If you are experiencing episodes of incontinence and you are also taking an antidepressant, your medication could be the cause of your continence problem. There are a wide variety of antidepressants and they are made up of different chemical components and some may even help prevent an existing incontinence problem but most will simply create one.
If this becomes a serious problem, don’t hesitate to visit your doctor to discuss what can be done. It’s possible that your physician can prescribe a different medication that has less of a chance to cause a continence problem. Whatever you do, don’t simply stop taking the depressant to stop the incontinence. A sudden cessation of taking antidepressants can result in some serious behavior problems.
The reason that many of these chemicals adversely affect continence is that they tend to rob the bladder of its elasticity. The bladder is really a set of muscles and it squeezes the urine into the urethra when it senses it is full. The antidepressant hinders that process and as a result the bladder can’t empty completely. That of course doesn’t stop the urine from still entering the bladder and this can cause an overflow which will result in a leakage.
The other reason that antidepressants can affect continence is that they can mask the feeling that it’s time to use the bath room.
If you cannot change your medication, or if the new medication doesn’t completely clear up the problem then you can manage your incontinence problem using products designed to do just that.
You may be surprised how these products have improved recently but now you have any number to choose from and they are gender specific. Gone are the days of the adult diaper. Today there are pads, pants, mattress covers and other products that can make living with incontinence much easier and far more discreet.