Posted by noa on February 28, 2003, at 21:04:31
In reply to Re: Not being able to completely empty bladder » Rainee, posted by tina on February 28, 2003, at 15:35:43
I have similar problems. Mostly, an extremely sudden urge to go, and difficulty holding it in, followed by, after initial release of some urine, the hesitancy that you describe.
At one point, I did try to get some answers. With some reading on the internet, and some conjecture from folks here, I guess I came to beleive that the best guess is that Serotonergic medications are activating several of the serotonin receptors in the muscle tissue of the bladder. This could make the bladder contract/spasm and not be able to unspasm in order to fill up completely. Hence the frequency and the sudden urge to go. It could also make the sphincter muscles spasm so that urine would not release when it is supposed to.
It is worse for me at higher doses of Effexor, so, after discussing it with pdoc, I did lower the Effexor dose a couple of years ago (compensated with raising Serzone dose). This dose change was for this SE but also for a related one--the muscle spasms at night, ie, myoclonus and RLS.
I deal with it by being more deliberate about monitoring when I need to go, trying to be more attuned to the earliest warning signals possible. I also have been wearing those ultra thin maxi pads (Always), just in case, and carry extras with me. As for the other aspect of the problem, the hesitancy--I guess I try to be patient, though I do get annoyed at having to make return trips every 5-10 minutes sometimes!! But I also have used some relaxation strategies followed by "pushing", using pelvic muscles.
I guess I take it pretty much in stride now, but every once in a while it really really IRKS me. I guess I am willing to deal with it, for now, but do continue to hold out hope that a new med or treatment will eventually come along to replace this rather imperfect one with such SEs. But for now, it is the best I've found and I have learned to manage the problem more or less, and it pales in comparison to my depressive disorder. But it does stink, this SE, doesn't it?
poster:noa
thread:204632
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030224/msgs/204823.html