Diabetes and Incontinence: Understanding the Connection
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As if dealing with your blood sugar wasn’t already enough on its own, having diabetes can also lead to incontinence. In this guide, we explain the various links between having diabetes and having incontinence and also walk through your options for managing your incontinence so you can live your life to the fullest.
The Link Between Diabetes and Incontinence
Just like there are several types of diabetes, there are several types of incontinence:
- Stress incontinence: Involuntary urination occurs when pressure is put on the bladder through sneezing, coughing, laughing, jumping, etc.
- Urge incontinence: The overwhelming urge to urinate is followed by the involuntary loss of urine.
- Overflow incontinence: Your bladder frequently leaks due to an inability to completely empty the bladder during voluntary urination.
Learn More About Managing Overflow Incontinence
- Functional incontinence: This is a physical or mental impairment that keeps you from making it to the bathroom in time when you get the urge.
- Mixed incontinence: Your incontinence is caused by two or more of the reasons outlined above.
Are you wondering, “Why do I pee so much?” There are several different ways that diabetes and its accompanying conditions can contribute to incontinence. First, obesity is a risk factor for diabetes, and being obese puts extra pressure on your bladder, which can trigger more frequent urination as well as leakage. Diabetes also compromises your immune system, which heightens your risk of developing a urinary tract infection, which can, in turn, lead to incontinence.
Having chronically high blood sugar can also cause nerve damage. While this nerve damage usually manifests in the extremities, in particular the feet and legs, it can occur in the nerves that control the bowel and bladder. If this happens, it can result in incontinence. Finally, certain medications used to control diabetes have incontinence as a side effect because they force glucose out of the blood and into the urine. This can irritate the urinary tract and lead to frequent urination.
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Diabetes may also trigger frequent urination by a different mechanism. High blood sugar levels, such as those seen with diabetes, can cause you to feel thirsty all the time. You’ll begin drinking more beverages to satiate that thirst, which will pass through your system and result in more frequent urination.
Your doctor will work with you to determine if your incontinence is caused by your diabetes or by another cause. Once they determine the cause(s), they will work with you to devise a treatment plan for your incontinence.
What Is Considered Frequent Urination?
Managing Incontinence with Diabetes
In the short term, using bladder control products for women — including popular brands such as Poise liners and Tena liners — will help keep you dry and comfortable and prevent urine leaks from seeping through to your clothes. Some incontinence treatments take a bit of time to work, so these products will help you keep living your daily life in the meantime.
If your doctor suspects that your diabetes medications are the trigger for your incontinence, they may change the dosage or switch you to a different medication that is less likely to have incontinence as a side effect. They may also prescribe medications that are specifically designed to help reduce incontinence, such as Mirabegron.
If your incontinence is caused by weak bladder and pelvic muscles, then your doctor might have you do a pelvic exercise regimen that includes Kegels and other moves. These exercises are specifically designed to target the internal muscles that govern your urinary and bowel movements. By consciously tightening and releasing those muscles, you will increase their strength and reduce any chances of leaks.
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Your physician might also recommend that you try bladder training. There are several different approaches to bladder training, including using the bathroom at only certain times of day, or gradually lengthening the intervals between your bathroom trips. Over time, you’ll build up your physical and mental stamina until you only need to use the bathroom several times a day instead of several times an hour.
If your incontinence is partly caused by constipation — which puts pressure on all of your pelvic floor, including your urinary tract — then your doctor will likely prescribe a high fiber diet and also possibly stool softeners or laxatives to get things going. If excess weight is also putting pressure on your bladder, then they may recommend trying to lose some.
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