Lifestyle tips

Do any of you find incontinence a problem as you gain? I've been having some stress incontinence and my doctor blames it on my weight.

The doctors blame everything on weight. It just makes it easy so that they don't have to figure anything out.

sadly johnxyz, there are several reason's why obesity leads to incontinence in some already susceptible people. One is that in women, the short urethra cannot support a column of urine with a pressure greater than the muscles that control the sphincter. That is in most cases only about 5-7 pounds. Men have much less of a problem because their urethra runs the entire length of the pelvis plus the penis and they have a built in protection system. In fat women, the pressure from the abdomen actually shortens the urethra and causes the sphincter to leak at lower pressures, because the distance from bladder to the outside world is shorter.

second. prolonger high blood sugar, hyperglycemia, causes damage to nerves. Usually over a long period of time. This causes the nerves that go to the bladder and the sphincter to be dysfunctional and the bladder and sphincter do not contract and relax at the same time as they should. This also leads to urinary incontinence in obese people....women far moreso than men.

Please keep in mind before posting a harsh and vitreous reply, that I adore fat chicks, and wish this were not so. I'm simply relaying the physiology behind why it is so. And sweetstuff, it may well be because of your weight. It also may not be. I have never seen you, and cannot say. But it is very possible that weight may play a factor, or be causative. I sincerely hope that you are not upset by my reply, and I also hope that you evaluate this issue further before allowing it to be blamed upon your weight before it has been properly determined that weight is to blame.

The real issue is that with far too many GPs and primary care docs, blaming stuff on our weight is an easy out, especially if there is some possibility it's true, as pfab outlined in this case.

If you were a slender person, they would do a series of thinking and tests, which they should do with you, too. If you can politely say to the dr. 'I know it might be from my weight, but in case it isn't, could we go through the normal diagnostic procedure you would do with a thinner person?', the doc will be hard put to deny you. The challenge, of course, is to keep your righteous anger, shame, or any other negative emotion out of your voice when you ask. Sigh.

It isn't true that all women experience incontinence after childbirth. I didn't. But it is not uncommon, that's for sure.

Some people say that doing Kegel exercises can help control mild incontinence--always worth a shot. There are loads of pages about how to do 'em if you google, and you can also buy a Kegel exerciser. (Don't ask, just read.)