Loss of Bladder & Sphincter Muscle Control
 

Since being diagnosed this past December with MG, I’ve done copious amounts of reading and research on Myasthenia Gravis and have found no mention of muscle weakness pertaining to bladder control and sphincter control.

I did want to bring this to the Forum but do not want to appear indelicate. It seems that both of these matters have become troublesome for me in that when I have to pee, I have to pee NOW, and also there are bits of poo that release themselves involuntarily - no matter the time of day or what level of activity I’m experiencing. :eek:

I think that for me, this might be part of the generalized muscle weakness that presents with MG.

Does anyone have similar experiences or ideas they might be willing to share?

Thank you.

My urinary sphincter was one of the first muscles that became weak. I have much less problems now that I am being treated for MG.

When this first happened to me, I asked my doc about it. He told me mg shouldn't affect urinary or sphincter. My response was that I understood mg affected any muscle you have control over and the last time I checked, I had control over when I peed or poo'd. He got a funny look on his face and said he hadn't really thought if it that way!

So yes, it probably is the mg! Sorry you are experiencing this.

For some odd reason, I'm glad to know that others have experienced the same and that I'm not alone or weird. Thanks for the replies.

Me too! Just thought it was another unrelated problem. I now realize it is related to my MG. Just started these problems 6 months ago after 7 years of mg
Thanks
Mike

Or a more scientific approach to why MG sometimes affects urination might help your doctor.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-li...s/art-20045283

The bladder muscles are smooth muscles, but they still need acetylcholine to function. MG affects skeletal muscles, which surround the bladder and sphincter.

A B12 deficiency or other nerve conditions can also affect bladder function.

And if you use any muscle more, the weaker it will get. Do doctors also swear to not use common sense while doctoring?

Annie

Hi finuch,
In fact we have 2 sphincters, one inside the bladder is a smooth muscle and should not be affected by MG whereas the external sphincter is a a skeletton muscle and therefore might be affected by MG...
Maurice.

Just re read and my problem is different my bladder is holding onto the pee but I'm also having a lot of other issues that go along with dysautonomia so my doctor is ordering a tilt table test along with a muscle biopsy with the suspicioun that along with MG I have a mitochondria disease. Do you have any other autonomic problems?

For me, bladder issues like the ones you describe started when I started mestinon. I never had any bladder problems before using mestinon, even though I had weakness for a year before diagnoses.

If someone stays with me for a day, they're all like :eek: because I pee waterfalls every hour or so. They're like; how, why, what, where does it come from!
In the car when it's over an hour driving, I always have to say: can you stop? Drivers always say kind of grumpy: can't you just hold it for 15 more minutes or so? ehh...NO! Because like you, when I need to pee I really need to find a toilet in 5 minutes.

I'm loosing pee too sometimes, which sucks.
Luckily, I do not experience any poo losing problems (I am almost fulltime constipated so am already years more in control of poo because I use medicine to go and they work in 2 hours so I'll just plan my poops... Yeah okay, maybe tmi :rolleyes: )

Anyway, be sure to have it checked.

Ravenclaw, Not to be insensitive, but what color is your urine? Is it pale?

Are you on Pred?

My concern is that you might have diabetes mellitus (sugar diabetes) or diabetes insipidus (water diabetes). Have you been to an endocrinologist about this? If not, please do!

Maurice, Thanks for saying that. I was speaking of the bladder only. MG can decrease peristalsis and Mestinon can speed it up way too much (varies for everyone).

Annie