My diagnosis was over 4 years ago. Up until this year, my symptoms seemed pretty controllable. They still are-controllable-but becoming more impeding on my daily life.
One thing that's cropped up-for which I am a little embarrassed to ask about-are bladder spasms. I have had what I THOUGHT were infections-3 in the past 2 months-but this last one is not going away with antibiotics and rather than "burn" it feels like my bladder is spasming. Does anyone else suffer from this? and if so, should I suggest any particular test to my primary care physician? He has been very helpful but does not always know what to look for with parkinsons.
If you'd prefer, you could PM me, that would be appreciated, too! Thanks in advance for your advice!

Have just noticed your mood tag.Hope you feel brighter soon.And despite the lovely invitation to pm with THIS one I feel that no...[and this is only my personal opinion] it is a good time to spill about some of these hush hush issues. We are all in this together...all of us I guess have wanted to die of embarrassment at some point but hey..we get over it.
Boy...I used to pee myself laughing BEFORE I got Parkinsons so heck..no excuse then.
But I am sorry you are going through an uncomfortable time.In all seriousness this is a common symptom that certainly does infringe on our freedom to a great degree... and I empathise greatly.I hope the infection has gone because that is so very painful and can make you feel really ill and fluey
I of course am no expert, but it seems that the pathways from brain to muscle are responsible yet again for this lack of the bladder knowing when to detect if there are a couple of cuploads of fluid in there or a teaspoon.Apparently under normal brain functions,the brain knows to repress voiding..until we find a loo....but with PD,these signals are compromised and apparently the bladder gets the urge when only a few drops of urine are present.It becomes overactive.Again we can parallel this to what is happening to our limbs..the stuff we can see.I guess until it is upon us we don`t think about our internal bits going to the wall cos we can`t see them..but they are affected by this confusion in the correct signals of when to tighten and when to relax just as much.Perhaps the spasms are because of this change in normal activity of the bladder.

But..as my gp once said to me..don`t pin everything on Parkinsons which is a wise comment I think but it would seem a big possibility.
I hope you get some relief from this soon.Drugs are available so it doesn`t need to be suffered unneccessarily.


If it weren`t for the fact that you must be suffering so much with this...I would tell you a funny story about my peeing disaster.But another time..when you are feeling better perhaps...

Hugs
Steff

steff thanks for your kind and gentle approach to this topic! And I always appreciate humor...so my next step will be to get to my pcp and get some testing done...yah hoo!

PS...Funny stories about peeing disasters are welcome...I have already done the old crossing of the legs when sneezing....

I do not have P.D but had voiding problems so what your doctor says on not blaming everything on P.D is very true.It may be P.D but it may not.I have seen a varirty of consulants and a herbalist and this is what I have learnt.If you have this problem and it is not an infection do the following.Slowly give up drinking tea and coffee as they irritate the bladder.(Slowly drop one cup a day or you will get one h*** of a headache)Do not drink fruit drinks or wine as too acid.Roobosh or redbush tea is a good and o.k Available in Health shops and Supermarkets in UK ,Avoid spicey food.When I am very bad I can only drink bottled water as even the chlorine causes problems.I know this is a drag but I have done it for the last 20 years an it is well worth it.

If it is an infection it will take a while to calm down even after the infection has gone.My heart goes out to you as this is a miserable condition.

Thanks ECD, good advice....I know, I need to give up coffee....I only drink a couple cups a day, but am sure that makes a difference & luckily stay away from fruit juices and wines...will take your advice into consideration & increase my water supply as much as I can stand; am seeing my doctor tomorrow. It is a little worrisome because 1) of parkinson's; 2) recurrent UTI in such a short span of time-are my kidneys involved? What's going on & 3) my (late) uncle and mother have the same type of bladder cancer, which their doctors have found to be familial, with no regard to age or sex.
It's probably nothing...

ECD-my doc echoed exactly this today. Thank you so much.

Oh my gosh, this is just too coincidental to be coincidental.

Any of you who don't like talking about ... let's say the "ugly" part of PD, quit reading now.

A couple of days ago, I noticed that one part of my internal organ ... yes, in THAT area, is sagging, literally. Talk about a wake up call. This came in conjunction with a little dribbling effect when I use the "loo" (or the "Lou" my dad says, because his BOSS was named Lou, and my dad's name is John which is what we name the "loo" here in the U.S.) We could get into a topic about rubbers, but we'll save that for another day. LOL

Okay, so tonight I shocked the pool and needed to get in it this evening to see if some good ole' elbow grease would do the trick (it didn't). My period just started yesterday so ... excuse me boys, cover your eyes ... but there was no way in heck that the tampon I inserted was going to stay.

I cried, I scrubbed, I cried, I scrubbed, I hid my tears by turning the other way ... I ran to the bathroom after said tampon did fall out ... I scrubbed again, I cried again, and then it was time to take the dog for a walk.

I told my husband about it and said that I would research the topic on the website. Honest, this was no longer than 15 minutes ago.

I typed in the search engine tampon, then vagina, and then finally incontinence. I truly couldn't believe my eyes that this discussion took place TODAY.

And, so, even though I'm teetering on the edge of keeping my sanity, this thread; this topic; and the people behind this topic is what keeps me ticking. First and foremost is my faith, but this PD "family" is the only one who truly understands. I feel so very blessed.

Anyway, I really DO need some questions answered so I'll try to stay on topic.

Will medication help with what I descriibed? Surgery? (Just cutting away my insides?!!) I know how to do kegels (having given birth to five children) and I do believe that this would still be possible for me to achieve, but will the disease eventually progress to the point that the muscle tone is gone, and the neuro transmitters simply can't connect, so doing kegels is out of the question?

Something tells me that I don't want to know the answer to this, but heck .. lay it on the line and maybe all of us can find humor in a very depressing subject.

And I, too, have some funny stories that I'd be willing to share but, for now, my bed is calling my name.

Gosh, God is good. How else can you explain the above?

bladder prolapse.

do the kegels. be consistent with doing them.

as much as you probably hate the thought...don't use tampons while you are strengthening those muscles.

also watch your diet so you don't get constipated. you don't want any added pressure on the pelvic floor. when you "push" be sure to use the right muscles.

i ran a chain of all ladies health clubs for years. plus with my education..i have a lot of experience in helping woman.

if the kegels don't work, the surgery is a bladder tack. it pulls the bladder back up and tightens the muscles to hold it in place.

this is more common than you think. it happens to many women after having a hysterectomy or childbirth.

pm me if you want. i know this subject can be embarrassing. heck..i owe you a pm...but my recent move has taken the wind out of me.

Hi everyone ,no matter where i go Curious is one step ahead
thank goodness always right.. Well back to PN ok squeeze
see that's better. Good luck.