www.incontinentsupport.org

Hello,

Someone who is recently faced with incontinence may not necessarily know how to time changings to avoid leakage and rash, so I though i would provide some perspective. Granted, I don't have 24/7 full-on loss of control.. i do manage to urinate in the toilet at least once most days. That being said, i do deal with dribbles spurts, and floods on a daily basis..id classify my incontience as moderate to heavy.. as far as type? I really don't know.. my best guess would be a mix between urge, overflow and stress... and the odd part is i don't wet at night..at all..ever...Though will occasionally flood in the morning. How i deal with it is while at home and out and about in casual life is while using attends breathable I get through medicaid..the less absorbent variety.. i operate on a change-when wet basis most of the time. I am always aware of when i have wet, though sometimes I don't get much warning ahead of time..and of course, even though i know its coming, sometimes i cant stop it..hence why im incontinent and wearing diapers..For times when i know ill be out for a while.. 8 hours or so.. i wear the higher capacity briefs..and sometimes try to use the toilet, other times soley use the brief during 8 hours... it depends on whether i get the proper singals telling me i need to pee, and whether the brief i have on can be taken down easily. As a rule, i don't generally attempt toilet use while wearing wellness.. since i had issues of it falling apart.

Going by this system of changing when wet when possible.. I usually don't leak. I've only had 1 premium/extended wear diaper leak on me in recent memory..and that was a confi dry that i had recycled from a previous unsuccsessful taping held on mainly by duct tape.. oh and by the way... when i supplement tape diapers.. i find it near impossible to take them off, so i don't use the toilet when i do that.. unless i have to have a bowel movement..

In my expereince.. Attends breathable briefs extra absorbent unboosted can last at maximum 3 hours... most likely 2 if actually flooding in it.. roughly 2 or 3 heavier wettings... Boosted, ive gone for an entire half shift without changing..and did'nt leak. Of course, it goes without saying that fluid intake will directly impact how much is released at any one time.

With the premium brands.. i usually change only once during lunch.. and that is more due to fear of the diaper falling apart rather than fear of leaking.. if I had to go all day 8 hours staright without changing..i boost.. and this seems to have worked well for me.. hope this helps someone!

Peace out!

_________________
"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

So how do you balance timing diaper changes with getting the most cost effective use out of your diaper? I'd hate to feel like I had wasted the diaper!

_________________
When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

Marcus Aurelius

Thats a good question Porkchop.
I operate on a change when wet basis with products like Attends, Tena and such, because up until now, I got attends breathable from medicaid which cost me nothing. But recently Attends changed their breathable diaper to a product that I found not comfortable and trust worthy at all. That led to a mini crisis where I had humble myself and ask my unit leader whether the camp i worked at had any suprlus diapers in my size. As a matter of fact they did.. and it was awesome. I have enough to be able to use thsoe on a change when wet basis.

If i spsend money for them, I think id be less inclined to change when wet.. since they do cost some money. But on the ontehr hand, change when wet is beter for the skin. I guess i balance the cost with changing this way; When I get an extended wear diaper... I plan to wear it 4 hours.. I have treid it for longer.. but ive noticed after 4 or 5 hours, the diaper tends to clump and all the padding falls appart, asometimes leaving no padding betwen the exit point of the urine shall we say and the plastic backing of the daper. THat is not a good situation to be in. Clumping depend on the brand of diaper i find. Attends have a reputation for clumping. Also, keep in mind that a disposable diaper is just like your garden variety underwerar.. even if you have a complety dry day, you still need to change once a day, because they will still get sweaty since your area down there is warmer.

IT really does depend on your type and level of incontiennce as well as your fluid intake. If you have complete loss of control, obviously you wouldnt be changing after each wetting but rather changing on a schedlule. The problem with that approach is that you are more prone to rash and underestimating how much the diaper can absorb and risking a leak.

I hope this helps! Any other quesitons ask away! we are all here to help!

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

Thanks Rob! That makes sense, though I've found that the answers I get seem to include a lot of "it depends" (pun intended) rather than specific advice. While I understand, it can certainly be frustrating!

_________________
When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

Marcus Aurelius

Oh, Porkchop, I completley understand your frusturation! I ran into the same thing when I asked Adult cloth diaper company questions about how long their gauze flat folds would last.. and she said the absorbency depends on how I care for them etc.. If your'e a numbers man, may I suggest, if you havent already, taking a look at XP medical's specs on the diapers they carry? I would suggest this website's copy of the same page.. but, no offense to the mods.. the page here is outdated.. some of the brands listed are no longer in existence.. http://www.xpmedical.com/dtest.html . Those numbers should give you a rough idea of absorbency of each diaper. If you caculate how much you void and how often, that can give you a rough idea how often youd have to change with each product. I would suggest getting a sample and trying it out yourself. One thing is for sure.. no one solution works for everyone. We are all different body shapes, so a product that fits me well may not fit you. Our voiding patterns may be complerly different, so while I could spend 4 hours in an abena and be fine, you could flood it and need to change every hour or vice versa. I leanred wheat i know now by a LOT of trial and error.

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

Thanks again Rob! Right now I have been wearing the ConfiDry 24/7 for my night use, which I have dealt with for a few years but the daytime use is still new to me so I am trying to figure it out as I go. I actually do order my diapers from XP Medical already, so I will check them out.

_________________
When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

Marcus Aurelius

Porkchop,

I also wear the ConfiDry Dry 24/7. The diaper has a maximum absorbency of 90 oz. Probably only about 40% of that will be used before leaking in most situations and while sitting down. So probably 32 - 40 oz before a leak most days.

I add a booster pad to get a little more absorbency. Depending on my level of hydration I usually go 5 to 6 hours before changing (I am a coffee drinker and stay well hydrated). I could get 7 hours most of the time but do not want to push the diaper to the point of leaking.

--John

Thank you John, I will keep that in mind! I am working on getting back in the habit of hydrating, and the consequential diapering which I need if I do drink anything. My doctor suggested a gallon of water a day (120 ounces), but I am doing good to hit half that amount. However, even drinking more 20 ounces means I am leaking so this really is a priority for me. Ironically, as an infantry sergeant I stressed the issue of hydration and I can still hear the sing song voice of my drill sergeant shouting "Drink water!"

_________________
When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

Marcus Aurelius

Hi Porkchop,

Indeed- dehydration is a soldier's worst enemy.... at least thats what all my marine friends tell me. lol
Anyways, I actually have become an absolute fan of Nortshore care's briefs (Both the supreme and air). I saw on another thread that you are
looking for something 'discreet'- well these things are quite quiet. I normally wear plastic pants over my diaper
at work and during the day. But even if i didn't wear the plastic pants, it is very difficult to even hear the diaper crinkle
during the day.
They are just slightly cheaper per brief than the Dry 24/7 but I would say they probably hold almost as much.
Also, the Northshore "air" diapers, although other cloth backed diapers have serious leakage and performance issues, these diapers
are probably the best.

Thanks, I will look into ordering a sample of those diapers. I tend to prefer the plastic backed, had a few leak issues with the cloth ones.... but I am willing to try this brand and judge it on its own merits. Where are these diapers sold? I couldn't find them on the XP site.

_________________
When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

Marcus Aurelius