About Incontinence - Contributing Factors - Medications
Medical Reviewer: Catherine DuBeau, M.D.
Although some medications are designed to help with incontinence, others (taken for a variety of reasons) can actually contribute to incontinence.
Why?
Medications affect many areas of our body - not just the area they are intended to help. This is what we call "side effects". Some ways in which medication side effects can cause or worsen incontinence include:
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causing the body to produce additional urine, making it more difficult to control the increased amount
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weakening the bladder’s ability to empty
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causing swelling of the feet
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affecting how well the sphincter (the muscle that closes the urethra and keeps urine in the bladder) closes
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causing constipation
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causing confusion
Prevention, Treatment and Management
You may not want to avoid a medication just because incontinence is a possible side effect, but with your doctor's help you might be able to reduce the symptoms by using a different type of medication, or adjusting the dosage or timing. Never stop taking a prescription medication before speaking with your doctor.
Dr. Catherine E. DuBeau is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Section of Geriatrics at the University of Chicago . She has been actively engaged in teaching, management, and research regarding urinary incontinence in older persons for nearly 15 years. Her research focuses on quality of life impact and patient-centered outcomes. She has published numerous articles and book chapters on urinary incontinence and benign prostate disease in such publications as the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Journal of Urology, American Geriatric Society (AGS) Geriatric Review Syllabus, Cassell et al's Geriatric Medicine, Oxford Textbook of Geriatric Medicine, the on-line textbook UpToDate, and Chapple et al’s Multidisciplinary Management of Female Pelvic Floor Dysfunction. She was a member of the Urinary Incontinence Technical Subgroup of the National Committee for Quality Assurance that developed the Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDISâ) regarding urinary incontinence, and chaired the Evaluation Committee for developing the National Association for Continence (NAFC) Blueprint for Continence Care in Assisted Living. Dr. DuBeau most recently co-chaired the Frail Elderly Committee for the 2004 3rd International Consultation on Incontinence. She is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, and in 2004 was awarded the AGS/NAFC Continence Care Champion Award. She is a dedicated teacher and lectures nationally and internationally on incontinence.
Page last modified 26 July 2009