“What is the best treatment for an overactive bladder?”
I am 59 years old, male, and for the last 3 months I have an overactive bladder. I have to go to the bathroom every hour or so. What is the best treatment for this ?
7 Answers
The best thing would be to start with your primary care doctor to rule out an infection. Once this is done, he/she can check your prostate. If the prostate is large, there are several medications that can help. If the prostate is not enlarged they can send you to a Urologist for a full work up.
There can be many causes for an overactive bladder. The first thing is to exclude a urinary infection. Another common cause is medication side effects or too much caffeine.
Need to see a urologist to determine if you are emptying your bladder or whether you have infection or microscopic blood in the urine. Also, a more detailed history would be helpful along with some blood tests and a prostate exam. If all of the above are negative, you could have a trial of jab med. There are also more tests that ultimately would be appropriate if all of the previous evaluation and treatment do not give you an answer.
You may be experiencing these symptoms due to an enlarged prostate, primary bladder dysfunction, or something else. Evaluation by a urologist often helps in determining the cause and come up with a good treatment. You can read more about various urological conditions on my website: www.DrShakuriRad.com/blog
You should see a Urologist as soon as possible. You need to make sure of two important things before the decision is made that your bladder is "overactive". The first is to make sure that there is no irritative source within your bladder. The second is to make sure that you are not in a state of retention where you cannot empty your bladder completely and it "fills to the brim" quickly, you feel a need to go, you empty just a small part of what is in there, and on and on. Finally, an assessment of your prostate. I cannot emphasize enough making sure to see a Urologist for these considerations before any treatment is decided upon. Dr Oates
If you go often during the day, it could be from drinking a lot of fluids , if it does not bother you you do not need a treatment. If it bothers you and you have a lot of urgency with it then you can take some medications which can relax the smooth muscle of the bladder and cut downnon the frequency . These medications may have side effects like dry mouth or dry eyes. If you have frequency at night you may have a prostate obstruction associated with your overactive bladder. You want to be sure that you empty your bladder well , so check with your Urologist s office, where they can measure your post void residual .
See a urologist to rule out infection.
