www.incontinentsupport.org

I think this is a great idea, Schoppy!! I am Paul from Maine. I am 33 years old, married with two boys 5 and 3 1/2. In late February/early March 2014 I began to have problems with frequent urination (about 12 times in 24 hours) I also noticed some light leakage with urination and it was getting worse. By May or June I had increased the frequency to around 15 times per 24 hours. The "incontinence" was still on the lighter side (post micturation dribble) and could be as large as a grapefruit or as small as a quarter and rarely if ever could be seen on my outer clothes. My wife could always tell though. Many of the urinary problems began to surface during an intensely stressful time in my life while working 80-100 hours a week and taking care of my two young boys when not working one of my 3 jobs so my wife could go to work. I began to wear pads, then pullups, and then realized that adult diapers were most secure so I stuck with them at home despite the fact that a full diaper is overkill for my particular situation. I decided early on that I didn't like just wearing a pad in my underwear because it want comfortable and bunched up and sometimes it wasn't where I needed it when leaking. I found that when going to work that a pullup and pad combination worked really well, and the pad gave the pullup some more longevity. The wife has been pretty supportive through this all, but really didn't want the children to see me in diapers because she didn't want to give them the wrong idea about potty training.
The urinary frequency continued to increase despite the 3 different urologists prescribing 4 or 5 of the 7 meds for OAB. So I saw 3 different urologists the first one was an asshole and I stuck with him for a bit but then moved on as quickly as I could. In early June 2014 my frequency reached a peak and the meds that were prescribed were not working at all. I called the urology office to tell them that the med wasn't working ( I was told to provide an update on my status on this particular Monday whether the latest med was working or not) I said it wasn't working and I was miserable. They called me back and advised me to go down to the ER, the urologist wanted a Foley catheter placed. I was home with the kids as the wife was working (she's an ER nurse in a hospital 45 minutes from us) when she got home I told her that we needed to go to the ER for a Foley catheter and while my parents sat with the kids she took me to the hospital 5 minutes down the road. The ER doc was kind enough to allow my wife to insert the foley as she had previously worked there and they knew each other.....very uncomfortable moment, though. Several days after that I had an emergency appointment with urologist #3 and he gave us some catheter supplies to take home after I told him we would be removing this foley for my work shifts. He said to have the wife put it back in when I got home from work. With the foley in I was sleeping through the night and not getting up 2-5 times a night as I had been for a month or two. I actually woke well rested and not so edgy. During all this I developed fairly severe anxiety and that caused a lot of problems for me, trouble sleeping, being short tempered with the family, and always exacerbating the urinary symptoms. So as of right now I've seen 10 different doctors had a myriad of tests including surgery to embolize a spinal Dural Arteriovenous fistula on my spinal cord that they though they could see in one of the 4 MRI's that I've had. Only to find out after a 3 hour surgery that it was a "shadow" on the MRI. Very disappointed about that, so after all of this I'm still in diapers 24/7 and a regular Foley catheter user. I can't go more than 45 minutes to 1 hour in the car without a foley or I am miserable. So my wife catheterizes me nearly every week during my time home from work and then assists me in changing from the leg bag to the bedside/overnight bag when I go to bed and vice-versa when I get up in the morning. I get weak in the knees when I think about cathing myself so she always does it for me, the same thing happens when it comes out. She usually takes it out because the thought of it makes me queasy.......I do my own diaper changes, though she occasionally helps me just to be nice and show support. We told the kids that daddy has a hard time peeing and that I have some leaks so I wear a different kind of underwear. Though I call them diapers, we don't use that term in front of the kids. So as of right now, the urinary frequency is anywhere between 15-25 times a day with leakage of varying severity every time I go, I still get up anywhere between 1-5 times a night to pee without the foley, and nobody has any answers out of the 10 doctors, so I've pretty much given up on going back and forth to doctors because it causes my anxiety to be worse. With occasional prodding from the wife I'll go to an appointment and jump through some hoops only to be let down again. I know this has been a long story, and it ain't over yet.

PB,

I'm sorry to hear about you ordeal with so many different doctors.

It's important for you and your physicians to determine whether you have overflow or urge incontinence. Overflow incontinence is usually caused by some kind of blockage (such as an enlarged prostate) that makes it difficult of impossible to empty your bladder completely. The condition is serious because it can lead to urine backing up into your kidneys; and that can cause kidney failure. Not being able to empty your bladder also increases the likelihood of potentially serious infections. The usual long-term solution to the problem is to perform surgery to correct the situation and let urine pass freely. Until the block has been removed, frequent catheterization can assist with emptying your bladder; but inserting and removing catheters is also frequently the cause of infections. In other words, overflow incontinence is a serious condition for which a solution needs to be found rather quickly.

On the other hand, urge incontinence is a major nuisance, but not as dangerous as overflow incontinence. With urge incontinence, you get sudden irresistable urges to urinate and wet yourself before you can make it to the bathroom. There are several drugs that are supposed to help with the condition, but many of us here have tried them and found that the amount of relief provided was minimal. For urge incontinence, most physicians recommend that men use some kind of external collection device that attaches to the outside of your penis and is connected via a tube to a collection bag. External catheters are much less likely to cause infections than internal catheters. However, most of us in this group find that diapers work better for us than the external catheters.

I realize that you've been to a bunch of doctors, but I'm concerned that your use of catheters is likely exposing you to the risk of a dangerous infection.

I'd rather deal with the bulk and ordeal of diapers, than to use any kind of catheter.
Especially, since it was a cath that made my issue worse, in the first place.

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Hello, my name is Scott, and physically, I am 40 years old. However, thanks to abuse, and being special needs, mentally and emotionally, I am equal to about 6-10 years old.

The catheter was an option for me however having researched various posts here agree that I too would rather deal with diapers 24/7. This also means that I do not have a immunity antibiotics that one will need for other serious medical problems.

Greenbank

Its a really long story how I ended up using Foley catheters. My wife is an ER nurse and is able to do it for me at home, reducing the risk of infection as she is highly skilled at foley catheterizations. I've been 7 months with no problems so far, I won't hijack the thread with the entire ordeal that I've been through other than to say that diapers and foleys are the ONLY thing that has worked for me thus far. I have tried meds with no success. I don't believe I have urge OR overflow incontinence, it's best described as an OAB with some leakage...... Here is the rest of the story:

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