Why/ how do bladders get weaker with age?

[TERFCat]

When I was younger, I could go hours without a wee.

These days, I'm fatter, yet I can barely last an hour without feeling the need to go!

Has my bladder got smaller?

Any tips on how to make it work better?

Well, if you are of peri meno/meno age, it is because the lack of oestrogen in your vaginal/bladder wall has decreased and the membranes are thinner.

I was exactly the same until two years ago. I'd have 6 wees before bed and two in the night.

Now I sleep for 7 hrs straight and wee every 3 or 4 hours.

The difference is HRT and topical oestrogen cream.

I completely agree with this. Not much is said about how lack of oestrogen affects the urethra and bladder. You don’t always need to be on HRT patches or oral tablets (although for me they were life changing) as topical oestrogen cream applied to vulva and internally to vagina can be very effective and can be used by women for whom patches or other systemic HRT is a health risk(previous cancer /stroke etc)

@Droolylabradors 100 per cent agree. Was so bad I could barely leave the house. Seriously. Ovestin cream is like a miracle and I’ve just been on two 9 hour plane trips (there and back obvs) and only went to the loo twice on each trip. Would’ve been utterly impossible before. It’s changed my life x

No HRT for me and my bladder is fine and I went through the menopause years ago.

Since I was a teenager I have peed twice a day unless I'm on holiday or it's exceptionally hot here and I drink more and then I might pee three times a day. I'm as regular as clockwork.

@DrJoanAllenby Think yourself lucky! x

I'm on HRT tablets and pee all the time - up every couple of hours in the night. I've started restricting what I drink, because it's such a pain and actually I don't drink that much at all. It doesn't seem to matter what I do, I'm still constantly at the loo.

Any suggestions?

@Hatty65 yes vaginal oestrogen. Just systemic HRT isn't enough.

I found out I needed it when I was visiting the pelvic physio for stress incontinence. She sent me to the GP for ovestin cream.

Listen to Kelly Casperson wherever you get your podcasts, she's a US gynae and is evangelical about the use of vaginal. Oestrogen, as is my GP and Gynae consultant.

Elaine Miller (GussieGrips) is very good on this stuff. Doing that thing where you go 'just in case' turns out to be self-defeating in the long run.

More like she's dehydrated only weeing that much!

Possibly yes. Honestly before the vaginal estrogen I was weeing every half hour. My bladder was so sensitive.

Thanks for this thread. I’m on HRT and the same. Have even mentioned this symptom to GP who’s not done much with it.

I’m also on levothyroxine and was told this speeds up your metabolism so you want to pee more and I’m on a tablet for that so will try to get that changed to the cream.

I mean it’s an embarrassing symptom anyway.

I am like @DrJoanAllenby and not dehydrated.
I sleep most nights without going to the loo and on can go for 6 hours during the day without needing the toilet.

I don't drink coffee, I mostly drink clear teas/herbal or normal, water or very diluted juice. I don't have fizzy drinks and I tend to dilute wine with soda.

I am gluten free and try to avoid too much sugar which I think helps.

As far as I know, the body has to keep blood at a very narrow electrolyte balance, so will try to flush out too much salt or sugar via the urine so if U keep intake of those in check the balance is better maintained.

I've been weeing for many, many years now and I'm guessing that it is a bit like those springs on a trampolines - everything losed its elasticity over time.

P.S. I'm not a doctor, in fact I'm not in the medical professional at all.

@Droolylabradors Thank you so much! I have never even heard of this, to be honest. And I have stress incontinence that I just assumed was normal after giving birth several times and going through menopause.

I'm going to make a GP appointment and enquire about this.

I never go to the loo overnight. I go every few hours during the day though.

I don’t get this. I’m menopausal- I’m 58 - and on medication that strip me of oestrogen. I don’t need to empty my bladder any more than I used to. I could go all day without needing to. I never get up at night.

Not all menopausal women suffer with atrophy but lots do and not all of those seek help.

To the ladies who don’t have any problem that’s great that you don’t suffer from this but OP was asking what it could be and those of us that have had problems had replied. We aren’t saying everyone gets this just relaying our own experience. Lots of women are absolutely fine through menopause but many more are not.
My menopause consultant told me that sometimes HRT patches or tablets are not enough and locally applied oestrogen cream /pessaries are still needed.

@Hatty65 the doctor will definitely be able to help you with urinary /stress incontinence so many women suffer from this and think the only solution is to wear pads. There are tablets available to help with this and exercises. No one should have to put up with it. I was lucky that I didn’t have this just the urinary frequency but I didn’t have a vaginal/natural birth. It’s a lot more common than you might think.
@DaBlackCatsAreDaBestCats I agree vaginal atrophy is not mentioned as much as hot flushes mood swings etc. I didn’t have a clue when my doctor mentioned it and one GP had been misdiagnosing me with thrush for years! I think it’s all part of the shame and misogyny about menopause. If men had it they’d get free prescriptions and sick leave !

@667TheNeighbourOfTheBeast I was back and forth to the doctors for years. Constant UTIs that never seemed to clear up. Was tested for thrush. Was given steroid cream. Referred to a gynaecologist. Nothing any of them did helped me. I did my own research and realised it could be a drop in estrogen. Ovestin cream worked almost straight away and it’s given me my life back. Atrophy really isn’t talked about enough x

I was over 60 when starting to have problems. The urogynae consultant when I was referred for a hysterectomy prescribed Ovestin and it's great. I could not manage without it but don't think GPs often think to offer it and women are far less aware of vaginal atrophy and Ovestin than they are of HRT.

@Horsewhisperers Exactly. It’s not often mentioned when listing menopausal symptoms. It should be. Left untreated it’s debilitating x

My mum started becoming incontinent and it bothered her so much she reduced the amount she drank.

The health visitor/incontinence nurse said that the bladder is a muscle and the less you use it the worse the incontinence will get.

You're better off drinking lots of water and trying to hold off going to toilet as long as possible.

I was starting the menopause when this happened and was starting to have to rush to the toilet as soon as I walked in the door after work, and was getting up during the night.

I'm now 56 and sleep through and am no longer crossing my legs as I walk io the driveway 😁

Thanks for all the comments/ tips. The estrogen stuff is interesting.

I'm 35, so not menopausal yet.

There used to be a poster on here years ago who was very knowledgeable about this. Key thing was to try to hold off going for as long as possible. You need to train your bladder to recognise when it's really full.