www.incontinentsupport.org

I don't know if its me, or if im just using diapers that are low in quality, but despite my best efforts to avoid it, almost every shipment there are more than a few diapers that i tried to put on, but they didnt get on right, the tape popped. I use duct tape a lot. I really dont know what to do about my situation. My control is getting worse sometimes it seems. I realize that some days, whether or not i use the toilet, the diaper still gets wet. It would seem im heading towards total diaper depedence in the near future, which raises several concerns. First is cost. The diapres i can get through medicaid are better than nothing, and have yet to leave me with a big accident, but, still, they seem low quality. I am really tempted to buy some good diapers. But, i have a really low income. I work 4 hours a week. I just cannot afford good diapers. I can get Wings supreme, Tena, and select by tranquilty thru medicaid. and attends breathable. Would attends breathable be better than wings supreme?

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"We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love" Mother Teresa

"THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!" - Captain Picard from Chain of Command, Part II

It sounds more like the quality of the diaper is at the root of your problem. Ask you health care rep. to send you some samples of the other type of diapers that are available to you. You should ask for 3 samples of each. They will probably only want to send you 2, but ask for at least 3 samples of each. My experience with cloth like diapers is unless they have a plastic landing zone for the tape to stick to the tape will continue to cause problems. All you can do is try out some of the other brands and see which brand works best for you. I would recommend you ask if the Medline Ultra-Soft Plus brand is one of the diapers you could receive. This is the brand I selected and the state has been sending me since last July. I tried different brands and sleceted this brand becasue the tapes worked very well and the absorbancey was reasonable. At night I use them with a pad and and during the day they work fine for 4-6 hours without a pad so these diapers work OK for my needs.

As far as absorbency, im still not 100% clear on how much is exactly needed. Ive attempted to guage how much urine i leak at any one time. It seems the minimum is 2 oz. the maximum can be over 16 oz (this is seen most often in the morning when i wake up and dont get to the bathroom for a few minutes). I figured this out by using an improvised disposable collection containter. It seems that an incontinece episode can be triggered by as little as 2 oz in the bladder. I'm still figuring this out.

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"We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love" Mother Teresa

"THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!" - Captain Picard from Chain of Command, Part II

With those choices... I would go with the Attends breathable. They have a cloth-like outer covering and refastenable tabs... which has its advantages. They're still not as good as some of the other brands out there... but out of the choices you have I'd say they are the best.

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~~PuddleGuy

Forgot to mention.. they also have attends 8. But, they have dual tape system, which i don't know if i like.

Yeah, I really don't know what to do when it comes to diaper selection. I've abandoned the idea of using pullups, but it comes back when i have issues with taping. But, i am really concerned about adequate fit and comfort. I think in order to feel secure in a pullup, it would have to be a high-end one, not one covered by medicaid. I still dont know how much absorbency i need. For when i work, a boosted wings supreme breif seems to be adequate. Its really hard to tell by looking at a wet diaper how much is in it. There have been times where only the booster got a little wet, and sometimes where the booster got quite wet. It may be overkill, but i feel more secure wearing a boosted diaper. I dont think any thing is overkill if it provides emotional security against wetting my pants. Security is good.

As far as using the toilet, I'm pondering that question. Some may think my control problems are not severe enough to go completly toilet free. That may have been the case today. I didnt change the diaper today. But it did get wet. But, this is how i see it, and please correct any errors in my logic. A) I have incontinence problems ranging in episodes from very light dribbles to floods. B) I wear a diaper; some days its overkill some days it's not. C) Unless the leakage stops completly, it doesn't make sense to stop wearing diapers. Ergo, i have to wear them
D) It may make life a lot easier to just wear and use the diaper all the time than sliding it up, and sliding it down, sometimes compromising the fit. E)If the doctor cannot come up with a way to get me back into underpants completly, i will give up urinary control.

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"We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love" Mother Teresa

"THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!" - Captain Picard from Chain of Command, Part II

sociologygeek,

Most refastenable tapes on disposable diapers are not very good, but there are a few exceptions. With most diapers once those tapes are fastened that's pretty much it until you change. Based upon what you have stated, I would think the pull up kind would probably be the best if you can find a brand that has some quality to it. However, if your going to stay with the diaper then I would recommend trying the Attends that have the cloth like outer cover. Ask your Medicaid rep. to send you a few samples. I mentioned this before, but ask your Medicaid rep. if the Medline Ultra Plus is one of those brands that are available to you. If they are, ask for a few samples. This is the brand I've been using for the last 5 months and they really are not bad at all and have a very good tape system.

It is really unfortunate that the federal program (Medicaid) does not provided better quality products. I have no complaints with the state program that provides my products. Thus far, they have provided both quality and quanity. All you can do is ask for a few samples and see what works best. Good luck.

John, let me give u a quick run through of what i may possibly get thru medicaid for pullups, and tell me if u think these would be good. Tena, Surecare, attends, dignity, select by tranquility, and prevail

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"We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love" Mother Teresa

"THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!" - Captain Picard from Chain of Command, Part II

Sociologygeek,

I'm really the wrong person to ask when it comes to pullups. I would recommend that ask them to send you at least 2 samples of each. I'm sure they will send samples if you ask.

If you have problems with big wettings or flooding I would stay away from the pullups. They may be fine for small leakages, but I haven't seen any that can cope with full bladders yet.

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~~PuddleGuy

I concur Puddleguy. I seem to sometimes realase a full bladder if i don't clech. There was quite a bit of spurts today, both the booster and the diaper were wet.

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"We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love" Mother Teresa

"THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!" - Captain Picard from Chain of Command, Part II