DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have urge incontinence. I asked the doctor if I could take one of the advertised medicines to relieve it. Another doctor had told me that I only half-empty my bladder. I asked the second doctor what would happen if I took one of these drugs and was suddenly unable to pass urine. He said I would have to go to the hospital and have a catheter inserted to drain the bladder. That turned me off the idea of using a drug.

The second doctor finally gave me Vesicare pills to try. The advertisement states, “Do not take Vesicare if you are unable to empty your bladder.” Should I take this medicine? — B.R.

ANSWER: Urge incontinence, also called overactive bladder, comes from too-powerful and too-frequent contractions of the bladder muscles. Because of this urge, people often lose bladder control unless they make it to the bathroom quickly. The muscle contractions happen many times during the day and night. This is a disruptive condition.

I don’t know how the doctor determined that you empty only half your bladder. Even if that is the truth, that’s not a contraindication to using medicines for this condition. Medicines calm the bladder muscles so that they aren’t contracting so frequently and so powerfully. Examples include Ditropan, Vesicare, Enablex, Sanctura and Detrol LA. The warning you read in the advertisement applies to people who cannot pass any urine.

Bladder retraining is a method to overcome stress incontinence without medicine. For a couple of days, keep a record of the length of time between bathroom trips. Use the shortest interval between trips for the first week of retraining. Go to the bathroom at that interval, regardless of whether you need to. Then increase the interval by 15 minutes every week or two. Continue with this program until you’re able to hold off going to the bathroom for two and a half to three hours.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have been diagnosed with erythromelalgia (uh-RITH-row-mel-AL-gee-uh). My feet turn bright red or dark purplish red. They hurt and have a burning sensation. The only relief I can get is to submerge them in cold water with ice added.

I have seen many doctors, including a neurologist, a vascular surgeon and a rheumatologist. Do you have any suggestions? — S.H.

ANSWER: Your description of this condition is as good as the description in medical textbooks. Most often, the soles of the feet are the major source of pain. Warmth and letting the legs hang down, as in sitting for too long, trigger attacks. The cold-water treatment is always recommended. If you have an attack and can’t get to cold water, elevating the legs can bring relief.

Erythromelalgia is seen with other illnesses like the blood disease polycythemia vera, diabetes, high blood pressure, lupus and an excess of blood platelets. Nifedipine and verapamil are examples of medicines that are sometimes responsible for it. Undoubtedly you’ve been checked for these things by the specialists you’ve seen.

Aspirin might lessen the number of attacks. Lidoderm skin patches have been prescribed with some success.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I read all food labels. I notice on the list of ingredients of some foods the term “sugar alcohol.” Does that mean it is both sugar and alcohol? If it does, a clearer warning ought to be given. — M.M.

ANSWER: “Sugar alcohol” is a most unfortunate name. These products are neither sugars nor alcohol. They’re sweeteners. Foods with sugar alcohols in them can be called sugar-free. Sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol and lactitol are some common sugar alcohols.

If people are on a strictly limited carbohydrate diet, they divide the grams of sugar alcohol by two and add that number to their total daily consumption of carbohydrates.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com.