Why is this drug prescribed?

Ditropan tablets and elixir contain the active ingredient oxybutynin hydrochloride, which is a type of drug called an anticholinergic muscle relaxant. Oxybutynin tablets are also available without a brand name, ie as the generic drug. Oxybutynin works by relaxing the involuntary muscle that is found in the wall of the bladder. The muscle in the wall of the bladder is called the detrusor muscle. It can sometimes contract in uncontrollable spasms, and this is often referred to as having an overactive or unstable bladder. The overactive detrusor muscle can cause an increase in the number of times you need to pass urine, uncontrollable urges to pass urine, or involuntary leakage of urine. Oxybutynin works by relaxing the detrusor muscle in the wall of the bladder. It does this by blocking receptors called cholinergic receptors that are found on the surface of the muscle cells. This prevents a natural body chemical called acetylcholine from acting on these receptors. Normally when acetylcholine acts on these receptors, it causes the detrusor muscle to contract and the bladder to empty. By blocking acetylcholine, oxybutynin helps the muscle in the bladder wall to relax. This reduces unstable, involuntary contractions of the bladder, and thereby increases the capacity of the bladder to hold urine. In turn, this reduces the need to pass urine. Oxybutynin is used to treat urinary frequency, urinary urgency and incontinence in people with unstable bladders. The condition may have no known cause, or may be due to problems with the nerve supply to the bladder, for example following a spinal cord injury, or as a result of conditions affecting the nervous system such as spina bifida or multiple sclerosis. Oxybutynin can also be used to treat bedwetting in children over five years of age. In these cases the drug is used in combination with other non-drug therapy, and only when other approaches have failed.

Treatments

* Urinary incontinence, urgency and frequency in adults and elderly people with unstable bladder conditions. * Improving bladder control in children over five years of age with diseases of the nervous system that cause problems with the nerve supply to the bladder. * Bedwetting in children over five years of age, in conjunction with non-drug approaches when these have been unsuccessful.

What side effects can this drug cause?

* Dry mouth, skin or eyes * Blurred vision * Disturbances of the gut, such as constipation, diarrhoea, nausea, indigestion, abdominal pain, flatulence, acid reflux * Difficulty in passing urine * Awareness of your heartbeat * Headache * Drowsiness * Dizziness * Confusion * Restlessness * Loss of appetite * Thirst * Skin reactions such as rash or itching * Increased blood flow to the skin on the face * Abnormal heart beats * False perceptions of things that are not really there