subject: Medications That Can Cause Urinary Incontinence As a Side Effect [print this page] Medications That Can Cause Urinary Incontinence As a Side Effect
Urinary incontinence is not one of those things in life that you would ever have given a second thought to the possibility of happening to you, until you find yourself in this situation! If you even knew that it was possible, you might have known what questions to ask and what actions to take in life to prevent it from ever occurring in the first place. For example, as you start taking new medication to deal with your heart problem, you might unexpectedly have to deal with urinary incontinence as a side effect. In fact, there are many medications that have a direct impact on the behavior of your bladder. These can either cause urinary incontinence or can aggravate your existing incontinence problem, thus making it worse. Perhaps your doctor never mentioned incontinence as a possible side effect of taking the medication you are now taking. After all, your primary concern is, and always has been, keeping your heart healthy. But now that your heart problems are under control, your attention is now focused on this new problem of urinary incontinence. Any time you develop incontinence as the result of taking a particular medication, let your doctor know right away. He may be able to prescribe you a different medication instead, that will not cause these bladder problems. But bear in mind one thing: Your doctor can only help you if you let him or her know that you are suffering this problem. Keeping quiet on the issue, or downplaying and minimizing it as trivial, is the last thing you want to do.
Diuretic medications are the most common kinds of medications that can trigger the onset of urinary incontinence. This is because diuretics slough fluid from the body. As a result, this causes the bladder to become full more quickly and more frequently. Sedatives, antidepressants, medication for high blood pressure, and muscle relaxants, are just a few of the different types of medications that contain this ingredient. Let your doctor know if you start to develop urinary incontinence as a result of starting to take a medication he or she has prescribed you. This way, your doctor can work with you to try alternative medications that can help deal with your other medical problems without resulting in the unintended side effect of urinary incontinence.
