Overactive Bladder (OAB) Symptoms

Overview

Overactive bladder is usually defined by frequent urination, nocturia, urinary urgency and urge incontinence. Symptoms of overactive bladder include the need to urinate more than 8 times a day, the need to urinate more than 2 times at night and failure to hold the bladder when you have the urge to urinate. There are some of the conditions that can cause overactive bladder and that include urinary tract infection, benign prostatic hyperplasia, pregnancy, childbirth, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, use of certain medications such as diuretics, excessive caffeine, and alcohol intake, being overweight or obese, and stroke. Some lifestyle changes may be needed to manage symptoms, for example reducing the intake of caffeine and alcohol, avoiding too much fluid intake before bed and bladder retraining. Other treatment methods include anticholinergic and beta-3 adrenergic medications, sacral and percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation therapy and botox injections into the bladder muscle.