What impact does overactive bladder have on sufferers?
Other than the obvious physical symptoms, overactive bladder can profoundly affect a person’s quality of life. People with an overactive bladder often cope with the physical symptoms by: • Mapping out bathroom locations to ensure they know where a bathroom is at all times; • Limiting daily travel to places and routes where they know bathroom locations; • Reducing fluid intake; • Avoiding sexual intimacy; • Wearing adult incontinence pads, diapers, or sanitary protection; • Avoiding staying with friends or family because of concern over leakage of urine • Carrying a change of clothes at all times; • Wearing dark, often baggy clothing to hide wet spots; • Sitting on the aisle in theatres or on airplanes; and • Sitting closest to the door during business meetings or in the theatre for easy access to the bathroom. It is not uncommon for people with an overactive bladder to stop physical or public activities altogether and put their lives on hold.
