We’ve all had that moment where we’ve had to use the restroom badly. We can’t hold it anymore, so we have to pull off the road or run across the house in order to get to the bathroom in time.
It’s embarrassing and frustrating if it happens on a regular basis, however, and an overactive bladder could be a sign of so many other problems within your body. Did you know that there is likely a link between your overactive bladder and your fibromyalgia?
It’s true – let’s take a closer look so that we can understand better and so that you can discuss the issue with your doctor.
Why Does Overactive Bladder Happen?
There are a lot of reasons that someone may end up dealing with an overactive bladder. One of the most common reasons that people have overactive bladders is because their nervous system is giving their body the wrong signals.
The muscles in the bladder basically start to make you feel like you have to go to the bathroom, by contracting, even if you don’t have a lot of urine in your bladder anyway. This could be caused by a variety of different neurological disorders and problems.
There are other reasons that your bladder may be overactive, of course. For example, if you drink a lot or you have issues with diabetes, you may end up retaining a lot more water than you mean to, thus making it so your bladder is actually full and you do have to urinate.
There are some medications that also do the same exact thing, so you want to make sure that you check out what the side effects are of any medications that you take so you can determine if that is part of the problem. You may also have a tumor or something else that is obstructing part of your bladder, thus reducing the capacity of it.
Of course, there are some more basic issues as well. Constipation can make you feel “clogged,” thus causing your bladder to be overactive. If you drink too much caffeine or alcohol, you can also have an overactive bladder, because that stuff, as they say, “goes right through you.”
What Relationship is There Between my Fibromyalgia and my Bladder Issues?
As with every symptom that we talk about, there is some sort of connection between your bladder issues and fibromyalgia. But why are they so linked, and is there anything we can do in order to prevent this from happening?
First off, it’s actually quite common in those who are dealing with fibromyalgia, and for a few reasons. The muscle pains and contractions that you have on a regular basis can end up making you feel as if you have to urinate, or make it so that you are urinating frequently.
In some cases, it’s about the hormones that are in your body. The hormones that play a role in the pain that you feel from your fibromyalgia are the same ones that can make your body suffer from an overactive bladder, thus causing both to occur at the same time. Last but not least, the digestive problems that go along with fibromyalgia can also play a role in causing the bladder to get mixed signals and to behave in a way that it shouldn’t be.
The point here is that you don’t have to be embarrassed about it. There are so many people that deal with overactive bladders, and it’s incredibly common for it to go hand in hand with other disorders, like fibromyalgia. The important thing is that you know how to cope with it and what you should do in order to live a normal, active life.
Is There Anything I can Do?
Speaking of that, that’s the last thing we’re going to look at in this article. How can you keep your bladder under control, or what can you do in order to make sure that your overactive bladder doesn’t totally destroy your life? There are a few things that people usually do in order to make it easier on themselves.
– Always know where a bathroom is, no matter where you are going. Check the seating charts online and make sure to scope out the place when you first arrive. That way, you know the best way to beeline to the place in question and you can feel like you’re more in control of the situation at hand.
– If you are seeing it as a big problem and you want to try and normalize it, your doctor can give you prescription medication or other treatments that can help you to be more in control of your bladder and that can help you urinate less often.
– Some people state that you can retrain your bladder to bend to your whims. In some cases this works, in other cases it doesn’t – just make sure that you’re smart about when and where you’re working on the retraining exercises.
– Speaking of exercises, consider losing weight. Extra weight, especially in the abdomen, can put pressure on your bladder and make it so that you can’t hold as much in your bladder, thus resulting in an overactive bladder.
– Change your diet. Don’t eat as much sugar, be aware of your caffeine and alcohol intakes, and try to stick to water instead of sugary, sweet drinks.
– Exercise more. Sometimes, it’s a weakness that causes your bladder to be inactive – just becoming more active can help.
– In the worst cases, an adult diaper is not an embarrassing way to go. No one is going to know that you have it on, and they’re designed so that you can urinate subtly without embarrassment.
As you can see, there are a lot of options for you, especially in the form of home remedies, that can help you get more control over your bladder and your fibromyalgia pain. If you’re struggling with this and you need more advice, your specialist can give you some tips and tricks, or they can prescribe medication that will help you get everything back under control.
Further reading:
URINARY FREQUENCY & OVERACTIVE BLADDER: http://www.fms-help.com/bladder.htm
Overactive Bladder: http://www.fibromyalgia-symptoms.org/overactive-bladder.html
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