Do you have trouble with “Heartburn”, sometimes called GERD etc.? If so, are you on some kind of medication for it? Do you also have OAB and are on some kind of medication for it such as Ditropan? Did you know that Ditropan can exacerbate GERD? It’s not well known, seemingly, but Ditropan (Oxybutynin Tablets) is an anticholinergic drug and may therefore decrease gastrointestinal motility which can precipitate GERD. It can also cause dry eyes and constipation among other problems. So, if you started on Ditropan to help you “make it to the bathroom” to keep from wetting your pants and it really helped!!…and then suddenly you started noticing you were having trouble with heartburn which you had thought was well under control with all the conservative measures you were using such as raising the head of your bed, eating supper earlier and eating nothing for four hours or so prior to bedtime, skipping very spicy foods as well as citrus fruits or juices, as well as skipping other foods that seemed to give you GERD. Then all of a sudden you started having trouble again and you thought back and correlated the fact that this all started about the same time as you had started the Ditropan. Then you said , “Darn, I’m either going to have GERD and keep on the Ditropan or I’m going to stop the Ditropan and get my GERD back under control.” If you are on medication for GERD then perhaps this is not a problem for you. However, my advice would be that you control your GERD with conservative measures (see above) rather than stay on medications for it long term. Now, back to the problem of OAB. You can try Kegel exercises, which I highly recommend but this may or may not completely resolve your OAB. And then also remember that GERD (long term) can cause serious problems including esophageal cancer. I know this first hand as my Aunt died from it. She had suffered from GERD for many years and as can happen the esophageal tissue as the esophagus empties into the stomach starts to change (the cells lining that area) to try to adjust to the acidity of the gastric juice that has regurgitated back up into the esophagus from the stomach. Well, when cells start trying to change, this can precipitate cancer. Which can most certainly kill you as it did my Aunt. So, you have a dilemma. I wish I had an answer for you. OAB and GERD present problems. Do not ignore either. Talk to your Doctor about this and Good Luck.
Would love to hear comments.
