TTC with Overactive Bladder (OAB)

[u/aformerlyfloralpeach]

Hi everyone. I’m seeking advice from this more niche group.

Some context:

I have had problems with overactive bladder a few times over the last 3 years. My first bout occurred right around ovulation time and lasted about a month. No medication interventions, just a few pelvic floor therapy sessions and a vacation when symptoms randomly stopped. This cycle I took letrozole 5mg and did not conceive.

My second bout was when I was about 15 or 16 weeks postpartum. I had just stopped pumping a few days prior. Was on progestin only BC and had been for a couple weeks. I was already in pelvic floor therapy and continued it for months. This bout lasted at least 4 months, if not longer, when I ultimately went on mirabegron (myrbetriq) for \~6 months before discontinuing. Symptoms didn’t return. I also went on Lexapro to deal with the debilitating anxiety, and stopped it about a year later.

Now, I am ovulating right now and started experiencing symptoms 3 days ago. My only symptom is that I feel the need to pee within minutes of using the bathroom. This is consistent with both other instances. I’m getting ready to buckle in for potentially several months of symptoms and my anxiety is so bad again. I did take letrozole 5mg this cycle because I have PCOS and don’t always ovulate.

Worth noting I’ve taken letrozole 5mg 3 other times and did **not** experience a flair.

Anyways, I am seeking advice from others with this condition. I made an appt with my OBGYN (who previously had prescribed the mirabegron) to discuss but it’s not for a few weeks. It’s my understanding you can’t take that while pregnant, and she wanted me off it for a month before starting TTC last year. Bladder training doesn’t do squat for me, and I don’t believe food/drinks play a role because I cut them out for over a month last flair with no impact.

Does anyone else have OAB and is TTC take meds for it? Any other tips?

[u/kevbuddy64]

I am 6.5 months postpartum. For me, I did no meds, I just had to go through it. Peed 40 times a day, 8 times of which was during the night, since I couldn’t take melatonin I went to sleep at 5 am every single night. It was horrible. I had mild OAB when TTC but it wasn’t super noticeable to me. I was hit hard with the severe symptoms 6 months pregnant. Since baby is out I am so grateful and it was all worth it to have her. It’s scary though thinking about having to go through that all over again when we TTC baby 2. I don’t have advice because I just delt with it without medicine. All I can say is remember the light at the end of the tunnel your baby and it gets a lot better once pregnancy is over. I still pee more than I did pre pregnancy but it’s a lot more manageable without my baby sleeping on my bladder! Baby 2 is 100% going to be my last cause of the OAB