My new home--"The JOHN" --Help please!!!!

Saluki,

Normally, a urologic visit would be in order. To check for bladder prolapse, or a urethral diverticulum (out pouching). Or other. I take it your heart is pumping out o.k., your blood pressure is normal range (85-135), as these can contribute to night time diuresis or excessive voiding at night.

Making a list of all of your medicines and herbal remedies, which I know from following your threads, you've made great headway in reducing to bare bones, and checking each to see the kidney effect, particularly for a diuretic effect, would be helpful.

You know, estrogen depletion causes our urogenital tissue to loose turgor. So spills post voiding, or perhaps urgency prior to going, may all be traced back to this loss. This happens in menopause, even without hormones for BC, but I believe it is heightened for those of us who are on hormones for BC. I know I have developed similar problems.

Now one thing you might do to sleep (as well as help your neuropathic pain, as I recall), is use the older drug amitriptylene (aka, elavil). This drug has anti-depressant actions, and helps incontinence because it acts as an anticholinergic agent on the bladder's nervous innervation, causing retention of urine and has sedative properties. It appears to prevent the re-uptake of norepinephrine and serotonin at nerve terminals, thus potentiating the action of these neurotransmitters, which account for some of it's antidepressant activities as well as neuropathic pain relief.

But there's always down sides to new pills, and this one may cause some constipation, heart rate alteration, and ?swelling amongst others. Yet it's relatively cheap, which is why pharmaceutical companies don't push it for neurologic pain IMHO, and it is effective.

Hope this helps,
Tender

Joan,

I don't think I'd change to arimidex because of edema. I swear I'm loaded with fluid. I watch the scale go up when I'm eating less. I'm looking for a water pill to take short term that doesn't make us lose too much potassium. Just something to break the water gain cycle.

Susie, if your going so much you really need to keep your potassium level up there. 4.7 grams per day is the recommended amount. Of course don't hold the weight gain against me. That's a lot of bananas and O.J.

Kegels anyone? Seriously, I highly recommend them....for all of us. So even if you do need to pee alot, you'll have no problem controlling it. They have other benefits as well

~Marin

Joan,

I already like your Onc. But no one complains about water gain so how would they know? Out there is the perfect water pill. I know it exists, we just haven't found it yet.

I do take B6 but not all the time and that's a diuretic but not enough to get rid of the real excess. We want more.

YEE HAW...glad you found the cause. Now if you can just make the adjustment work for you!! Mine are capsules....sort of a larger size capsule. I guess with Glucosamine/Chrondroitin/MSM/SAM-e, they have to be a good size. I do like the combo though. Best wishes!