www.incontinentsupport.org

Mike,

There are seldom any 'cures' for leaking at night so you are going to have to put up with it for now at least. If that means wearing a nappy and getting a good night, then that is worth it for feeling rested in the morning. A good nappy will keep you dry all night whatever.

thanks everyone. These comments largely mirror my thoughts.


I tried setting an alarm for 2 am last night and even decided against wearing protection to try it for one night and see if it worked. I awoke at 2 by the alarm and used the bathroom. I awoke in a wet bed just before 4. Today, I'm exhausted. Wife agrees that it's probably not a solution.

Certainly while diapers aren't a cure or solution either, they are the most practical management at this time.

I've tried it. For me it was at 1am (4 hours after I go to bed). It was a complete waste of time I could have been sleeping.

Like you said, I could go at 1, then wake 2 hours later needing to go again. More often though, I'd wake up at 1, and not be able to get back to sleep until 4 or 5 (and I wake up at 5:45). I was a complete zombie for weeks and got written up for it at my work. After that I decided it was best to just use my diaper in bed which makes it much more more likely I will fall back asleep quickly.

Some of you seem able to wake up, go to the toilet, and then fall back to sleep. For me, "strategic waking" is almost as bad as wetting the bed. I have great difficulty sleeping due to back and pelvic pain. I also used to get up to go the the bathroom two to three time a night, and had great difficulty falling back asleep. Combine those factors together and I was getting very little sound sleep. Perpetual sleep debt indeed was making me a "zombie" and affecting my quality of life.

As I have to wear diapers at night anyway because of bowel incontinence plus some bedwetting, I finally decided to stop trying to fight it. I now either involuntarily wet my diaper or voluntarily void and then immediately fall back to sleep. Let's call that "Strategic Wetting." The end result is the best sleep I have experienced in years (of course I still have issues with the pain).

--John

Ha, I like that, "strategic wetting". With my case of urge incontinence combined with not being able to pee when I need to (from detrusor sphincter dyssenergya), every time I've gotten an urge to go I've had to stop what I'm doing (including sleeping), and consciously choose and force myself to pee.

Not doing so, or even delaying that urge a few seconds only leads to the pain getting worse with each second. In this regard, I've had to "strategically wet" every... single... time... I do go-- for the last 20 years. Well, either that or double over in pain until the urge passes (only to return again a few minutes later).

Almost always.

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- Tom