Does menopause affect bladder control?
Yes. Some women have bladder control problems after they stop having periods (menopause or change of life). If you are going through menopause, talk to your health care team.
After your periods end, your body stops making the female hormone estrogen (ES-truh-jun). Estrogen controls how your body matures, your monthly periods, and body changes during pregnancy and breast-feeding.

Estrogen also helps keep the lining of the bladder and the urethra (yoo-REE-thrah) plump and healthy.

Lack of estrogen causes the bladder control muscles to get weak. Your doctor may give you medicine to replace estrogen to prevent future bladder control problems.

Be sure to tell your doctor if you or your family has a history of cancer. If you face a high risk of cancer of the uterus or breast, the doctor may not prescribe estrogen.

Pressure from coughing, sneezing, or lifting can push urine through the weakened muscle. This kind of leakage is called stress incontinence. It is one of the most common kinds of bladder control problems in older women

What else causes bladder control problems in older women?
Sometimes bladder control problems are caused by other medical conditions. These problems include:

infections
nerve damage from diabetes or stroke
heart problems
medicines
feeling depressed
difficulty walking or moving.

A very common kind of bladder control problem for older women is urge incontinence. This means the bladder muscles squeeze at the wrong time--or all the time--and cause leaks.