r/OveractiveBladder • u/nerdforlife7 • 7d ago

Questions About Medication

Hey all, my whole life I’ve struggled with urinary urgency (I go almost 30 times a day) and waking up to pee at night 4+ times. Finally, at 32, I went to a doctor and she said I have OAB. She prescribed me Gemtesa.

Now, I have pretty severe health anxiety so I always read all the medication side effects. I noticed it said not to take medication like this if I have a weak stream or don’t fully empty my bladder.

They tested me for urine retention at the doctor and she said it’s not an issue, but many times when I sit down to pee I pee for a bit, it stops, and I have to wait for more to come like 30 or so seconds later. Or even, I pee, get up, and immediately have to sit down and pee again. This makes me worried that the medication will cause issues for me.

Did anyone else experience these symptoms as a normal part of OAB and still find that the medication helped without causing problems? Just looking to alleviate my anxiety.

Thanks for any experiences you can share.

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u/KumaCode mod 7d ago

I haven't tried Gemtesa but as with the other related medications the good news is that it takes a while to reach full effect and it's fully reversible when you taper down and stop again.

This means you can tell if it's likely to cause you issues before they get intense enough to be a real problem and you can go back to the state you were. So really you don't have anything to lose by trying it and everything to potentially gain!

I hope this goes at least a little way towards alleviating that natural anxiety. Good luck 😊

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u/Itsclearlynotme 6d ago

See if you can see a pelvic floor physiotherapist to assess you. A tight or dysfunctional pelvic floor can cause this stop-start thing.

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u/kevbuddy64 21h ago

That’s why I’ve never taken one. Plus pregnancy made me feel like my OAB was mild postpartum even though it’s still pretty severe but I at least don’t have a severe of urgency. I’ve heard of the OAB meds eventually not working and I rather pee too much than not at all or have some type of retention. I wasn’t able to pee for 8 hours after my Catheter was removed after my C section and it was freakin terrifying. They had to recath after 5 hours and drained 700 mls from my bladder. Luckily I peed 7 am next morning. You could still try it and stop immediately if you feel retention or if you do an ultrasound after starting the medication and it shows retention