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Bladder Control Tips for Diabetics

A commonality between people with diabetes is that over time they usually have problems related to diabetic neuropathy. One common problem men and women have is urinary incontinence. Stress incontinence is a type of incontinence that causes urine to leak from the bladder when stress is put on the bladder. For instance you could leak urine when you cough or sneeze. It isn’t uncommon to leak urine when laughing really hard. You may also leak urine when lifting something heavy.

Controlling your bladder can be difficult when you have diabetes mellitus because of diabetic neuropathy. You may not feel the urge to urinate when your bladder is full. Men and women can dribble because they have full bladders and don’t know it. Some men and women can lack control of their bladders while they are sleeping. Again, diabetic neuropathy is usually the culprit. The following tips will help you gain control over your bladder, in spite of having diabetic neuropathy.

A good way to gain control of your bladder, when you are diabetic is to schedule times to go to the toilet to urinate, even when you don’t feel the urge to go. Often, when you sit down on the toilet, you will spontaneously begin to urinate. If you go to the restroom every two to three hours, you will be able to empty your bladder as needed. Before going to bed, you should limit your fluid intake, and use the toilet before lying down for the night. If you wake up during the night, get up and go to the restroom, even if you don’t feel the urge to go.

To protect your clothing, you may want to use incontinent pads in your underwear. Because lack of bladder control is such a common condition, you can find incontinent pads for men and women in pharmacies, grocery stores, and department stores. Incontinent pads are very effective in catching urine that dribbles from the body, and when you are wearing them, you can feel confident that your clothes will not be wet. You can feel confident about your personal hygiene.

Men and women who have type 2 diabetes have a higher risk of having bladder control problems than people who are not diabetic. In order to empty your bladder muscles contract to push urine out of the bladder and through the urethra and out of the body. Don’t try to limit your drinking during your waking hours, because you don’t want to cause dehydration. By causing dehydration you could cause more complications with your diabetes.

If you are having bladder control issues, you should limit the amount of alcohol you ingest. Being a diabetic, you must be careful of how much alcohol you drink, because alcohol is metabolized into glucose. Caffeine could also add difficulties to your efforts to control your bladder. It is important that you limit your caffeine, because it acts like a diuretic. Caffeine can help to dehydrate you, by causing you to urinate more often than your normally would, which could aggravate bladder control issues.

Your doctor may be able to treat your urinary incontinence by treating your diabetic neuropathy. Many of the nerves and muscles that work together to indicate an urge to urinate are out of your control. Your doctor may suggest medications that help you to regain some control of your bladder. Confiding in your doctor can be embarrassing, but you need to communicate your difficulties, because your doctor may be able to help you.

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