Incontinence and Diets

[matthewmeto]

Hello. I'm wondering if anyone has experience with this. I'm considering switching my diet to a ketogenic diet, mostly because my partner is attempting a ketogenic diet and failing because I'm not supporting him. (You have to cook a lot on this diet, and I'm definitely the cook of this household). In addition, I know this diet works, and works very well for me with losing weight, having a better mood, and having better health all around, except for one little caveat. It completely exacerbates my overactive bladder, making it so that I use the restroom every 1/2 hr instead of every hour, and will likely make the bladder leakage worse. My current protection of diapers on heavier days, and pullups or underwear + guards on not so heavy days, would certainly not be sufficient enough for this and I'd also be chained to the bathroom. I'm very hesitant to commit to this diet because of it, despite knowing how well it works besides this issue.

Has anyone who has dealt with incontinence tried this specific diet? If not, have you tried any diets that have worked well for you? What do your diets look like, in general? Have changes in your diet ever improved your symptoms?

Thank you for any response.

[tangerine]

I could be wrong for your particular case but off my own knowledge....Ketogenic diet can treat fermenting gut where you have bacteria in your upper gut that shouldn't be there. This is because it starves them. The problem is that as they die they can go in to your blood stream and then travel to other places like your bladder and cause an allergic reaction...yep you can be allergic to your own gut microbes. That would aggregate your bladder. If that is the case then it should improve with time.

At the moment I don't know what to do about my diet. I do a stone age diet for health reasons and am considering switching to Ketogenic. I may have already accidentally done so although sometimes I eat more carbs. My problem is I don't have the energy due to my health condition to monitor everything I eat so I don't know how my macros are going.

[matthewmeto]

Is there a difference between a Paleo diet and a stone age diet, or are they the same thing? I know the lines between a paleo and keto diet is strict attention to macros, but I imagine that the transition from one to the other isn't that difficult. Have you looked into using a macro-counting tool such as MFP? It makes macro counting dramatically easier.

Reading your earlier posts, however, I can't recommend keto as it causes BMs to occur much less frequently, requiring an increased need for your electrolytes as well as high-fiber vegetables. It may exacerbate your issues that way. I'll read more info on fermenting gut bacteria, sounds interesting. Thank you.

[Patrick]

My diet is rather strict in this matter, because my stomach is paralyzed. The prescribed diet for gastroparesis is low residue, or no residue. Milk shakes, baby food, custard, soft boiled eggs, yogurt, Boost and Ensure. After a normal diet has made me vomit, I get religion and behave myself. But I hate this diet, with a passion. Because the prescribed diet is low residue, it always gives me a colon blockage, which I manage with stool softeners, laxatives, and enemas. Bowel incontinence is unavoidable; if I did not need diapers to manage bladder leakage, I would need them for bowel leakage.

[tangerine]

Sorry to hear you're struggling with gastroparesis Patrick. It is a nightmare for limiting food options from what I've heard.

This is what I follow: http://drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/Stone_Age_Di ... uld_follow
A little more strict as I have to avoid all beans and legumes.

I used to use my fitness pal but now I struggle to find the energy to record everything. THe problem is that it requires me giving precise written instructions to carers of how much of each ingredient to weigh out. Arranging it all is knackering. I just can't do it.

Ketostick yesterday showed no ketones. Could be incorrect due to catheter idk. I might try it again soon. I'm worried at the moment that I might be going in and out of ketosis diet which probably wouldn't be helping my health.

[Patrick]

I hope that, whatever diet you're using, that it has passed muster with your doctors. Medications and diets can sometimes conflict, with disastrous results. Good luck.

[matthewmeto]

Sorry to hear you're struggling with gastroparesis Patrick. It is a nightmare for limiting food options from what I've heard.

This is what I follow: http://drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/Stone_Age_Di ... uld_follow
A little more strict as I have to avoid all beans and legumes.

I used to use my fitness pal but now I struggle to find the energy to record everything. THe problem is that it requires me giving precise written instructions to carers of how much of each ingredient to weigh out. Arranging it all is knackering. I just can't do it.

Ketostick yesterday showed no ketones. Could be incorrect due to catheter idk. I might try it again soon. I'm worried at the moment that I might be going in and out of ketosis diet which probably wouldn't be helping my health.

tangerine, I know that being in ketosis consistently is rather important to the diet. I also know that being in ketosis can be rough on the body. Going in and out without being able to get adjusted to it is incredibly difficult to do and would likely exacerbate your symptoms. It is better if you do one or the other, but err towards the other.

I am going to do the diet, consequences be damned. I know it will exacerbate my symptoms, but that is at least why I wear protection. I think my BF needs me to do it to find success, and I've read from others who have tried that it may eventually wind up helping symptoms in the long run while exacerbating them at first. I'll just have to wear protection and soldier on through it.

[B Brian]

Matthew, I admire your devotion to your boyfriend. Yeah diets are much more likely to succeed if you have someone dieting with you. I hope your body will adapt to the diet as well, even needing to go every hour is very disruptive, but every half hour.....

You mentioned your current diapers don't last very well even under your normal circumstances though. If this is the case, then I highly recommend you switch up to a better diaper. At least until your body gets back to normal.

You will be surprised how much easier it is to cope with needing diapers if you can consistently trust them to not leak on you. Like most here I would recommend Confidry24/7.

[matthewmeto]

Matthew, I admire your devotion to your boyfriend. Yeah diets are much more likely to succeed if you have someone dieting with you. I hope your body will adapt to the diet as well, even needing to go every hour is very disruptive, but every half hour.....

You mentioned your current diapers don't last very well even under your normal circumstances though. If this is the case, then I highly recommend you switch up to a better diaper. At least until your body gets back to normal.

You will be surprised how much easier it is to cope with needing diapers if you can consistently trust them to not leak on you. Like most here I would recommend Confidry24/7.

Thank you for your thoughts. You gotta stick together with your partner if you are gonna succeed. Plus, there are benefits for me as well with losing weight I desperately need to lose.

My current method of protection, that is pullups or underwear + guards on lighter days, and diapers (tena stretch or Tranquility Slimline) on heavier days works well since I use the restroom, and its mainly to catch dribbling and bladder leakage. Wearing only the diapers, the protection level is good enough as long as I make it to the bathroom every time as it stands now. However, I am probably going to try more "premium" diapers once I start the diet. I was looking at Abena as well as the Confidry 24/7, trying to think what is the more cost-effective option of the two.

Again, Thank you.

[B Brian]

If you think you will still be able to make it to the bathroom most times, then the abena is probably a lower cost option for you. However, in my experience they are only good for one (or possibly two) full floodings, and usually no more than 4-6 hours before clumping and falling apart even when mostly dry.

The Confidry diapers will last longer than this, and hold twice as much too. If you believe you will end up needing to use them to their full capacity (even only a few times), then they would be the better cost option. I have also found the Confidry diapers will leak much less often even when they have absorbed much more than an abena will. This has brought me a piece of mind I found was worth the added cost as well.

Ultimately you will just have to weigh how much protection you believe you will want, and compare that to their costs. I do ask that you at least make the comparisons based on cost per day, and not per diaper though. This will give you a much better idea of what you will need.