Imipramine and retention

[Rosie]

Hello,
I'm not yet diagnosed but my urologist gave me imiparmine for the abdominal pain I was having and also told me she thought I had IBS. I've resolved the IBS syptoms (gas, bloating) via diet. However, I've found that since going to a full 1-pill dose (after 7 days at 1/2 pill per her instructions) that it's so very hard to pee, and it feels like my bladder is clenched tight like a fist! I'm really thinking this may be a side-effect of this level of dosage and will try reducing to 1/2 pill tonite and see if that helps (and still prevents the other pain I was having..)

Just wondering if anyone else has noticed these kind of symptoms while taking Imipramine? I see info on the web that this medication does have a side effect of "urinary retention'" but not sure if that's a match to what I'm feeling.

Rosie

[fireflicker285]

I had it with the Ditropan. I had also tried the Elavil in the past and I think it did the same thing with me. I don't do well on it.

Hope it resolves itself and you feel better soon.

[Teri]

You will find that you will have trouble with alot of different drugs. For me, it's a bad thing and I have to self cath in order to not cause more damage but I can't go off of my meds because they are what keep me going.

Try cutting back on them and see what happens but you are going to have to call your dr

[peiti]

Rosie,

Yes, imipramine did make it harder to pee for me while I was on 50mg. However, the side effect went away in a week. You should talk to your doctor about this and see if dosage reduction is a good idea. The point is you need to work with your doctor to find out the right dosage which gives you the least side effects and the most benefits.

[lotsofgirls]

Hi Rosie,
Imipramine is actually used to stop bed wetting in children so it can cause urinary retention. You should see if there is another anti-depressant that you can try that doesn't do this, or perhaps the side effect will wear off.
Cath

[amaris]

Rosie,
I take 50mg imipramine before bed time. The first week, it was difficult to pee if I got up in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning. However, this side effect has worn off. It has reduced my feelings of urgency and frequency.

You could temporarily resolve your problem by cutting back like you said. However, I think you need to discuss your options with your doctor (waiting to see if side effect wears off, taking a lower dose, splitting the 50mg dose am & pm, or taking a different med).

I hope you feel better soon.

Amaris

[Rosie]

Thanks, everyone, for your replies. I was on the full 25-mg dose for a week and it just got worse. At nite I practically flew out of bed by the spasms and it was awful. As soon as I went to 1/2 of that they stopped but I'm still not sleeping any better and up 2- 3 times a night. My urologist said these were "to help me sleep" but that's not happened yet. I just dont think this is the correct medication for me. I've stopped it for now and will discuss my symptoms (which I'm documenting very carefully) with her at my next appt.

Nice to have this board to post to. It feels pretty lonely at times and I've been struggeling with this problem of pain and nocturia for almost a year now. Every night I pray "please let me sleep thru the night" but it still hasn't happened. I was sleeping all nite until the end of May last year then suddenly pain, up many times at nite and the roller coaster started. Am beginning to lose my faith in Drs (and have been to several). But I'm determined to find a reason for all this and get better (have eliminated ALL the possible irritating foods too).

Didn't mean to ramble on.. thanks again!
Rosie