate according to a urine schedule
  • Involving in exercises, especially related to pelvic floor
  • Not succumbing to become overweight

Medications that may be used to treat OAB include

  • Beta-3 agonist: The are the receptor binding medicines which act by disrupting the pathway through which the urgency to urinate is felt
  • Mirabegron: these types of drugs help to relax the muscles of the bladder. this increases the holding capacity of bladder.
  • Anticholinergics: are the medicines also involved in the pathways to relax the muscles of bladder

Some therapeutics of OAB in the form of medicines and lifestyle changes fail to address the problem.

Conclusion

Overactive bladder treatment drastically varies from person to person. This is because the treatment for this condition heavily depends upon the way patient responds to it. Many patients require the combination of treatment to get the symptoms of OAB under control. Due to this seeing a practitioner, especially a urologist, is emphasized for a condition like overactive bladder. To get some information on the best treatment suitable for your OAB condition contacts Dr. Saket Narnoli in Dhanbad.