Misc Did a combination of venlafaxine , abilify and clonazepam break my bladder?

[apuddle]

I was put onto a combination of drugs and I'm wondering if they caused permanent damage to my bladder. I started with venlafaxine at 75mgs and everything was ok. I was on Clonazepam for about 5 months before this at a dosage of 1mg at night. I was then diagnosed with a new condition and was put onto abilify 10mg and had my Clonazepam dosage increased to 6mgs daily to be taken at night. At around the same time of being put onto abilify, I had my venlafaxine dosage increased to 150mg. Now this caused a problem with my bladder. When I would wake up in the morning I would suffer from urinary hesitancy. Sometimes I'd end up sitting on the toilet (i'm male) just waiting for the urine reflex to begin because it didn't matter how hard I pushed, Nothing would come out. I got sick of this and decided to tapper off of venlafaxine altogether. When I got down to a dosage of 37mg I was finally able to stand and start peeing properly again. Anyway, I came off the Drug completely maybe a week or two later and everything seemed to be going fine. Then 2-3 (probably 3) weeks later everything changed.

I was sitting down on my chair watching tv when I had an insane urge to go to the toilet. I went and the urgency didn't go away. It just wouldn't stop. My frequency was awful and I was up all night for about 3 weeks because of nocturia. I remember for the first 2-3 weeks of this happening that when I laid down, it felt like I had pins and needles in my bladder and the urgency to go would be awful! This extreme 24/7 urgency did eventually ware off, but I still suffer from urgency and frequency. I completely came off of abilify to see if that was causing the problem but nothing changed. So now I have to pee up to 20 times a day, feel an urgent need to go when my bladder hits between 100-200mls of urine and it's awful. I managed to get some control over nocturia by stopping all fluid intake 4 hours before I got to bed. Annoyingly I will still have to get up 4-5 times to pee (dribbles) before I can sleep, but I can get a good 6 hours now before I have to wake up for a pee.

I have seen a urologist and had all types of test done. I have had blood and urine samples taken. Prostate checked. Camera down the penis to check if all is ok and it is. Urodynaimcs test done to check for overactive bladder which came back negative. They have no idea what I am suffering with. I've tried lots of different medications and none of them seem to work, in-fact one (vesicare) seemed to make things worse.

The only drug I am now on is clonazepam, but I have decided to taper off of this drug at a slow rate in the hopes that maybe, possibly, but unlikely that this is what is causing the problems.

Now I know that many of you are very knowledgeable when it comes to pharmacology, and I'm wondering if any of you might have some answers or theories as to why this happened while I was taking these drugs. I'm a healthy 32 year old male and it's just too coincidental that I have problems with my bladder while on venlafaxine, only to come off them and then suffer from something that seems like its permanent damage to my bladder. It's been going on for 7 months now.

Is it possible that the combination of venlafaxine and abilify did something to my bladder, or the neurotransmitters that carry signals to the bladder or that are in the bladder? Is it possible that the clonazepam might be causing this issue, or did it also stop my body from healing properly after coming off the venlafaxine? Could it be possible that the Abilify alone caused this? I think I was on it for about 3 months when it happened.

What's the realistic chance that this will go away once I come off of clonzaepam? I believe it to be minimal because from what I have read it doesn't really have any affect on the bladder signals. And why would it start out of the blue after 9 months of being on it? I've searched google and forums and people only seem to suffer from urinary problems when they are in withdrawal. I'm now taking 5.5mgs of clonazepam and have been for 4 days but have noticed no difference at all. I don't expect to When I'm off it either but I Might as well come off of it because it no longer works and there's no point in being on it.

TIA for any replies.

 

[LucidSDreamr]

* i just did a quick search for abilify and bladder pain and it turned up hits for bladder pain and problems...do some searching on your own for all the drugs and see if they have bladder issues as a side effect.

My experience with bladder issues you can find all around this board so I won't type all of it again. But in summary I have interstitial cystitis from dissociative abuse. I've experience that urgency feeling that lasts for months on end without stopping - it is truly a nightmare because even large doses of opiates and benzos won't kill that type of "pain" as effectively as a back pain for example

Due to this experience i have done quite a bit of reading. As for your question of whether one of your drugs is causing/caused this, I can't tell you and probably most urologists wouldn't even have a clue if you aren't turning up results for searches like "bladder pain and drug X"



I would say its highly likely. Do you or in the past have you abused any drugs? which ones and how much?

I can tell you that ever since i got IC, there are certain drugs I used to take lots of that I can no longer even have one pill - lyrica is a perfect example; it would cause pain. Caffeine is another example.

everything sounds like IC (even with the cystoscopy that looked normal you had) just because the bladder doesn't have ulcers visible to the doctor doesn't mean it isn't chronically inflammed causing your symptoms. As far as I've gathered the cystoscopy (sticking camera up your dick) only shows ulcers and scarring in the bladder which also happens in bad IC, but i't cant show IC that lacks ulcers.

I have no experience with clonazepam, but alprazolam and etizolam don't bother my bladder at all and kind of help when its acting up.

The only thing that didn't sound like IC is how you say the urge would hit you all at once out of nowhere, this sounds more like overactive bladder.

I would try to get off of all these drugs if you can function without them, especially the antidepressants (assuming you won't get suicidal or anything, talk to your psychiatrist). If you do have IC, one of the main drugs used to treat it is amitryptiline, which is a different type of antidpressant (TCA). I can tell you that this drug drastically improved my bladder situation (and depression/anxiety I had never had professionaly treated). So did pelvic floor physical therapy and lots of excercise.

i would also get on the IC diet. Once you're having bladder problems you have to be super careful with what you eat. I won't even touch citrus, tomatoes, alcohol, carbonated sodas and the other stuff they tell you. Cheating on this diet surely sends me back into bladder pain.

...and the first urologist i saw had no idea wtf was going on (i didn't tell him about the drug abuse that caused it) he couldn't help me. The second on I saw that is a researcher in the field of urology diagnosed me right away and put me on the amitryptiline which worked. You might need a second opinion, or read up on IC and if it sounds like you then talk to your uro about it.

The other thing about trying all of these "experiments" to find out what works best to manage your pain, is that it often takes weeks or longer for the pain to subside and get you to the point where you can run another z'experiment" and see if it fucks up your bladder or not...but thats how this condition is managed

last thing, I would start taking quercentin supplements. There is scientific research supporting it for IC pain and my urologist also agreed that it is a legitimate treatment for IC.

 

[cj]

I have bladder issues from drug use. I have to sit down in order to pee. I get the urge to go when there is hardly anything there. It's worse at night. I have to strain and completely empty my bladder before I can sleep. Even then I sometimes have to put a pillow pressed against my penis to calm the feeling. I'm not sure what drug did it. But it got worse after a massive mertazepine overdose.

 

[apuddle]

Sorry to hear that CJ.

How long have you had it for, and are we talking recreational drugs or prescribed drugs?

 

[LucidSDreamr]

which drugs were you doing that might have done it cj?