Medication Change Question and urine leakage

Welcome @kevint73, I'm tagging fellow members @rosemarya @sandra2018 @msmunro and @jakedduck1 who have experience with spinal cord injury and, in some cases, UTI.

Have there been any other changes to your routine besides the medication change? How long has it been since you returned to Ditropan? May I ask why your urologist switched medications?

Thank you for your reply. There have been no changes in my routine, everything is exactly the same as the past 27 years. It has been a week and a half since returning to Ditropan. This was my first visit with this urologist, and she asked me if I have dry mouth, I said oh yes I do, severe dry mouth for 27 years. She said that is due to the Ditropan, so she said I should try that toviza. She never mentioned anything about leakage being a side effect.

The reason I went to see her, was I have been having an awful lot of UTI's, and wanted to figure out why. So this medication change was due to the dry mouth, no options about helping with UTI's, and now I am leaking daily. Again thank you for your time.

Nurse Practitioner gave me Trimethoprim for uti last December and although have many medical problems, didnt have leakage before and since then small urine leakage mostly at night so underwear is damp in morning.... it's the only change I can think of and first time taken this medication... so not sure if co-incidence or the meds. I wont take it again tho. J. ...is it Toviza or Toviaz.

@kevint73
Doesn't the Toviaz also cause dry mouth? What level is your lesion? My dad was a complete C5 quad with a Foley which we stopped because of the risk but it was to late. He took Ditropan too. He didn't have dry mouth.
If something works I don't change it unless there is no choice. I'm not willing to switch to potentially worse side effects.
You’re a new medication may not have played a role in the leakage since infection can increase bladder spasms. I'm sure your checking that the cath is draining correctly. Have you change the cath since you changed back to Ditropan? The dry mouth is insignificant compared to the infection. That should have been treated. Is she waiting for you to get a bloodstream infection before she takes action? Catheter use and infection equals trouble. I hope they’re looking in your bladder regularly to make sure all is well.
Are you taking Macrodantin or Mandelamine or something similar every day and drinking lots & lots of water?
Have you ever considered switching to condom catheters instead of the indwelling types.
By the way, if it were me, I would be changing Urologists lickety-split and get that infection cleared up.
Take care,
Jake

PS, thank you COLLEEN I didn’t see this.

Am eating my words now. I forgot about that problem after Trimethoprim and took it for another ecoli UTI June 14th and I think I have a comment on here but cant find it: June 16th I started to see something similar to virtual snow but it isnt quite the same. I already have narrow angle glaucoma with iridotomy, and floaters (as well as other illnesses) and I still have it. I have the floaters, they seems a few more but used to them but this seeing thousands if not millions of tiny tiny little squiggly specks has not gone away; I get it day and night and eyes closes or open in dark, dim or bright light. I had a glaucoma check during this time and good news but Optometrist did not comment when I told her about this vision issue - she thought stress, then thought migraine (I have migraine aura most of life, its not that)... I cannot prove it was the Trimethoprim but have read about other eye issues although "rare." This is the icing on the cake for me.... its so difficult to describe and am thankful I can still "see" but this constant moving veil is really getting me down and will never take this med again just in case: have no idea what to do next, N.P. has no idea! I know it could be worse but have enough other things to contend with as everyone else on here... and I wish I had the biggest magic wand in the world to wave, make us feel better, and enjoy life to the full 🙁

I just joined this connect Mayo Clinic site. Noticed your post and just wanted to comment about some information. I found out in April 2023. I have used oxybutynin/ditropan for 40 years and read in my newspaper that people who use these long-term have a very significant risk of developing dementia! I was shocked that not one of my urologist happened to mention this to me, especially when I found out that the research was released over two years ago medical community. My father just died of dementia and now I have this looming over me. Honestly, to avoid medication‘s that we don’t know could be harming us, I would ask your urologist about receiving Botox injections to the bladder. Anti-cholinergics are not good for us and our long-term brain health .

I was diagnosed with overactive bladder in July. The urologist I saw told me there is only one medication for this that does not cause dementia. It is Myrbetric. I have been on it since the end of July and it is just now beginning to work. I was told it could take 8 weeks to see results. It is expensive so hopefully insurance will cover. Mine did but copay is still significant but worth avoiding dementia. Best wishes.

Husband is new to catheter, etc. The urologist said that self-catheterization is more apt to lead to UTIs than a Foley catheter. Also, inquire about whether your bladder is completely emptying or if there is any other physical change (men: prostate/ureter/gravity). Husband was also leaving his Depends on for too many hours at a time.

Dry Mouth: Biotene spray, brush teeth with electric toothbrush and use Oral B Mouthwash with xylitol (anti-bacterial) to avoid cracked teeth, bad gums.

in reply to @kevint73 I saw your interesting post, as well as others who have commented on the discussion. I do not have a spinal cord injury, but after many years of having problems urinating, my urologist suggested I have a neurostimulator, that she implanted in my sacral spine. This device has been very helpful to me, and she put a new one in last summer so that I could have an MRI. I no longer have to use catheters, which were causing nunerous UTI's among other things. While I have lost a lot of weight, and as a result to device protrudes from my back and causes pain because I sleep on my back, I am not going to have her take it out. At her suggestion I did turn the device off because she said sometimes the brain "thinks" that I can urinate without the device, but this was unsuccessful for me. The implant has been a life changer for me in terms of being able to urinate without worrying about catheters.