www.incontinentsupport.org

Yes wearing diapers is a hassle however since wearing 24/7 I have my life back. Yes I have highs and lows however my Urge Incontinence does not bother me anymore I just get on with it especially with the people here on hand to help!

Greenbank

Family helps (parents esp) in reality.

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Incontinent since young, wearing Abena M4 or Tena Slip Maxi.

Im living proof that just because you wear a diaper 24/7 does NOT mean you have to stop also using hte toilet. Do i wear diapers all the time? Yes. Do I use them all the time? No. Depending on whether my bladder is behaving, i make it to the toilet quite often.

So, really there's no need to be conflicted. Just wear what you need to to feel secure all the time and make it to the toilet wehn you can. Dont worry about the rest.

Peace out!

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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

Hi 5buggles just reading your thread and I think - despite of your continence problem - I would try to see if theres something you can do to improve the problem with the spine. Not sure what the doc say but that sounds like a L4 / L5 nerve problem. So if you have a e.g. some kind of degenerative spondylolisthesis incontinence might be just one of a lot of other problems you may get. So from my point of view I would see if there's anything that I can do to improve the situation here and don't care that much about the incontinence, because if you find a way to slowdown the degenerative spinal process this most likely also help with the continence.

Reading through this thread, I’d like to add my thoughts and issues:
I don’t have back or any real bone issues other than knee and ankle issues from running. I still run but try to limit myself.
In the morning, I try to ease out of bed and go directly to the bathroom. I nearly always wet at night and will sometimes flood when I get out of bed, but occasionally can get to the toilet on time. I change after and can sometimes make it to the toilet during the day. I’ve tried MANY TIMES to do timed toilet visits to train my bladder. For me, that has only marginal success, but sometimes works out, depending on how the planets align...
On mornings like today, with the allergy meds that I take for heavy pollen, it will be a free flow day.

I wear a diaper 24/7 because of urge urinary incontinence. However, I still urinate in the toilet when it is convenient to do so. In this way, I maintain the remnant of continence that I still have and cut down on the cost of diapers.

Hi Ellyn - not sure - and you probably know this - but anyway maybe it's also interesting for others. Timed voiding only take one side of the coin - timed drinking is the other.

While my continence training I'd learned that it only works if you set both into relation. I did it this way: First I had setup up a timetable for drinking. I drink 2.5 Liter water per day (in summer some more) and spread this over the daytime and nothing two hours before bedtime. After doing this for a week I started a voiding diaries.

After a second week I was able to see the voiding times. It took some time, but while staying with the drinking times we get also predictable result for the voiding times. Of cause this depends also on your activity temperature and other things but together with the PT I was able to find a more or less working rule. Based on that we were starting with the timed voiding while trying to expand the periods in 10 minutes steps per week.

That worked not perfect but good enough to get most of the control back. There where only two drawbacks...:

The training together with medication helped me to reduce the urge attacks drastically but doesn't helped me much in a case they hit me. So I still need protection if I'm at work but luckily don't have accidents that often anymore.

The other think that happend was success and fail at the same time. I make it during the training to extend my bladder capacity again. This gives me the freedom of round about two hours time between the voidings - in the morning even a bit more. This was a big success for me. How ever, the fail was the amount of volume that I loosed if I accident happens.

Over the first 6 month I wear formed pad's (Attends Contour 7). They worked fine for me, because if the bladder cramped I did't loosed that much and they where easy to change and also easy to get down on the toilet.
But while my bladder volume extends I was also loosing more while an episode. The consequence was that I had to change from pads to diapers, because the pads did't work anymore for a heavy accident - especially while sitting. This was one the really depressing parts of the story because I had a lot of trouble with my insurance getting good diapers paid - but that a different story...

Thank you!
Unfortunately I have other issues that greatly affect my continence. My sphincter control is inadequate due to the nerves that affect contraction. Birth defect, they claim.
I stay hydrated but not overly so. I try to cut back at night and next to never drink alcohol. Lots of water and juice, as well as a few cups of coffee daily.... No, not decaf....
I appreciate your helpfulness though!!

Yes, Michael, that is exactly what is going on - a Grade 2b L4/L5 spondy. I have therapy and exercises I do to minimize the effects and slow progression, but I'm being told that it is too far gone to reverse it. I'm wondering, however, if continued therapy and maybe other approaches (ie: pelvic floor therapy) might result in improved control over time.

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"When you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness. So I got that goin' for me, which is nice."

I have had several cycles of pelvic floor therapy. Granted, it is extremely embarrassing. However, pelvic floor therapists are highly trained medical professionals. They deal with incontinents (folks like us) every day on the job. The best management advice I have received I got from these folks. They explained why I would never regain complete control, but told me in detail what I would need to do in order to manage. I cannot recommend them highly enough.