Hydration level effect on incontinence..testing

[sociologygeek]

One thing I have noticed is that nearly every time I have an oh my gosh I gotta let go episode in my diaper, it's usually a large amount, and its almost always a darker yellow to almost amber color. I wonder if my bladder control would be made better if I simply made it a goal for my urine to be clear or pale yellow from now on. It would certainly make wearing diapers wet more comfortable, since 90 percent of my discomfort is from acidic urine. I don't know whether adequate hydration would give me back "normal" control, but it doesn't matter. My body would be more healthy. I just need to remember to drink water... consistently. I'm nowhere near the amount suggested by a website I looked up this morning. Oh yeah, I also deal with constipation. Is it any wonder? To be honest, as long as I have access to absorbent enough diapers, I don't care if I have more episodes if it means I can stay regular.

So I have 30 oz camo steel cup, doing the math, if I drink 5 of those every day, I am well on track to staying hydrated. That is my goal.

Peace out!

Rob

[bcca]

but it doesn't matter. My body would be more healthy.

I like that train of thought!

I guess everyone is different. If I'm not wearing diapers, drinking lots of water definitely makes me wet my pants more, not less. On the other hand, the other thing about my experience is -- I've also never had any effect from any of the things doctors have said like -- cut out caffeine -- keep a diary and look for correlations of any kind of foods -- whatever. For me it really does seem to be all about the volume of urine in my bladder.

If you find that being well hydrated does make you more able to go undiapered, maybe you would get some benefit from the other stuff that is aimed at "not irritating the bladder so much"? Caffeine, etc?

Not that "being more hydrated" is a bad goal regardless. Like you said!

[Patrick]

One thing to keep in mind is that heated indoor air is desert dry. We actually lose more body fluid through breathing and perspiration in the winter than on warm, sunny summer days. This could affect your urine production more than you know, and could account for discrepancies in your numbers.

[wayne]

I found out that if I drank plenty of water for an ultrasound, that I was actually able to control it. I had worried that I might urge on the ultrasound table. I otherwise don't drink near that volume of water / juices. I haven't fully proven this because maybe it was just luck.

I otherwise do personally disagree with some of the recommended amounts for daily hydration (this was discussed recently).

[greenbank]

Hi All

Staying hydrated is so so important I drink 2L of water a day more in summer. My incontinence is compounded by the fact my hydration system was damaged at the same time!

Keeps odour down the more concentrated the urine the worse it is.
Reduced skin infections and rash problems.
Diapers are great way to monitor hydration levels I pee clear.
Don’t be afraid to change diapers more this is better than having the alternatives.

Greenbank

[nomoore]

150oz is probably about how much I drink in a day. I drink 10oz per hour during my work day, plus some before work and after I get home. My wife is in awe at how much fluids I can drink. I gulp fluids like a camel. I have to be real careful with alcohol or I will end up drinking way more than I wanted to.

It's a LOT of water though and if you are using diapers exclusively you will change pretty often. I use BetterDry Day and need to change about every 2 hours, or if I push my luck with a timed void at the end of the diaper life I can often push that to 2.5 hrs. Some days though it seems like my body is just dumping stored up fluids and I can only go 1.75hrs before a change is REQUIRED. I know many people use a more absorbent diaper like the regular BetterDry or a ConfiDry and if you do then that would of course increase your MTBC (Mean Time Between Changes).

I wish you well with your testing and I hope it gives you more control or at least a healthier bowel.

[michael_dahlke]

So from me I can only say that it must be the right amount - and that depends on how warm it is and how much I move.

If I drink too little, at a certain point the number of episodes goes up. The same happens when I drink too much. The optimum (lowest number of episodes) for me under normal conditions is about 2.2 liters in winter and about 2.9 liters in summer.