www.incontinentsupport.org

One thing to keep in mind that despite their claims of being trained and knowledgeable, I sincerely doubt that any of the powers that be at HDIS are themselves personally incontinent.
No one knows our predicament better than those of us who share it. Gary , founder of XP medical www.xpmedical.com and Adam, founder of Northshore care www.northshorecare.com are respectively an incontinent individual and a caregiver of incontinent loved ones. While helpful to have caregiver experience, the biggest drive and personal interest comes from those presidents that are directly affected by incontinence by dealing with it themselves. I know of only two: XP Medical and ABAIP (A better absorbent incontinence product, which got sold to Gary). This is where you should start racer for finding what you need.

Peace out!

Rob

_________________
"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

Rubber and plastic are just two possible options. There is also vinyl and PUL (poly urethane laminate). I personally like the pul since it has a nylon outer layer, and waterproof inner layer. The gary activewear pul pants are also contoured and have the softer pul material wrapped over the elastics. This makes them much more comfortable for me to wear. And as a bonus you can machine wash them.

As for the premium diapers. I prefer confidry, with northshore supreme as my backup. You cannot look at diaper costs as a per diaper cost though. You have to look at is as a cost per day.

Lets say a mid range diaper might only cost $1.00 each, but you have to change them every four hours. Not bad right. So in a 16 hour day you just spent $4.00.

Now look at a more premium diaper. The confidry for example costs a little more than $1.50 each. Except these diapers can easily last 8 hours before needing to be changed. So in that same 16 hours you only spend a total $3.00.

As you can see from this example, the "cheaper" diaper is actually costing you more. Plus, with the cheap diaper you are taking them close to their leak point a lot more often (every four hours or so). You are taking more risks with them. And you are forcing yourself to change twice as often as you really need to be.

In most cases it just doesn't make any sense to not use premium diapers.

Thanks Brian, that was helpful. I can see how that would make a lot of sense for many.
I plan on trying the premium briefs, although I can only go four hours max before changing, due to my bowel leaking. I can not always sense small bowel leaks, so I need to change and clean up at regular intervals.
I dont seem to have the level of heavy bladder leaks as many of you. I do intermitent cath a couple times a day to check for and deal with intermitent retention, so that helps me some with volume of urine I leak.
I think my biggest concern is having a product that can contain a large bowel accident, especially diarrhea.

I plan to try the confidry, since that seems to be the most popular brief. I am unable to pay for my own products, so I will still need to use what I get from medicaid. I will only be able to use the premium briefs for when I am away from home.

roadracer,

Also, don't forget booster pads. A small booster pad often can make a mid-range diaper perform like a premium diaper. A $.20 or $.30 booster pad in each of two diapers may save you from having to put on a third diaper, thus more savings - spend $.40 to $.60 for the pads and save $1.00 to $1.50 from not needing the extra diaper. I am a heavy wetter and normally use booster pads in my ConfiDry 24/7s.

I recommend small or medium size booster pads. Larger pads tend not to be completely used in the rear section, just as is the case with diapers.

For containing a large bowel accident such as you describe, there is no substitute for high and stiff internal standing leak guards (and plastic pants).

--John

The booster pads I get are tranquility topliner booster contour pads. They line the entire brief. The booster pads I am being sent from hdis are dignity doubler, and are larger then the tranquility.
I am assuming these are considered large pads?

roadracer,

Yes. Those are large pads. The question is, when you change the diaper, has all of the booster pad been used? If not, a smaller size may be both more efficient and affordable.

Also, it is recommended to choose a size booster that leaves gutter space on both sides of the pad so the urine has room to flow without overflowing the leak guards. It also lets the urine make direct contact with the absorbent mat of the diaper itself. Otherwise, a large pad may actually block the diaper's absorbent mat from doing its job.

It sounds "yucky" but take your next used diaper and peel off the booster pad. Look at the diaper's absorbent mat and see whether the area beneath the booster pad has become thoroughly saturated or has an area that is dry or almost dry.

--John

roadracer,

I manage my bowel issues by a combination of diet, medications, and enemas. With so many variables, there is always the threat of an accident. For many reasons, my physical therapist and a dietician, working together, have given me the best advice for managing. If you have issues with ataxia, balance, and strength that hinder diaper changing, the services of an occupational therapist would also be useful.

I second that "gutter space". This is a small space between the edge of the booster pad, and the leak guards. It will allow pee to be channeled correctly, and can make a big difference in not leaking. Go too large of a pad and your pee could be allowed to flow right over the leak guards.

Also, Given you are having to change more often due to you bowel leakage, it kind of sounds like confidry might be more than you need after all. They are definitely still worth trying though, and like you said they might be really good for specific situations even if not most of the time.