www.incontinentsupport.org

Hi all. I've been a lurker here for a while and finally decided to join the conversation. I'm hoping that by putting down my experience in words it will give me a little perspective on the side of me that I keep very much to myself. I've rarely had a conversation about bladder leakage and sometimes have pent up frustrations about it. Soooo, here goes. I'm a 45 year old man in the UK. I've had incontinence issues of varying degrees since I was about 20. Since university I have always had to keep a pack of adult nappies/diapers in my bedroom as I will wet overnight if I've had a lot of beer (only found that one out when I started university - no previous issues beyond the age of about 8 apparently). My older brother had the same issue at university. it doesn't happen much now as I don't drink a lot of beer and if I have put on a nappy to sleep in, 30% of the time it wont actually be wet come the morning. Fast forward to me being 38/39 and I had some issues with my lower back and since then I have had a little bladder weakness during the day. Nothing major, I don't need to wear a nappy for it, but I do need to wear pullups at the gym, which is where most of my leaks manifest themselves. I love working out so its just something I deal with. Im not alone in that as there are pads and used pullups in the locker room bins from time to time. I am using men's guards in my underwear more often now, more for confidence/security than a persistent problem - post pee dribbles etc. I have been diagnosed with an enlarged prostate but my GP is not concerned at this stage and says its part of getting older. So there you have it. Compared to some of your issues, I guess mine are mild, but it can be lonely dealing with it (despite a supportive wife) no matter how bad the issue is. Its in writing now! I have come "out" as an incontinent guy. "My name is Craig, and I have a bladder problem". I look forward to joining the conversation.

Welcome to our community. I hope that, by now, you will have had time to peruse the older posts to get a sense of who we are and how we deal with the issues related to our disability. I hope you will continue to post here, and look forward to your contributions. Again, welcome.

Welcome to the forum. It is a great place for venting and learning how to try to deal with it.

Thank you very much. Hopefully I won't be doing too much venting, but sharing experiences and realising I'm far from alone will certainly help.