Overactive Bladder (OAB) Checklist

Are you wondering if your constant urge to urinate is part of aging or something else? Review our symptom checklist below and talk to your health care provider if you are experiencing any of the following:

❏ I have an uncontrollable urge to urinate
❏ I frequently need to urinate (up to eight times a day or more)
❏ I experience occasional urinary accidents
❏ I frequently wake up during the night to urinate
❏ Not being able to control my bladder causes me stress
❏ My urgent and frequent need to urinate keeps me from doing everyday activities

Bring this checklist to your health care professional to discuss your symptoms. The following questions may help you to start the conversation:

• Is increased urination and urge due to aging or something else?
• Could my symptoms be caused by an illness or disease?
• Could any of my prescriptions or over-the-counter medications be contributing to my urinary symptoms?
• Are there treatment options for my symptoms?
• Can pelvic exercises help me prevent leakage? How do I do them?
• Are there lifestyle changes I can make to help with my symptoms?
• Are there medications available to help me? What are their benefits and side effects? Can they interact with any other prescriptions or over-the-counter medicines I'm taking?
• Can surgery help my symptoms? What procedure might help me, and what is its success rate? What are the potential risks? What are the possible complications after the surgery?

MSD Consumer Care, Inc, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc has paid for this material to be developed and provided to you and has provided editorial input.