Overactive Bladder (OAB): Homeopathy Helped the Woman Get Some Sleep

Amy, 30, wasn’t getting much sleep. For the past month she woke 7-10 times each night feeling the urge to urinate. During the day it was different, voiding only 4 times. But as soon as her head hit the pillow, her bladder became hyperactive. Sometimes she felt the need to urinate every 2 minutes!

It had started about a month ago. She attributed the new symptoms to the abrupt changes in her life. She had lost her job and with it her friends. She was back living with her parents as she searched for another job. Shortly after moving in with her parents, her bladder became overactive.

She had a long history of bladder problems similar to this. In the past, since the age of 19, she would see her MD and get an antibiotic. The symptoms usually went away for a little while, then returned. About 5 years ago she developed a rash, saw a homeopath, and realized that stress was causing her rash and bladder symptoms. When the rash appeared again during a time of high stress 3 years ago, she sought homeopathic care and the rash went away again. She felt it was logical to see a homeopath now when her bladder symptoms didn’t resolve after 2 courses of antibiotics—she knew it had to be emotionally-driven.

For the most part, Amy felt she was healthy. She had gone for a blood microscopy test at a health-food store and was given a wide range of supplements for various ailments and was told she was “intolerant” of gluten and dairy, and had low thyroid function and wasn’t assimilating iron. She was given Armour Thyroid, 2 iodine supplements, and about 10 other supplements for various things the blood test stated would be good for her.

The total iodine intake from those supplements was 7,700 mcg. This gave me pause.

The RDA for iodine for Amy’s age and gender is 150 mcg/day. Toxicity occurs if a person takes more than 1,100 mcg for a few days in a row. Amy was taking 7 times that amount for the past year!

One of the main signs of toxicity from iodine is frequent urination.

So I had Amy stop the iodine supplements and suggested she see her MD to see if she actually had low thyroid function and if any damage had been done from the toxic levels of the iodine. Tests done in health-food stores are not always accurate. Amy had no symptoms of low thyroid function and I didn’t like the idea of her taking a drug or supplements that may not be needed.

At this time, I also gave Amy Nux vomica to inactivate the current homeopathic remedy she was taking. The remedy was a blend of 10 different homeopathic medicines to remove scars. She had a scar where she had a tattoo removed. Amy agreed that removing of the scar was less important than healing the bladder. Most homeopathic remedies are inactivated by taking Nux vomica.

I wanted to see how much of Amy’s urinary problems were from excess iodine intake. I had her call in a week. In the meantime, I looked for a healing remedy in case she would need one. To find a healing remedy, one must look at the emotional and mental characteristics of the person as well as the physical.

Amy was “hard” on herself, on her level of expectation, her sense of pride. She judged herself based on what others said about her, or what Amy perceived these people thought about her. She felt she should be more settled, married, have a career and such. She felt self-conscious about taking 5 years to get through college when “everyone else” does it in 4. She felt she wasn’t good enough and she “beat” herself up a lot because of it. She felt she was indecisive. She didn’t like to sound weak but was often embarrassed by her decisions; she felt small. If she wasn’t distracted, she became sad. Mainly, she said she was frustrated.

She felt she was just getting settled when her bladder became overactive. She felt she had finally “grown up” which is why she was okay letting go of some of her friends who were still immature, wanting to party a lot, and not good for her. She said it was “hard but right.”

Regarding the characteristics of her urine, it was unremarkable: pale clear yellow, no odor, no sediment; no pain on urinating. Most of the time little was voided but she had intense urging.

I entered her key symptoms into the repertory and found Arsenicum album and Graphites in combination matched the mentals and physicals.

When Amy called in a week, her voiding at night had decreased to 5 times, which was an improvement, but she was still feeling frustrated about it. I gave the Arsenicum-Graphite combination and had her call in a week with an update.

The following week she was feeling better, less frustrated, but still up too many times to urinate at night. I gave the remedies another week. After that week, she was able to sleep through the night without further urging. The remedies were stopped; the symptoms did not return.

I do believe some of Amy’s symptoms were the result of taking too much iodine but she did need the homeopathic remedies to calm the emotional/mental effects on the bladder.

When physical symptoms are worse when you get to bed, they are usually emotionally-driven. It is the time when your mind is quiet and there aren’t any distractions, so what you didn’t think about all day come to the surface. This was the case for Amy.

I am glad that Amy had the awareness of the link between her emotions and the physical symptoms they were causing. It allowed her to get the help she needed.

I wish you the best Amy. May you find the dream job you seek and live the life you want for yourself.