Try bladder training

When you have an overactive bladder, you can get used to urinating frequently or at the slightest urge. Sometimes, you might visit the toilet when you don't have the urge because you want to avoid an accident. After a while, your bladder begins sending "full" messages to your brain even when it's not full, and you feel like you have to urinate.

Bladder training, or retraining, involves adjusting your habits. You go to the toilet on a set schedule — even if you have no urge to urinate — gradually increasing the time between urination. This allows your bladder to fill more fully and gives you more control over the urge to urinate.

A bladder-training program usually follows these basic steps:

• Identify your pattern. For a few days, keep a diary in which you note every time you urinate. Your doctor can use this diary to help you make a schedule for your bladder training.

• Extend your urination intervals. Using your bladder diary, determine the amount of time between urinating. Then extend that by 15 minutes. If you usually go every hour, try to extend that to an hour and 15 minutes.

  Gradually lengthen the time between trips to the toilet until you reach intervals of two to four hours. Be sure to increase your time limit slowly to give yourself the best chance for success.

• Stick to your schedule. Once you've established a schedule, do your best to stick to it. Urinate immediately after you wake up in the morning. Thereafter, if an urge arises, but it's not time for you to go, try to wait it out. Distract yourself or use relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing.

  If you feel you're going to have an accident, go to the toilet but then return to your schedule.

Don't be discouraged if you don't succeed the first few times. Keep practicing, and your ability to maintain control is likely to increase.