www.incontinentsupport.org

jgrover, I had the same issue with Depend. After my stroke at age 60, my daytime urge incontinence got markedly worse. After 1 week in the hospital, 1 month in stroke rehab, and several weeks in home and outpatient PT, I went back to my full-time desk job. I started wearing Depend Silhouette absorbent underwear, supplemented by timed voiding throughout the day (I still do that - it's been 3.75 years since my stroke). A (male) "depend team" adviser misunderstood my question to him, and told me that a Silhouette panty "holds 1 full wetting." He didn't break that down into a point of reference that I could actually use.

Wetters

My bladder just constantly dripples and drains. Occasionally when I'm being moved or transfered. My bladder will empty. I'm mostly in bed or in a reclined wheelchair. So My diaper just needs to be changed every 3-5 hrs. Depending on the time of day. And whats going on. Or if I have a bowel event. Thats My experiance of wetting I guess?

I have a somewhat different take on this question. On one hand, I have a sphincterotomy. On the other hand, I think that my prostate is closing my urethra off; I'll find out what my new urologist thinks will be necessary when I meet with him 31/03/15. As long as I can use the toilet every 45-60 minutes, I don't have a problem and leakage is minimal. However, at night or when I'm out and about with no toilets handy, my bladder can accumulate enough to cause real pain before the leakage begins. This really disturbs my sleep. So, for me, not all wetting is the same. I have been happiest, and most pain-free, when the sphincterotomy allowed my bladder to empty continually. When my bladder must spasm to push the urine past my (expletive deleted) prostate, even a little leakage can cause pain.

Patrick, how do you get any good sleep at night? I'm wetting the bed (actually the disposable and cloth diapers) but that actually lets me sleep better than previously!

--John

With me, mostly all my outputs are predictable in the amount. Seems when my dysfunctional holding tank reaches what it thinks is full or close to it, the alarm bells go off with little time to do anything about it, nor5mally between 150-300 mls). Monitoring fluids is a must to be able to avoid getting caught, but at night I would rather be bundled up in 3 or 4 layers and get a good sleep, then get up 3+ times a night or as in most cases, not even wake up at all when the valve releases. Beyond frustrating, nut I have learned to work around it as best I can, and hide it all even better! Puffy

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

John,

No, I don't get enough sleep. I can sleep perhaps a maximum of three hours; after that, my bladder awakens me, even when I'm wearing a heavy nighttime diaper and polyurethane pants. So, in order to feel rested, I nap during the day when possible. I sleep 2-3 hours at a time, and hope for the best. More recently I contracted bronchitis, so coughing kept me awake. Ciprofloxacin seems to be curing that, but I still need to manage bladder leakage and a growing prostate.

Patrick,

Sorry you are having such a rough time. At least you only have to wait another 10 days for your urology appointment.

However, naps are good! I rarely get a full night's sleep, so most afternoons are nap time for me.

--John

For me it depends on how much I wet. I tend to drip and dribble all the time but sometimes my bladder just lets go a major gush without warning usually when I am doing something some kind\of work that requires effort. I have litttle or no bladder control at night once asleep and my bladder just empties as it needs while I sleep. I have no feeling of this and sleep soundly through my wetting. I have to wear a thick nappy and plastic or vynil pants and sleep on a kylie to soak up any leaks from the times when I wet several times during the night or very heavily.

Although I sometimes wet "spontaneously" when my bladder gets full, more often my urge incontinence is triggered by certain stimuli or events: standing up after sitting for more than a few minutes, getting up after lying down, hearing running water, touching water, getting out of the car, going outdoors in cold weather, etc. These triggers cause my bladder to empty itself uncontrolably however much or little it may contain. Thus the amount that I void into my diaper varies a lot.

Recently I came upon some information that can shed some light on the topic at hand. Medical studies show that the median voided volume for men is 12.9 oz., and for women, 11.1 oz. It is somewhat smaller in older adults. This represents our functional bladder capacity and is much less than our total bladder capacity. A “wetting” is a term often used to describe one bladder release into a diaper. So, for men, we can consider a typical “wetting” to be 12.9 oz. and for women 11.1 oz. The concept can be useful to help estimate how long a diaper can be worn before it needs to be changed.

Of course, due to neurological problems, many incontinents void less than these amounts.

--John