www.incontinentsupport.org

If I may add, I too have struggled with the "giving in" attitude. For me, life has been much better not having to worry about bathroom locations & availability, fear of "accidents", slave to a bathroom schedule, etc. Now I can go about, enjoy, and not worry.

Did things get worse? Assuming, the question was related to losing further voiding control, then the answer is: Not really; at least not noticeably to me. But things sure did improve with quality of life and reduced stress.

I just wanted to add that the quality of life has greatly improved for me when I went to diapers 24/7. I tried for 4-5 years with pads and "graduating to pullups". I really got tired of my bladder controlling my life. With the diapers. now I don't panic when I am not near a bathroom. Also I was prescribed a medication for my high blood pressure and it is a diruetic. That meant that with my OAB I was getting up 2-4 times a night to urinate. It was really a disruption! Now I just go in my diaper and I am back to sleep if I even wake up. I still have some bladder control, but don't have to worry about those sudden urges anymore. I really agree with ILuvLA: "Did things get worse? assuming the question was related to losing further control, then the answer is not really; at least not noticeably to me. But things sure did improve with quality of life and reduced stress"

A little internal odor control and a good quality diaper make most of the concerns go away. I still don't like when I soil myself but it could be much worse if everyone else knew it. Johnstone once recommended Devrom to me and it does work. It takes about two weeks for it to be completely effective and it is worth it.

_________________
When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade.

When I started with my dripping/dribbling about four years ago I would wake up in the middle of the night to change my diaper. After a few months I stopped waking up. I suppose I've become completely used to being wet and it doesn't bother me anymore. So I wake up wetter but better rested. That's fine with me.

I wear pullups anytime I have to drive any distance or when I simply cannot afford the chance of having an accident. When I'm wearing a diaper I'm more likely to wet it for a couple of reasons. One, if I'm not wearing I feel the little "slippages" much faster and can usually stop it. With a diaper on, especially one that's already partly wet, I may not notice I'm dribbling until there's enough to feel. Two, there's the "what the hell, I'm wearing a diaper" attitude and sometimes I think if I let a little out it's less likely I'll end up with a flood that overwhelms the pullup.

So yes, I wet more, but think it's more psychological than physiological. I really don't care. I just want to get through the day without embarrassing myself and am completely over the "Oh my God I'm wearing a diaper" thing.

_________________
Fred

I am in total agreement with you Fred, for both day and night time, it just makes things easier and removes the "what if" factor, which is too big a load of stress that any of us want to carry around! People without this type of issue to deal with day to day may not understand that reasoning, but I am over that too! Puffy

_________________
Puffy
BC, Canada
Fighting the "Bladder Battle" since 1995

Like Puffy Pants I just gave into the fact that trying to fight the urge to go was not worth the stress. I have been in diapers 24/7 now for about 5 years and when I feel the beginning of the urge I now just let it go. This has made my every day life so much better and getting a good nights sleep also helps. I don't even think about what if someone sees that Iam wearing a diaper, no more then the fact that I wear glasses. I think giving in or accepting that you have a condition will lead to a better all around life. My wife, of 43 years, says it has made our life so much easier having not to worrying about where the next bathroom is.

I gave in not to diapers but to poise ultimate absorbency pads and they're working. I tried going 2 hours without protection yesterday and ended up with a wet spot on the back of my pants, learned my lesson

Interesting subject! After going thru a bunch of tests & eating a bunch of pills and maybe even a surgery if things don't get better that one finally realizes that the problem has to effectively be managed. And there are many different ways people do this all of which if it works for them and their lifestyle then that's all good by me. I remember those days & am sure glad they are over. I've learned to manage myself to the point that I only need to deal with it a few times in any given 24 hour period. I have a friend with spinabifida and he hits the washroom every hour except for sleep. Being born with it he still wants to somehow overcome it and protect himself as lightly as possible. He still insists on drinking very little & seems to always have some type of bladder infection or UTI. He's 56 now. I've only lightly discussed it with him but he's stuck in his ways & who am I to suggest otherwise.... Me? I always am drinking water, have had only two UTI's & those were several years ago. I "suit up" and go about my day never even thinking about what's going on down there until I get that "carrying a wrecking ball" feeling down there from the weight of a wet diaper and it's always about the same time every day. I can tell the time of day from it. So that works well for me and doesn't seem to slow me down a bit. If there are those people that keep fighting it that already know that will never win will adopt an attitude like that you will find yourself in a much happier place. To me that's really how I've actually won the battle!

I don't class it as giving in. I decided that wearing a pad or nappy at night was the best way forward. I don't wet every night but more often than not. What is the point in risking soaking the bed when you can wear a pad or a nappy and the bed and wife stay dry. If I am honest yes the frequency of my night time wetting has increased since I started to wear pads every night but it doesn't really matter. When I first saw the continence nurse she suggested I try various things such as cutting out caffine, getting up during the night etc to see if things improved. It didn't and now it seems my incontinence is accepted and I am now eligable for pads on the NHS providing I have a six monthly appointment with her to review my situation.