For as long as I can remember, I’ve peed my pants a little. There was the time in high school when I tried on a ridiculous Halloween costume with my friend and laughed so hard I emptied my bladder right there in the dressing room. Then, in college, after a night out, the metaphorical seal started breaking before I could get through my apartment door. And again, almost two years ago, when the water I was constantly drinking to stay hydrated during a nasty cold partially leaked out with every cough.
There’s a term for this: urinary incontinence—or a loss of bladder control. And for 17 years, I refused to admit I was among the 61% of American women who have it, because for me, the issue was sporadic. But my incontinence began to worsen as I barreled into my early 30s. I’d more frequently have the sudden urge to go while making my way home or as I walked through my front door, and I wasn’t always able to stop some leakage. It became something I regularly had to think about and plan for, like remembering to use the bathroom before leaving a restaurant.
I finally went to see a urologist two years ago. There was nothing to be concerned about according to the tests he ran, but he prescribed Oxybutynin to help decrease the muscle spasms causing my frequent urges. I was to take it three times a day as needed, but, he added, I should probably see a pelvic floor therapist—a physical therapist who specializes in pelvic floor dysfunction and treats conditions like incontinence and pain.
I put it off, partly due to limited coverage with my health insurance plan at the time. The turning point came on a 40-minute trek home from dinner and drinks with friends. I leaked little by little, nearly emptying my bladder by the time I reached my apartment door. This time was different; it wasn’t preceded by an overwhelming urge to go. It felt like I had completely lost control.
Turns out, there might be a reason for my intensified symptoms. I had just undergone a second round of egg freezing. When I told my pelvic floor therapist that during my first appointment a few weeks later, she nodded knowingly. I was one of several clients who had come to her with new or worsened incontinence issues following an egg retrieval (a medical procedure to extract eggs from the ovaries through a thin needle), often their second or third.
Bodily changes that come with egg freezing can cause urinary incontinence symptoms.
Nearly one-third of women experience pelvic floor dysfunction. Multiple factors can play a role, including increased weight, pregnancy, heavy lifting, obesity, aging, childbirth, and hormonal shifts, Asima Ahmad, MD, MPH, FACOG, DABOM, co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of Carrot Fertility tells SELF. When you freeze your eggs or undergo IVF, you typically take medication to stimulate the ovaries so you produce multiple mature eggs. The process causes several bodily changes that can lead to of urinary incontinence symptoms, says Ahmad.
