www.incontinentsupport.org

Since we are getting a lot of new members on this site, I thought that we need a section where people can introduce themselves.
We have members from all over the world here and a lot of people still believe that they are alone in the world.

Since this forum is public, I do recommend caution on posting too much personal info.

I'll start this off with my info.

Im a 54yo guy living in Indianapolis, Indiana. I was hurt while I was in the Air Force back in 1987 stationed in Germany.
I got ran over by a vehicle and had damage to my legs, chest, back and head. I had grandmal seizures for a while and during a couple of them I was working on some high voltage equipment and got electrocuted. First time was 1500 volts and the second time was over 5000 volts. it was a "shocking" experience

I spent the next 4 years after my accident in and out of 7 different hospitals. Back then there was no internet like we have now. I spent a lot of time in different libraries TRYING to find any info about my medical problems. After 4 years the doctors FINALLY found nerve damage in my lower spine in the L3-S1 region thats causing my incontinence. That and the other medical problems that I have to live with make day to day living a nice challenge.

AS the internet grew over the years there was more and more info available to people, but still not one place for all the info.
After being on a few forums it soon became clear that there was a need for a forum like this one. So with the help of a couple other people we started this forum.
And look at it now, over 900 members in our family here.

ok, ill step off the soap box and let someone else talk.

Feel free to introduce yourselves. Please be brief as there are other sections on this forum for specific topics.

Schoppy

Wow - Schoppy, I'm sorry about all that has happened to you. Thank you and all Veterans for your service.

As a lot of you know, I'm a 63 y.o. woman, married, and I live/work as an admin assistant in Western Washington State. I had a sudden onset of daytime urge incontinence at age 24 which is continuing. My childhood bedwetting returned permanently at age 25. I had a stroke at age 60, which made both conditions worse. I also had a heart attack last year.

Wetters

I'm a 72-year-old, retired professional living in a suburb of Toronto.

I was a daily bedwetter and wore nighttime diapers until I was about 10 years old, after which I began having increasingly frequent dry nights. When I was 14 years old, I had abdominal surgery after which I bled profusely, required multiple blood transfusions and ended up spending over 3 months in hospital. Something about that episode caused me to develop problems with bladder control with which I've been dealing ever since.

When I first got out of the hospital, I was totally incontinent of urine and had to wear diapers 24/7. Believe me: Wearing cloth diapers and plastic pants to high school in the 1950's was a very unpleasant experience. I was determined to overcome the problem and became fanatical about performing Kegel exercises (although they weren't called that in those days) and practicing timed voiding. As a result, I got to the point that I could generally go without a daytime diaper by the time I went away to university when I was 18, but I never regained any reliable degree of nighttime continence. And my daytime continence was fragile enough that I needed to wear a diaper any time I didn't have quick access to a bathroom (such as when riding any significant distance in a car or writing an exam).

Things went on like that until I was in my forties when my daytime bladder control worsened to the point that trying to keep dry in the daytime became so time-consuming and stressful that it was more of a bother than it was worth and sometimes failed despite my best efforts. After a number of embarrassing public accidents, I decided to go back to wearing 24/7 when I was about 45. Knowing that my diaper will keep my pants dry on the outside is a tremendous stress reducer.

In the days before the advent of adult disposable diapers, I bought a sewing machine and became adept enough at using it to make my own terrycloth and flannel cloth diapers. I even learned to make my own plastic pants. However, making and laundering cloth diapers was a time-consuming process that I disliked; and I eagerly switched to disposables when they became reliable enough to depend on about 20 years ago.

Over the years, I've been to a number of urologists and other physicians who seemed to regard wearing diapers as a fate worse than death and recommended that I try other kinds of collection devices that attach externally to a man's anatomy and empty urine into a bag strapped to one's leg. One urologist even told me that wearing a diaper was "unmanly". At their urging, I've tried several different kinds of external collection devices; but I prefer diapers. When they fail, external collection devices usually fail catastrophically, suddenly creating soaked pants and a puddle on the floor. In contrast, when a diaper fails, it usually begins to leak gradually and doesn't create as much of a spectacle. I also think that diapers are much more comfortable and pleasant to wear and create less skin irritation.

My usual brand for the past several years has been the Abena Level 4 (formerly called the X-Plus). On occasions when I need a diaper with an even higher capacity, I wear a ComfiCare or a ComfiDry 24/7.

I think I like this thread. I'm learning about the people here I like to call my friends.

I'm a 45 yo male currently living in Lancaster, PA and working at a local bank. I would suspect that most of my incontinence stems mostly from my weight as I have been diagnosed as morbidly obese. (Something I alway intend on working on and continually struggle with) I'm sure that puts a lot of pressure on my lower spine as I also have pain and numbness steming from there down. I have had some night time control issues although they seem to be at bay right now. My biggest problem right now is sometimes not making it to the bathroom in time to void and I can often end up with a full void when I least expect it. As a result, I wear a full heavy protection diaper (either ConfiDry 24/7, Northshore home brand diaper, or Seni Quatro) and I always make sure I have spares with me in case I have to change. I wear the diapers just to keep my mind at ease that if something happens I'm ok and can keep going on with my day and change when I get the chance to.

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"Why is the rum always gone?" - Captain Jack Sparrow

"There is no human problem which could not be solved if people would simply do as I advise." -
Gore Vidal

OK, I am a 65 (well 66 this month) old married guy living in Fife, Scotland who diagnosed with MS in 1983 and paralysed from the waist down soon after. Continence issues including nocturnal wetting are what drove me to the doctor's in the first place. I used sheaths (external catheters) for years - we get these prescribed by our health service whereas nappies (diapers) are available but hard to get that way).

I went though a period of the use of a supra-pubic catheter but leaks drove ot use have a bladder expansion operation (clam ileo-cytoplasty for those in the know!) after which I had a period when I could manage fairly well in the day but still used the sheaths at night. Recently, in the last 18 months I have found that I do not pass water at all at night or in the day though I get fairly uncomfortable in the day if I have more than 800mls in the bladder but I can hold up to 1.4 litres at night. I empty the bladder with an intermittent catheter and in the 18 months I have had one urine infection - not great but I'm not complaining.

Oh, and my avatar is the new wheelchair I got in August 2013!

Wow, Schoppy, any lasting effects you have noticed from the electrocution? Years ago, a friend told me he was super sensitive to electrical appliances and could easily tell if they were plugged in just by being near them. Maybe he was pulling my leg. I'm sorry to hear about all your trouble.

I was Army. OIF / OEF combat medic. We did patrols south of Baghdad mostly. I'm 32. Living in Chicago now. I started having trouble with dribbling and strong urges. Then started experiencing growing dampness. It became noticeable.

I live in a small apartment near the lake with my kitty. Dealing with depression, ptsd, isolation. I enjoyed being a soldier, but I feel mostly pointless after getting out. I'm working slowly towards getting better, tho.

A great forum you've made, Schoppy.

For those new to the forum, and those who have not read my multiple posts, here is the inside skinny on me..
I am a 31 year old male, currently single, living in Northern MI, and have been incontinent and wearing protection 24/7 since May 2014. I was dry between late jul/early aug 2014 late sept 2014 thanks to treatment, then suddenly, I started wetting again late sept 2014. I do have some control; however, I never know when an episode will strike.. thus I need to wear at all times..including to bed, since while I have not ever wet at night recently, more than once have had a flood upon awakening. The most unfortunate thing about my inocontience debacle is that this was not hte first time i have been incontienent for an extended period of time. From 2008 to 2010 I had incontinence very closely following the same patters as now.. which went away after treatment in 2010. Since this has reoccured twice despite treatment, I have come to terms with needing diapers for the rest of my life. Currently i work part time overnights at Walmart as maintenance assoiciate, as well as a substitute teacher and substiute paraprofessional. Some lesser known facts about me are I have studied in China in 2007, have taken 1 semester of Mandarin Chinese, I love to fly model rockets, am a devout Roman Catholic (in case you couldn't tell by the Mother Theresa quote ), a 4th degree Knight of Columbus, and just in case you couldn't tell by my username, I hold a Bachelor's degree in Sociology-Social Services and an Associate degree in Social Work. I am also an avid chess player, a huge Star Trek fan (Mostly next generation, DS9 and Voyager), and am passionate about helping others, particuarly those with disabilties, both children and adults, which is why i have also worked at a special needs camp for 4 combined summers, and plan to return this summer. Schoppy, I hope this was brief enough.

Peace out everybody!

Rob

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"We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love" Mother Teresa

"THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!" - Captain Picard from Chain of Command, Part II

I’m in my mid-forties and currently live in Oklahoma. Back in 2006 I had a mild stroke and shortly after that I started having issues. I did mention it to my doctor at the time, but since it was mild we did not pursue the cause. It wasn’t until I had a few accidents at night along with barely making it to the bathroom during the day I went back to the doctor for further testing. I was later diagnosed with enlarged prostate and neurogenic bladder. Some days I seem fine and others not so much. I served in the Navy for a little over 20 years. As for hobbies, I am trying to find new ones. One thing I am looking into is metal detecting. Low impact and hopefully I will find something worthwhile.

I remember my dad and I would go hunting with metal detectors when I was very young. It's exciting to find something and uncover it. Even if it was an old rusty nail, it was still fun.

I'm a 33 year old, father of 1, married, grad student, bedwetter, currently living in Oklahoma (grew up in Michigan).

I wet the bed as a child in elementary, and eventually "stopped" but never really stopped. I continued to wet occationally, at least a couple times a year, until my 20's. At one point I had a totally dry period of about 2 years, and then slowly started to move back. At first once in a while on rare occasion, up to several times a year, and then around my 30th birthday came back with a vengence. I'm now wet about half of the nights, and I don't have much expectation it'll decrease again (been going on for about 3 years now).