www.incontinentsupport.org

My Wife and I and another couple are going on a two week vacation to Germany in mid September. My big concern is taking enough diapers to last for this extended amount of time. Once before on a two week vacation in Alaska I tried using a premium pull-up with a male guard pad that I could remove and quickly replace. It worked out OK but I was always worried that combination would leak at the worst time. Fortunately it never did to any real extent but I remember at the end of the trip saying to myself I wish I had just somehow used premium diapers. Even though my German is pretty good, and I wouldn't have much trouble buying them there, it may be difficult to keep my IC issues/diapers secret from our friends who will be with us at all times. They are great friends and I'm sure they would be understanding so disclosing my condition is an option but one I'd rather not use.

To that end I'm thinking of using a Condom Catheter (CC) and leg bag during the day. I read the entire 11 page thread started by JDinVirginia and it was very informative and gave me a bit of courage to try the CC system. I then purchased a "kit" that consisted of a Bard UltraFlex self adhesive CC, a Rusch 1000mL leg bag, and tubing. I also purchased a leg sleeve to hold the bag, and after first trying the included straps (for about three minutes!) I was glad to have the sleeve which is working great. I have now used two CC's with surprisingly good results, but only for a half day or so and only within the confines of my home. The only problem I've had was some difficulty getting the CC off but it wasn't too bad. Especially concerning the pro and cons of calf vs. thigh bag positions.

I've really only got one question at this point and that is that the end of CC collapses tightly after urination, is this normal? I was concerned that this may induce a back flow of urine from the tube which I assume would not be good due to a possible infection risk. Clearly I've still got some learning to do and am working out a few details about tube routing but I would welcome any additional advice or tips from other CC users.

I'm glad CCs work for you. They don't for me. As long as the catheter isn't impeding circulation, I doubt there will be a problem. Learning to use a CC while you're at home, instead of on your trip, is an excellent idea. Report back when you return. Enjoy your vacation.

Here's an update...
My third condom catheter (CC) worked well for most of the day, which in this case was about 14 hours. But, while I was in the bathroom getting ready for bed, and just about to remove the CC, I could feel that I was just starting to urinate. Well OK, I do have things still in place right? At the beginning things seemed to be going just fine, that is until I felt a strange sensation. That sensation was the CC slipping off and my granny panty starting to get wet. Fortunately it was at the end of the flow, but it was enough to run down my leg and on to the tile floor a bit.

My only guess as to why this happened is that I had looped the tube up a bit and then down into the leg bag positioned in the sleeve on my thigh. I suspect that it took too much pressure to make the urine go up the loop and that caused too much pressure at the head of the CC causing it to slip off. I guess that I could try wearing the bag on my calf, but it is brutally hot/humid these days and I just can't see wearing long pants to cover it up, so I'm in a bit of a quandary. While on vacation I will probably be wearing long pants most of the time but I've got to make sure this system works nearly 100% before I go on a long vacation with it.

I also think that, as many who use this system have found out, it's a process of trail and error (Hmmmm, just like diapers!) to find out which CC's works for them. I guess I'm just starting down that road but it's got to be a fairly short one as we will be leaving on our trip in early September. I'll kept everyone informed as to my progress but as always any helpful comments will be greatly appreciated.

The sensation of having a condom catheter slip off is all too real for me. Nurses have told me that I have oily skin, which prevents the stickum on catheters from... sticking. Good luck finding one that works reliably for you.

Padded53

If you can use a condom catheter great. However they have a tendency to come off without warning. As a registered nurse I have applied many and I found that they do not stay on for very long. I would not recommend relying in it, a diaper would be more secure. You could use the condom catheter and also wear a diaper. If the catheter works that is great, and you can continue to wear the diaper, however if it comes off then you are still protected.

Just my two cents worth.

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RetiredRN

You could find a local supplier and have an order drop shipped to your hotel a head of time or talk to your airline as most will fly a bag of medical supplies for free (ie Diapers). I have never tried a condom catheter or a leg bag to manage my IC issue but from what I have read they are problematic and come off to often.

If it were me I would order a case of Betterdry diapers (they are made in Germany) and have them shipped to the hotel I dont think I could trust the catheter to stay in place and not leak.

Hope you have a Great trip and you find a solution that works best for you.

RetiredRN:
I have to say I'm a bit skeptical at this point but I've got several more condom catheters so I'm going to at least try the rest of them. I think it would be a good idea to also get another type or brand to make sure it's not just that make of catheter that's the problem. With the first catheter I attempted to put a diaper on over everything but due to the tight fit of the diaper at the leg I couldn't get a good fit for the diaper or the catheter tube. I ended up just using a cotton Granny Panty over everything which did help keep "everything" in a good orientation and without crimping the tubing. Obviously I'm still new at this so I still need to do more experimentation with tube routing and possibly finding a way to wear at least a light diaper or large pad over everything.

RobertH:
Even though it's true that the airlines will ship a "medical bag" for free, on trips like this with four people, space is at a premium, not to mention lugging around a large extra bag of diapers. I know SaveExpress is based in Germany so ordering really wouldn't be a problem but we are kind of winging it and I don't really plan on making any hotel reservations. As I said my German is pretty good so I can just buy diapers as needed from a local Sanitatshaus (medical supply). However it might be a bit awkward with my friends there as I don't plan on telling them about my condition unless I really need to.

I hate to cross post myself, but here goes. I posted what I hope is helpful information on this topic over here:

https://www.incontinentsupport.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=37&p=30492#p30492

There you go. Or should I just copy and paste to here?

ScottK

For our two-week trip I decided not to use the condom catheters I had been experimenting with as I was never completely confident that they would not slip off and cause a big leak. I knew that space was going to be very limited in the car while driving around, not to mention I didn't want to drag around yet another suitcase. With this in mind I decided to use the same protection concept used on a previous two-week trip which was a premium pull-up (Abena and Molicare) with a Male Guard pad. However using lessons learned from my previous experiences I tried to use a bathroom whenever available, even when I didn't think I needed to. This really reduced the number of pads I needed to use and also reduced the volume of the voids I couldn't control.

On our previous trip a bathroom wasn't usually readily available and this caused me to end up filling my pad/pull-up to capacity fairly often and risking a leak. Fortunately I didn't have any significant leaks but it was a cause for constant anxiety. This time it was a pain to be constantly using a bathroom but it did relieve my anxiety so it worked out OK and I had no leaks at all. I ended up using about 14 premium pull-ups, about 32 pads, and several flour sack cloths which I used at night and simply bagged and threw out when I did have a night wetting. This added up to a volume about half of what 30+ good quality diapers would have take up so it left me a good amount of luggage space for regular clothing. I realize this approach may not work for others with heavier incontinence but for light to moderate IC it works very efficiently.

I was glad to read that your trip was uneventful, and that condom catheters were unnecessary. I think that CC manufacturers have not solved the issue of using adhesive that will guarantee a water tight fit, and still make the catheter easy to remove. Skill at managing incontinence frees us to do many things that able-bodied folks would think impossible. Congratulations.