www.incontinentsupport.org

New member, so I will start with a little background... I have been dealing with neurogenic bladder and bowel, for several years now, due to damage caused by a adult onset genetic disorder (I am in my early 30s).
I am unable to follow the typical bowel management program to prevent accidents, due to medicine I take to prevent liver damage. I am able to use a condom catheter, but my only option for bowels (according to my dr) is to contain it the best I can, so I currently wear briefs for both.
I recieve select brand diaper and booster pads threw medicaid. While they work good for urine, they are horrible at containing bowel. A different med supply company (hdis) recommended I try Reassure brand Premium Overnight briefs with a Dignity doubler booster pad. The samples I tried seemed to work really well, so I ordered some. The only problem is that they are very bulky, so much that I am convinced people will realize I am wearing a diaper! I am not sure if these are the correct products to use?
Also not able to take the meds that reduce odor, and I am unsure what to do about smell?

Thanks for any suggestion anyone can give me

Hi Roadracer

Welcome to our group, I wear Dry 24/7's or the Foresite brand that are a thicker diaper and no one has noticed in the last 2 years, I wear one pant size larger and dark colours to help deal with the slight extra bulk of the diaper.

if any one has noticed no one has ever aaid any thing, when I first started to wear dry 24/7's I was sure people would notice but after a short time I realized no one did.

I have tried thinner diapers to help hide the bulk but found my self worrying that my diaper would fail as a few times they did. after switching to the thicker diapers I no longer panic when my bladder release.

Try wearing the thicker diaper you will probably find the self confidence that your diaper will do its job will help eliminate the worry about wearing a thicker product.

Welcome Don,

Most of us understand very well where you are coming from. RobertH is quite correct. Like Robert, I wear the same highly absorbent diaper, despite a little more bulk. The philosophy is "better to bulge than to leak!" Leaking is more likely to will attract notice than a small bulge in your jeans. Anyway, we have learned that no one really notices. You will become accustomed to the bulk and stop worrying about it.

I am double incontinent and wear ConfiDry 24/7 with a booster pad. The Dry 24/7 has excellent absorbency and fecal containment. I wear black jeans and found that, by going up one size in the jeans, you cannot tell that I am wearing a diaper. The diaper essentially is invisible. I also wear PUL pants whenever I am out of the home, and a onesie for support.

Not much can be done to reduce fecal odor. Plastic pants, of course.

I control my bowel incontinence very effective with daily enemas as a preventative. This is with the full approval of multiple colorectal surgeons. An empty bowel cannot have an accident. So, after a brief washout in the morning I can go about my normal activities without having to worry about having a messy diaper and fecal odor. PM me if you want any additional information about this.

--John

Sorry but reassure, and dignity are not premium diapers. It's questionable if they are even mid grade, more like low grade.

I'm of the same mindset as the others here too. I tried all the thinner and more "discrete" diapers at first. I too found that a thin diaper which has leaked is WAY more noticeable than a thick one that's done its job.

I too also wear confidry with a PUL diaper cover over them (to catch any potential leaks, and to help reduce the noise). I've worked in the same quiet office for 14 years now, and not one of my coworkers have noticed.

I get it's a common fear, but seriously, people do not notice. Just wear loose and black pants (I like the pleated relaxed fit myself, as the pleats break up the pant material and help hide the diaper bulge really well).

JD,
Have you tried Nullo or Devrom? I use nullo and it does a pretty fine job at masking fecal odor. So much so that if I have a bowel accident in public, nobody will notice.

I think a big issue is anxiety. Even wearing the thin diapers, I know they are hidden well, yet the whole situation is still anxiety provoking enough that I end up staying home. I do feel more secure wearing the thicker diaper, yet I think it causes me more anxiety.

re: bowel management (enemas, suppositories, etc) and the oder reducing pills (nullo etc), and anything else that affects the bowel, I am unable to use. They affect the ability of a important med I take to work properly. I appreciate the suggestions though.

re: Plastic pants, I was sent what the medical supply company calls rubber pants (thick rubber material), and a pull-on pant made of a semi-transparent vinyl material. Are those what I should be using, or are there better options?

B Brian, have you tried the reassure overnight? What premium products do you recommend to try? I am fully disabled, on medicaid, and really limited on what I can spend per month. My plan was to continue to use what I get threw medicaid while at home, and use the reassure briefs at times when I need to avoid leaks. I am totally open to try other options, just need to be limited on quantities

I looked up the Dry 24/7 that seems to be popular, but I would be really limited in how many I can buy/use per month

A few other things to consider:
* I wear my slacks one size larger than I did pre-incon. Example: I used to wear 38 inch waist, now I've gone to 40.
* Premium diapers do not require as many in a day. Most of us come out ahead on total price per fortnight.
* Nobody notices that I'm wearing a diaper. Ever. I fly for work 3 weeks a month, and no one, including the TSA has ever noticed.

_________________
- Tom

Don, I have used Nullo very successfully. I used Nullo during a 31-day trip to Turkey and cruise of the Mediterranean and had no problems with odor. However, I now reserve it for lengthy periods of travel as I require the maximum recommended dose to mask fecal odor and that significantly increases my chronic constipation (that causes overflow diarrhea).

Roadracer, it is quite normal to feel anxious about wearing diapers. As everyone has indicated, it gets better and no one notices. Just give it time.

--John

If your medications prevent the use of enemas, suppositories, laxatives, and Nullo to manage bowel incontinence, you might add that to the list of topics to discuss with your gastroenterologist at your next visit. I would be house bound if I could not use these techniques.

Thanks all for the advice, I appreciate it.

Patrick, just want to assure you I have discussed it extensively with my team of doctors, routinely over the past few years.