This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

Hi all,
I'm a little concerned. I have never had bladder issues (except when I was pregnant of course). But last night, while I was sleeping, I peed the bed. I'm 23, how embarrassing. The really concerning thing is when I realised it and stood up to change, it was still coming out, there was nothing I could do to stop it. Has anyone else had this happen? Is this an MS thing? I have heard of other people having some bladder issues with MS, is this what happens? Thanks (and sorry if this is a gross question :/)

Niftybunny

Niftybunny – If you do a search on ThisIsMS, you will find bladder issues have been discussed here MANY times. This is a common problem, often in the form of incontinence or frequency, but I'm sure your experience is not unusual. If this happens repeatedly, it is a good topic of discussion with your doctor, although I do not believe he can FIX it. It is generally considered to happen when the detrusor muscle around the bladder (which contracts to push out urine) fails to coordinate with the sphincter muscle (which contracts to hold urine in) – one contracts while the other relaxes when your body wants either to release urine or hold it in.

In my personal opinion, this muscle problem results from excess insulin which is known to stiffen and thicken smooth muscles. The detrusor muscles and sphincter muscles ARE smooth muscles.

By the way, there are no gross questions for this group. We try to discuss ALL topics with sensitivity, you phrased the situation very well, very delicately.

Perhaps intermittent catheterization before bedtime would be one appropriate action. I'm sure other people here will have more ideas.

Get thee to a urologist or as soon as you can.
When I started having serious bladder problems (narry a drop coming out) everyone was only too happy to blame it on the MS, urologist included. But he did order all the standard tests. Cystoscopy, flow dynamics, prostate ultrasound & biopsy. That last one was a game changer. Ultrasound said: prostate enlarge to 4 times normal size. My problem had nothing to do with MS. But then my neuro had already told me this. His reasoning - no other concurrent MS issues - the bladder rarely acts up without company in MS he said.
Now I realize that as a girl, you don't have a prostate to screw up your plumbing BUT you did mention a pregnancy and that can do it too.
These problems often have a fairly simple fix. No need to live with an embarrassing situation if a uro can do something about it.
And nothing is too gross - we all got to stick together with these problems.

Thank you both for your support... I have a family doctor appointment on Tuesday for a previous issue, I think I'll bring up my little incident while I'm there. Never hurts to ask. My Mom informs me that this is normal and could just be that my body had not woken up before I got out of bed thus causing the loss of control. I am not sure wether I believe that or not. Thank you for the advice and support, I appreciate it! (Oh and pregnancy is definitely NOT the issue... my husband got a vasectomy shortly after we found out about my MS)

how did the appointment go?

It went well... or as well as can be inspected. It turns out I have a bladder infection (I don't feel the pain from them anymore due to the MS numbing the nerves that make it burn/hurt) but he's not sure wether a bladder infection would cause such extreme loss of control. So basically the plan is, do the antibiotics, get rid of the infection, and if it happens again, see my neurologist. So we shall see. Sorry I didn't update tuesday or yesterday, have been very busy potty training my daughter along with everything else .

Nifty

okay well at least information is good to have! re the infection and abx - will you also take probiotics too, to restore the beneficial gut flora? also re susceptibility to infection - have you had any bloodwork done re serum zinc status?

D mannose powder helps prevent UTIs better than cranberries pills or juice

TeresaL wrote:D mannose powder helps prevent UTIs better than cranberries pills or juice

All D-mannose did for me was cause me bad headaches - ditto re: cranberry juice.

On the other hand, black-cherry concentrate was wonderful for UTI, albeit without side effects.
(the more viscuous & sweeter, the better. These days, black-cherry is so sour, as to nearly resemble cranberries.
So it needs to be genuine STICKY black-cherry, not the many junk-cherry juices out there.

That's the only way it won't irritate - if you're prone to headaches.