Anyone taking Vesicare?

[Hollyd]

I'm not even sure what I have yet. One doc (uro-gyn) who was obnoxious said I have "bladder pain syndrome" and if it continues it would be called IC. She gave me elavil but knowing that drug I didn't want to take it.

I then saw a gyn who seems to know some uro stuff (I was having gyn problems as well) and he gave me vesicare (solifenacin succinate) which he said has only been out for about 2 years but addresses the same things as elavil but without all the terrible side effects. I've been on it for just a few days. He had to do a biopsy on me for gyn issues in the hospital 2 days ago and said he does many cystoscopies and can do that as well and so he did. No cancer in either place and he didn't see any signs of IC he said. He's calling it Overactive Bladder but as I read about that, that's basically an urgency issue and I don't have any urgency at all.

I have crazy frequency - up to 40+ times per day when this started about a month ago and pressure and pain. I have an appt. with a uro who is supposed to be excellent but can't get in until March 7 so I just let this doc do the cystoscopy. He knows the uro and is sending pictures, reports, etc to this guy.

I was just wondering if anyone has had any experience with Vesicare and if it helped them.

Thanks.

Holly

[lovely330]

i'm sorry that you're having so much trouble with your doctors! i have frequency and urgency and vesicare has helped me alot. ive tried ditropan and detrol la and i had bad side effects with them. i haven't had any side effects at all with vesicare. O and one more good thing about vesicare is that if you go to their website and request the free information, they'll send you all kinds of coupons for $25 off your prescription...so that definately helps. good luck!

[Sarojini]

I hope the Vesicare helps you. The Vesicare is more like Detrol, Ditropan, and those other drugs you see on TV with the "gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now" commercials. It was designed for overactive bladder and to stop leaking in those who do leak.

Some ICers have good luck with it because it can stop some bladder spasms.

I've never taken Vesicare, but have taken drugs in that family, and they did not help me. I ended up retaining urine on them, which was very uncomfortable. However, we're all different, as you see from the previous post -- Vesicare worked for lovely :)

[Hollyd]

i'm sorry that you're having so much trouble with your doctors! i have frequency and urgency and vesicare has helped me alot. ive tried ditropan and detrol la and i had bad side effects with them. i haven't had any side effects at all with vesicare. O and one more good thing about vesicare is that if you go to their website and request the free information, they'll send you all kinds of coupons for $25 off your prescription...so that definately helps. good luck!

thanks lovely. I've only been on it for 6 days now and I'm having a hard time knowing what is being caused by the cystoscopy and what is just me having pain etc. Because of the scope they've wanted me to drink 2-3 litres of water and I've done pretty much just over 2 litres and I'm having TERRIBLE pain which is kind of typical for me if I drink that much water. I'm an American living in Australia and it's summer and HOT here so I do have to drink a lot.

I'm noticing retention from it and I think it's causing my constipation because it is a side effect but it's hard to know if I'm not still recovering from all the meds given for the surgery and painkillers. Right now all I'm seeing is no relief plus some negative side effects possibly added. Waaaaaaa!

I can't use the coupons over here but I'm paying approx. $40 US for 5mg/ 30 tablets. I noticed it's WAY more expensive over there. You can buy it online to be shipped there if you send your prescription. I have a couple of online pharmacies I use here. I think you can PM me and I can give you some links that I know are good if you're interested. If you can't PM me just let me know here. I'm not sure if we're allowed to post places to buy things.

Sorry for all the complaining. I'm just lost for what to do.

[Hollyd]

I hope the Vesicare helps you. The Vesicare is more like Detrol, Ditropan, and those other drugs you see on TV with the "gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now" commercials. It was designed for overactive bladder and to stop leaking in those who do leak.

Some ICers have good luck with it because it can stop some bladder spasms.

I've never taken Vesicare, but have taken drugs in that family, and they did not help me. I ended up retaining urine on them, which was very uncomfortable. However, we're all different, as you see from the previous post -- Vesicare worked for lovely :)

Thanks Jen. I had been leaking a tiny bit, completely unrelated to needing to go or anything I could name, just completely unaware and that seems to have stopped. Of course that was freaking me out. As you say, it's supposed to be antispasmodic. I guess I'll have to wait and see if the pain just continues even after plenty of time to have recovered from the cystoscopy. (Seems I should be after 6 days). I hear that the other drugs in that category cause worse side effects.

I'm just grateful to get to share and learn here. I really appreciate people's responses.

Holly

[Roxie2007]

HI Holly, Vesicare didn't work for me. It made my IC problems worse and it gave me severe constipation.
Elavil is what has given me the most relief.......and no side effects. Maybe you should give it a try. Good luck. Roxie

[Hollyd]

HI Holly, Vesicare didn't work for me. It made my IC problems worse and it gave me severe constipation.
Elavil is what has given me the most relief.......and no side effects. Maybe you should give it a try. Good luck. Roxie

Hi Roxie,

I kind of wish the dr. didn't start me on it until after all the recovery from my cystoscopy so I could know what is what. Pain and desperation just makes you jump and try things. (Started it the day before). I can't tell whether the constipation is now coming from pain relievers or Vesicare or both and I'm definitely noticing a retention problem where I just have to sit and wait that is characteristic of this drug and wondering if it is causing pain all on it's own or whether being post cysto. it's exacerbating the soreness already there. Then on top of that there's is my usual pain!

I called the doc yesterday and he's having me checked for an infection today but I really don't think I have one. He thinks 6 days on Vesicare isn't enough to see if I get a benefit.

Can I ask how many mg. of elavil you take? That's great that you don't have any symptoms. It can also cause retention and constipation + weight gain. But we're all so individual. I'm on so much medication for sleep that conflicts with it, I'd have to sort that out a bit.

Still hanging out for my March 7 appt. with a urologist who is supposed to be good.

Thanks for the suggestion. That might be where I go next.

Holly

[Roxie2007]

HI! I take 25 mg. of Elavil each night. I also take meds for sleep, Lunesta. Using both I sleep well now! lol It's great! I've had a sleep disorder since I was a kid.
I know what you mean about desperation! My IC was out of control before the Elavil. I've taken Aloe Vera for 2 yrs and that's helped a lot with the pain but the frequency was still bad.
I always feel like I have an infection but I never do...it's just the IC. My dr. puts me on 5 days of Cipro anyway and that calms things down.
Feel free to write me at Roxie2006@sbcglobal.net if you need someone to talk to thru all this. Take care and good luck with your Dr. appt. Roxie

[Gingerlily1]

I tried Vesicare for 1 1/2 weeks but it made me retain urine so I stopped. It's supposed to be used daily rather than on an "as needed" basis but I've tried using it a few times when I was having bad bladder spasms and it seemed to help. It has a very long half-life which I guess is not good if the side effects have a long half-life too.

[Hollyd]

I tried Vesicare for 1 1/2 weeks but it made me retain urine so I stopped. It's supposed to be used daily rather than on an "as needed" basis but I've tried using it a few times when I was having bad bladder spasms and it seemed to help. It has a very long half-life which I guess is not good if the side effects have a long half-life too.

Hi Gingerlily,

Do you know if the urine retention is bad on it's own? I'm just wondering if there is information on that.

I can't imagine how it could be a good thing. The first doc I saw, a urogyn who was obnoxious but supposedly an expert on IC/PBS said urinary retention is what I want, when I told her I had it on only 5mg of elavil (starting out really low for depression, years ago). I think it sets you up to strain which can't be good and I still have frequency, I just have to wait for it so I really can't understand how that's supposed to help. She acted like retention was going to stop the frequency. It doesn't in me.

Thanks for your input.

Holly

[Gingerlily1]

My understanding is that urinary retention makes you more prone to infections. I have a terrible problem with infections so I am very leery of anything that would cause retention. My main problems with frequency and urgency are caused by infection, so they pretty much resolve when I'm on antibiotics. My biggest problem is pain (primarily urethral burning and urethral spasms, although I defintely have bladder pain/spasms too). So I was taking Vesicare with hopes that it would decrease the spasms that cause pain, not because I have frequency, urgency, or leakage.

[sami4]

You might give Enablex a try. It acts differently from the other bladder meds in that it only targets the bladder muscle itself and seems to help a lot with bladder spasms. I have tried it and had few side effects. I had a bowl of cereal every morning with 15 grams of fiber and was never constipated. At the time I thought it stopped working because at night I still had nocturia, but I have recently found out I have sleep apnea and so it wasnt the Enablex that was the problem it was the Apnea.
Sammi

[Hollyd]

Thanks Gingerlily and Sammi.

Sammi, my doc told me that Vesicare also only targets the bladder but I'm sure everyone reacts to each medicine differently. Maybe Enablex might be good for me. I've written it down. I'm so sorry you have sleep apnea on top of everything else!

Can anyone tell me how long you have to be on this type of drug before you see results?

Holly