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View Full Version : Is it possible for Ditropan XL to cause PFD symptoms in just a few days?


junebug800
09-21-2009, 05:34 AM
Hi All,

I used Ditropan XL as part of my therapy when I was first diagnosed in 2003 (along with elmiron and elavil). Later I had used it on and off when I seemed to have the occasional bladder spasm and it worked well. In late 2008 my IC got bad again. I had not been taking Ditropan or Elmiron at that point so my new doc put me on Elmiron 4 x a day and nothing else. I was desperate so I added on one dose of Ditropan XL and a couple of Prosed per day. I started to have trouble urinating so after some reading I dropped the Ditropan and chalked it up to having mixed it with the Prosed. The prosed seemed to work better but gave me horrible diarreah so eventually i dropped that too. I started to feel better about 3-4 months later and had just been on the Elmiron. I recently had another decline that began late August 2009. I went back to the doctor and he gave me an instill which didn't do anything but he did not add any meds. I told him I had some urethra pain (possibly inflammation) and he did not make a single comment (and he's supposedly an "expert" on the subject) The urethra pain went away eventually but I was still feeling pretty desperate about all the frequency (the urgency is fairly mild-just back of your mind constant feeling like you have to go) so once again I took Ditropan for two days and started to feel some difficulty urinating again. I dropped it but now I'm wondering is it just in my head? How could it be when it worked for me before? I had once asked my current doc about taking it since it had worked for me before and he poo pooed me and said that sometimes it makes things worse anyway. I'm frustrated with him for not being proactive with me and trying other treatments but that's another thread altogether. Am I nuts about the Ditropan? Can it start having negative effects that soon when it takes several weeks to help?

an0bgobeloba
09-21-2009, 04:46 PM
no, you are not nuts :) it does sound like you need to find another dr though. i started to feel the effects of ditropan very quickly...by the next day, not several weeks. but for me none of the effects where good. like what you have felt, it was VERY hard to pee! so much so that sometimes i couldn't even though i really did have to go! so i quit taking it very quickly. our bodies are changing all the time...maybe that is why it's not working this time around. the symptoms that you are describing are very common though!

LithEruiel
09-21-2009, 05:18 PM
definitely - I had PFD symptoms within a few days too when I was taking Ditropan 5mg (not XL) twice a day - at least I had to push to go. It didn't make me flare and have pain peeing for almost 3 months though! These meds just do weird things. I'm doing good with taking it only once a day though. Maybe a lower dose would help?

junebug800
09-22-2009, 03:19 AM
Bummer that my beloved Ditropan doesn't seem to be working for me but I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who has experienced trouble trying to pee while on it. I definitely plan to start searching for another doc. The one who diagnosed me retired less than a year after I started going to him which made me sooo sad! This new guy I actually got from the list on the ICN website and he's affiliated with a local university. I was just shocked by how nonchalant he is about everything. Other than the instill he just doesn't seem to offer any other solutions. Im having a cysto in a couple of weeks but I basically asked for one to sort of "check the status" since I haven't had one in 5 years. I'm wondering if I'm wasting my time.....He would be happy to pat me on the head and send me on my way.

Well at least I know I'm not nutters, thanks!

Landish
09-23-2009, 04:07 PM
so once again I took Ditropan for two days and started to feel some difficulty urinating again.

I can't understand why doctors still prescribing incontinence (urine leakage) medication for IC patients. IC doesn’t mean incontinence. Most of the time is the other way round.
This kind of medication relaxes the muscles but the IC is still there hurting, if the relief is to urinate, you won’t because the muscles will not respond.
All the time I see more and more new medications for incontinence making a commercial by TV. Why don’t they spend some time looking something for IC if there is already a lot of medicine for incontinence?
It so easy to prescribe it, but it’s so hard to try these pills for us. The last time I tried Detrol it got me in the emergency room.
Of course you are not nuts. I think I heard enough bad experiences and I had one myself.

LithEruiel
09-23-2009, 04:41 PM
I wish there was something we could do for the frequency though (I've tried some things that have reduced frequency, but I still go way more than I should have to). OAB meds affect the nerves too so they're intended to make you not feel you have to go as much. Unfortunately with IC, the muscle aspect of it though eventually made me feel like I had to go more because of the tightness of the muscles around my bladder. If only there was a med that JUST worked on the nerves and didn't tighten the muscles (and maybe there is, I don't know for sure.) It seems like IC is not on the radar of most researchers.

anewday
09-24-2009, 07:04 AM
Before I knew I had IC, I was given it during a "uti" visit....I ended up calling my dr after hours that same day because I could not urinate at all. I was really scared- I went to the after hours clinic, I was swelling and he could feel that my bladder was distended way past where it should be. He gave me medicine to make me go and told me to take a warm bath. It was awful. I threw that stuff away immediately!!!!