www.incontinentsupport.org

I often feel like a pretender. Yet I have proved to myself repeatedly that I do indeed need "protection".

I have type-2 diabetes, which after 20+ years of trying to manage glucose levels has resulted in nerve damage (confirmed by doctor). So while it is very tempting to forgo protection during the day at home (while near a toilet), I wear a pull-up every day just in case. At the end of most days the pull-up is discard as sweaty, but dry. Even though accidents are normally rare, special events can happen to mess things up. Phone calls where people keep you on the phone too long, times when our only bathroom is in use when you need it, unexpected trips to the store or it just sneaks up on me late at night (when I am at the computer upstairs and tired). If I have to run down the stairs to get to the bathroom, the pull-up is sacrificed. It's not worth breaking my neck for.

When I go out I am very much incontinent because when my bladder fills to a certain point, I cannot hold it like I used to. It tingles briefly before I start peeing. If I manage to suppress it, it simply comes back with a vengeance a minute or so later ("resistance is futile"). So I used to manage that with a pull-up, since my volumes are not much of a problem.

However, starting last summer I started to have bowel IC problems. After another scare in a store and an actual F-IC episode in my driveway I have since decided that I will diaper up before going out in public. I keep trying to talk myself out of this but almost every time, I end up being relieved to know that if F-IC happens, it can be contained. So I now wear North Shore Supreme Lite briefs when I need full protection. I have found that the Abena Abri-Fix Soft Cotton With Legs over top of that works best for me. It gives it a snug almost underwear-like experience and removes the worries of tapes falling off, or the diaper falling down. Finally, it seems to dampen any plastic noise that may develop.

About 6 months after being diagnosed IC, I began to have the odd nighttime bedwetting event. So I now wear TENA Super and plastic pants every night. The bedwetting has increased somewhat over time. I wear each night because it also serves to avoid getting up in the night. The end result is that I normally get much more sleep.

So.....

What I find best, Summary:

• TENA Ultimate Extra pull-ups, when on sale or TENA Overnight pull-ups (when Extra is unobtainum). Usually one or the other is on sale at nearby drug stores.
• North Short Supreme Lites, when I have to go out into the public for any length of time + Abena Abri-Fix Soft Cotton With Legs.
• The very affordable TENA Super for overnight with Priva plastic pants.

Wayne, it is good that you have addressed your incontinence issues. The NorthShore Supreme Lite is a good choice. However, as someone who is bowel incontinent, I would recommend that you consider adding "plastic pants" to your incontinence wardrobe.

Having a sudden bowel accident when you are away from home always is a terrible experience. However, it can become even worse while on your way home. As you must sit to drive home, the pressure on the diaper can force feces over the leak guards, out of the diaper and onto your clothing. At home, as you sit to remove your shoes and trousers, the pressure on the "loaded" diaper again may cause a most unwelcome fecal leak. Almost any diaper cover would be most helpful in containing a fecal leak.

As for diaper covers, that topic has been discussed enough elsewhere on this site that I will not go into it here.

--John
(double incontinent)

Thanks JD. You make several compelling points for plastic pants, which I cannot argue with. I suppose that is the next step in my evolving journey. I avoided them for heat reasons but agree that avoiding the trip home "mess" trumps that.

BTW, there will be no sitting down when arriving at home. I wear sketcher type shoes without laces these days. But driving/riding home is a problem.

For fecal accidents tall leak guards and a good cover are a must for me. Personally northshore supreme lites won't cut it. The regular supremes seem to work best for me.

For fecal incontinence, I look for a diaper with a wide crotch width (more space to accommodate feces) and very high internal standing leak guards. 1 ½ inches is a good height for internal standing leak guards in a daily use diaper. 2 inches is better. BetterDry and MegaMax internal standing leak guards are over 2 inches high. BetterDry is my go-to daily diaper. I look for a minumum of ¾ inches in those diapers that I use as an "in-between" diaper or for exercise. I use NS Supreme Lite diapers in this category.

Of course, notwithstanding the above, the diaper must fit your personal shape well and be within your budget.

--John
(double incontinent)

JD: When you wear compression shorts over your diaper, do you:

• Wear the plastic pants over the compression shorts (which are over the diaper)?
• Wear the compression shorts over the plastic pants and the diaper?

Obviously the compression shorts may get soiled with the first option, but I would think that containment might be better. So I thought I should consult a SME (Subject Matter Expert) about this.

Wayne,

I wear plastic pants over the diaper with the compession pants on top of everything. I do not think there would be any difference to containment if the compression shorts were worn inside the plastic pants. However, I would not want to risk soiling the compression pants.

Otherwise, I wear a onesie that is fitted snugly in the torso measurement to provide good support. I emphasize this measurement as, from what I read, many who complain about their onesies not providing enough support seem not to have paid attention to this.

SME? You are too kind.

--John
(double incontinent)

Thanks. It's true that I wouldn't want that, given that they're not cheap. Spoken like a true SME.

I just want to report success for last Saturday following JD's/forum's advice. I attended a hamfest (ham radio flea market) one hour out of town for the morning with the NS Supreme Lite + plastic pants + fixing pants and oversized jeans. I abstained from coffee to avoid any bowel issues and apart from the usual urinary IC, got through the event just fine. It was a true pleasure to meet up with people I haven't seen for 3 years. It was also good to know that my aging truck was able to make the journey with no issues!

It sucks to have to plan so much but it is good to know that one can still enjoy most of the things that you did before IC. Thanks for the advice provided here.

Well done Wayne and thanks for the feedback!

--John
(double incontinent)