Why am I leaking wee all of a sudden?

i was wearing tema pads daily, and saw a pelvic physio to no effect.
I went on HRT and lost weight due to other issues and the stress and urge incontinence has completely improved. No need for the pads anymore!

You've maybe not fully emptied your bladder. I once read an incontinence leaflet for women where one of the treatments was to wear something like a tampon - it stops the urgency. So I am thinking if your bowed is full it might stop you emptying your bladder fully just because of where everything can sit internally.

So don't worry. Just go again after initially going. I'm like this in the morning after a full night of lying down. I think my organs shift a bit in the lying down position. So just pause and try again.

Irritation, obstruction, laxity for example, would need to be examined.

I'm in my 60s and have noticed this over the last couple of years. It's not menopause related as I had my last period when I was 45. But I have gone back on estriol (after a long period without it) as have general bladder irritability and discomfort especially at night.

Be careful about doing too many PFE, I assumed the problem was that I was not doing enough, so upped the amount I was doing a day and now I have a very tight pelvic floor which I suspect is not helping!

I'm in peri and my periods are regular. I was having lots of symptoms so went to the Dr who did blood tests to rule out other things and said if they were normal (they were) then welcome to peri!

I have exactly what you describe so will have to try some of PP's suggestions

I'm 39 if it helps 😊

As others have said, rule out medical causes first.

Definitely invest in Knix or other "period underwear" as this will prevent smell from leaking.

I am 44, and had this. I had surgery last year to repair prolapse and mesh put around my bladder to provide more support. Best thing I ever did.

Have you checked if you have a UTI? If it is in your bladder/ higher up, you may not get the stinging sensation common with lower UTIs.

This can happen if your bladder hasn't fully emptied. Sometimes a weakening pelvic floor (age and weight gain can add to this) will retain a few tbsp of wee.

I'm in peri menopause and have suddenly developed urge and stress incontinence which I didn't have before.

In your case it sounds like your bladder muscles aren't emptying properly. But the cause needs to be found.

Peri menopause can be a trigger too

www.balance-menopause.com/menopause-library/urinary-incontinence-in-menopause-are-you-ignoring-the-symptoms/

Do you do your pelvic floor exercises daily? I do them at traffic lights. Helps me remember.

Common doesn't equal normal.

I'm not saying they shouldn't be sold, but the adverts make it sound like something we should just accept.

Is there a warning on screen to prompt that urinary incontinence is not normal and to consult your GP?

@Dotto

No I hate those fucking adverts. Leakage is not normal or something to simply put up with, whilst the manufacturers of 'pee pants' happily rake it in.
It's normal in the sense that millions of women suffer from it and working to resolve it isn't instant so pads/pants are required. Additionally some women will not be able to fully resolve the problem depending on the cause so again, incontinence pads/pads are required for them

And yes excess weight can exacerbate things

Urinary incontinence isn't just caused by childbirth. It is often caused by dropping estrogen. You are possibly entering perimenopause.

There are different types of incontinence
Stress: jumping/coughing etc
Urge: where you can not wait once the need arises
Incomplete voiding: what you describe

With incomplete voiding it can help to complete your wee, stand up for 10 seconds then sit back down and wee again. And wear a little liner

YES!! All of these! ❤️

I'd check for a UTI first

Then get a Perifit exerciser- great little feedback you, you play games on an app using the pelvic exerciser. Easy, simple, effective

strongly suggest vaginal oestrogen cream. It helped me more than kegels although they helped too. Also check out Dr Kelly Casperson on instagram. as well as the wonderful 'Gusset Grippers' woman, Elaine somebody.

I had this a few months ago and it seemed to come out of nowhere and just got worse and worse even though I thought I was doing kegals regularly (3 children vaginally).

I started using the squeezy app 3 times a day and it’s MUCH better now. Hardly ever leak. But I have to be very disciplined at doing the exercises. I also have weighted things that you insert but I actually think the squeezy app is better.

its all really distressing and I was absolutely disgusted with myself while it was bad, so you have my utmost empathy. It’s crap.

My pelvic physio said that to deal with this you should 'milk the urethra' after urinating. That involves doing a couple of lkegels after urinating, then having a good old shake/wiggle and then repeat both steps. But yes it does just get worse and worse from here on in. I would suggest acting fast and go to your gp and ask for a referral to a pelvic physio so that you can start doing kegels now.

If you're on Twitter, follow Elaine Miller @GussieGrips, she is very knowledgeable about all things related to women's pelvic floor, exercises, leaking, etc.

Ask the GP for a referral to a women's health physio or if you can afford it book a couple of sessions privately.
The exercises will probably be pilates based using bands and will exercise different areas of your pelvic floor.
She will also check for any prolapse or menopausal effects.

I could never get the hang of kegel exercises, so I bought one of these weighted tampons: link
You start with the larger one with fewer weights, and then work up to using all of the weights in the smaller tampon. I try to remember to use them when I brush my teeth, so that I’m using them regularly. I couldn’t hold them at all when I started, but you build up quite quickly, and they’ve made a huge difference to me.