These OAB treatments may help you find relief.

After two-plus years of quarantines and travel restrictions, it’s no surprise many of us are making up for lost time, booking trips and scheduling long-overdue visits with friends and loved ones. Travel spending for Labor Day 2022 climbed above pre-pandemic levels, and that trend may well continue.

If you’re one of the approximately 33 million Americans impacted by bothersome overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms, traveling and enjoying a night out can be a daunting experience that involves worrying about where the nearest bathroom is or whether a leakage episode will occur. OAB is a condition in which the bladder muscles involuntarily contract, creating the sudden, uncontrolled need to urinate. “It can cause frequent urination—usually eight or more times in 24 hours—and lead to urge urinary incontinence, or UUI,” explains Alexandra Rogers, M.D., a urologist and Urovant spokesperson based in Boulder, Colorado. “Sometimes that urge is so sudden and strong, you may not make it to the restroom in time, which can result in leakage.”

Scrapped travel plans aside, research has shown that OAB can impact a patient’s daily activities. Fortunately, there are some effective approaches for managing the condition, says Colin Goudelocke, M.D., a New Orleans-based urology specialist. Consider the following options to help ensure that incessant gotta-go feeling interferes less with your next getaway or family trip.

When you go to your doctor to discuss OAB, don’t be surprised if they ask you to start implementing lifestyle or behavioral changes, such as dietary adjustments and bladder and pelvic floor training, to see if those activities can alleviate your symptoms. The pelvic floor muscles are better able to hold urine when they’re strong and healthy. Some studies found that, in people with OAB, pelvic floor exercises known as Kegels may help improve bladder control.

Kegels require you to isolate the muscles you’d use to start and stop the flow of urination. Performing with an empty bladder, your first goal should be to tighten your pelvic floor muscles for five seconds and then relax them for five seconds. For beginners, it’s recommended you start with five reps on the first day and as you gain confidence, increase holding and releasing each contraction for five to ten seconds.

As with any type of exercise, consistency is key, says Dr. Goudelocke, who recommends incorporating Kegels into at least one of your daily routines—say, doing them while brushing your teeth, eating breakfast, or driving to work. “Choose some sort of regular time or activity so that you know you can do them every day,” he advises.

“It’s also important to note that while Kegels have their benefits when done correctly and routinely, they may not be enough to address the symptoms of OAB,” says Dr. Rogers.

“When lifestyle and behavioral therapies aren't enough, there are some oral medications that may help,” says Dr. Rogers, who often prescribes GEMTESA® (vibegron) 75mg Tablets, a prescription medication for the treatment of overactive bladder in adults with symptoms of leakage episodes, urgency and frequency. FDA-approved to treat OAB, it works on the beta-3 receptor in the smooth detrusor muscle and “is designed to help relax the bladder muscle so it can hold more urine,” Dr. Rogers explains.

Taken once daily with a glassful of water, the 75 mg tablet may be swallowed whole or crushed and mixed with a tablespoon of applesauce. In clinical trials, people taking GEMTESA reported less urgency and frequency of urination, and fewer daily leakage episodes than those who were given a placebo (a sugar pill). Fewer than 2 percent of patients stopped treatment due to side effects, the most common of which are headache, urinary tract infection, nasal congestion, sore throat or runny nose, diarrhea, nausea, and upper respiratory tract infection. “[GEMTESA] showed no clinically significant changes to hypertension or blood pressure vs placebo,” says Dr. Rogers. See additional Important Safety Information about GEMTESA below.

Incontinence products, such as pads and underwear as well as washable incontinence garments, are also an option which may provide some peace of mind. These include underwear that can absorb bladder leaks, and after going through the wash, can be used again. Machine washable incontinence garments are ideal for those with light to medium leakage. The main difference compared to normal fabric underwear is that these have a pad built into them that is able to absorb leaks and may be more discreet than the standard adult diapers of the past.

Available in a variety of styles for men and women, these incontinence underwear options look and feel like regular underwear but boast special features such as wicking technology (to keep you dry) and odor-eliminating materials.

Additional management options include electrical neuromodulation treatments that target the nervous system at specific locations in the body. “The idea is that if you stimulate a nerve, or a branch of a nerve, to the bladder, it can really change the way these OAB signals are processed,” Dr. Goudelocke explains.

One such treatment, percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS), involves placing an acupuncture-slim needle in the ankle. Mild electrical impulses travel from tibial nerve to the sacral nerve, which regulates bladder and pelvic floor function. Twelve weekly in-office visits are required, each lasting about 30 minutes. “PTNS is minimally invasive, there are very few side effects, and it can be effective for a lot of people,” Dr. Goudelocke says.

More severe OAB cases may call for sacral nerve modulation (SNM). For this outpatient surgical procedure, a small, pacemaker-like device is implanted in the lower back (near the tailbone) to electrically stimulate the sacral nerve 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In a 2020 study, SNM was shown to have a 75 percent success rate after three years.

Learn more about these options and talk to your healthcare provider to see what's right for you before the next trip.

GEMTESA® (vibegron) is a prescription medicine for adults used to treat the following symptoms due to a condition called overactive bladder:

• urge urinary incontinence: a strong need to urinate with leaking or wetting accidents

• urgency: the need to urinate right away

It is not known if GEMTESA is safe and effective in children.

Do not take GEMTESA if you are allergic to vibegron or any of the ingredients in GEMTESA.

Before you take GEMTESA, tell your doctor about all your medical conditions, including if you have liver problems; have kidney problems; have trouble emptying your bladder or you have a weak urine stream; take medicines that contain digoxin; are pregnant or plan to become pregnant (it is not known if GEMTESA will harm your unborn baby; talk to your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant); are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed (it is not known if GEMTESA passes into your breast milk; talk to your doctor about the best way to feed your baby if you take GEMTESA).

Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Know the medicines you take. Keep a list of them to show your doctor and pharmacist when you get a new medicine.

What are the possible side effects of GEMTESA?

GEMTESA may cause serious side effects, including the inability to empty your bladder (urinary retention).

GEMTESA may increase your chances of not being able to empty your bladder, especially if you have bladder outlet obstruction or take other medicines for treatment of overactive bladder. Tell your doctor right away if you are unable to empty your bladder. The most common side effects of GEMTESA include headache, urinary tract infection, nasal congestion, sore throat or runny nose, diarrhea, nausea, and upper respiratory tract infection. These are not all the possible side effects of GEMTESA. For more information, ask your doctor or pharmacist.

Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

Please click here for full Product Information for GEMTESA.

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