Which Medications Can Cause Incontinence?

Medication on a tableMedication on a tableMedication on a table

Medication is an integral part of many people’s lives, helping to treat and manage many diverse health conditions. However, certain medications can cause side effects that can disrupt your daily life.

In this post, we will explore some medications that cause urinary incontinence. Please speak with your doctor or continence specialist if you are experiencing urinary incontinence.

Medications that can cause incontinence

While it might not be well known, many medications can lead to incontinence. This is often because they increase urine production, rather than causing you to lose bladder control.  Increased urine production can make it more challenging to contain your bladder and lead to overflow urgency incontinence.

Let’s look at some of the most common medications that cause incontinence. 

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Diuretics

Doctors usually prescribe diuretics (sometimes called water tablets) to reduce blood pressure by flushing out excess water and salt from the body. However, diuretics increase urine production to do this, so you may need to use the bathroom more often.

Sometimes, taking diuretics can lead to overflow incontinence, where your bladder becomes too full and you leak urine. At other times, it can result in urgency incontinence, where you must urinate suddenly and urgently – and, occasionally, don’t make it to the bathroom in time.

You might also develop stress incontinence due to having more urine in your bladder than usual. This means you leak urine when exerting yourself through coughing, sneezing or exercising.

Antidepressants

Depression is a complicated, common mental health condition that often requires antidepressant medication. However, some antidepressants can reduce your ability to empty your bladder, leading to overflow incontinence.

Some antidepressants can also make it difficult for you to realise when you need to go to the bathroom, leading to urgency incontinence as you struggle to notice your natural cues.  

High blood pressure medication

If you have high blood pressure, a doctor may prescribe medication to help lower it, such as alpha-blockers, beta-blockers and calcium channel blockers. These are designed to dilate your blood vessels, lowering your blood pressure.

However, these medications can also make it easier for urine to flow out of your body by relaxing the bladder. This process may lead to incontinence as you might be unable to hold your urine, especially when you’re active.

Mood stabilisers

Doctors usually prescribe mood stabilisers to manage mental health conditions like bipolar disorder.

Lithium is the most common treatment, but long-term use can potentially cause diabetes insipidus (a condition unrelated to diabetes). This condition means your kidneys cannot retain water, which then increases your urine production.

Other possible medications that may cause incontinence

As well as prescription medications, some over-the-counter medications may increase your risk of incontinence. However, some of these medications are also available on prescription in stronger doses, so be mindful when thinking about adjusting your doses of these medications and do so with your doctor’s guidance.

Here are some of the non-prescription medications that might cause incontinence. 

Antihistamines

People often take antihistamines to help with hay fever symptoms and other allergies. However, they can relax your bladder and cause it to retain urine, making it hard for it to empty. This may then lead to overflow incontinence as a side effect and make you may want to urinate more often.

Sleeping tablets

You might reach for something medicinal to help you sleep at night. But sometimes, your sleeping tablets can interrupt a restful night’s sleep by causing incontinence.  

Taking a sleeping tablet can cause you to miss your body’s natural cues to wake up and use the bathroom. As a result, you may experience either urgency incontinence or even nighttime incontinence – where you end up wetting the bed.

Dealing with medication-caused incontinence

Although certain medications can cause incontinence, there are ways to minimise your symptoms and reduce the risk of it developing. Medication can be essential in some cases, so learning to manage your incontinence is a helpful place to start.

First, you must speak with your doctor to let them know about your incontinence symptoms. They can then confirm if they can change or adjust your medication. Never stop taking your prescribed medication unless advised by your doctor.

If you cannot adjust or change your medication, you can minimise your risk of experiencing incontinence symptoms through various lifestyle changes.

Some of the best ways to minimise your incontinence risk include:

Avoiding caffeine – caffeine is a bladder stimulant, so if you’re experiencing increased urine production, your incontinence symptoms might worsen. Whether it’s urgency incontinence or simply needing to go much more frequently, caffeine can make incontinence even harder to deal with. Try swapping to decaffeinated drinks to limit your risk of bladder stimulation and incontinence. 

Monitoring your fluid intake – although keeping hydrated is vital, drinking too much liquid can increase your incontinence symptoms. Monitor how much you drink and avoid drinking lots of liquid before bed to help reduce your risk of leakage. 

Cutting down on alcohol – alcohol is another bladder stimulant that can cause incontinence. It can also make you less aware of needing the bathroom, especially while sleeping. Cutting back on your alcohol intake is not only beneficial for your general health, but it can also help you manage your incontinence more effectively.

Using incontinence products – many products offer protection regardless of your level or type of incontinence. Finding the right product isn’t as challenging as it once was due to the wide selection so that you can feel confident even with incontinence.

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Explore Attends' full range of incontinence products

Medication-induced incontinence is more common than you might think, with many people experiencing symptoms while trying to care for their health. Although it can be a troublesome side effect of medication, managing it is possible.

At Attends, we offer various incontinence products that provide discreet protection. When you choose Attends incontinence products, you can effectively manage your incontinence alongside the support of your doctor.

Discover our complete range of incontinence products to learn how Attends can help with your medication-induced incontinence.  

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