www.incontinentsupport.org

I have a neurogenic bladder/bowel due to a genetic disease which has attacked my spine, pinching and irritating the peripheral nerves which manage bowel and bladder control. I must wear protection 24/7, which usually means diapers plus plastic pants. In the past I have tried intermittent self-catheterization, external catheters, and diapers. I prefer diapers largely because the others are of no help managing a bowel accident.

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Carl

Sometimes it seems like diapers are the best option to manage incontinence indeed. Dealing with bowel incon really limits the options, and it sounds like you've tried just about everything too...

Well, this'll be my first post. I've had problems with accidents since 1996. It started during a time in my life of severe depression. I have no bladder control and wear diapers 24/7. I hate having to wear diapers. I went to the doctor when this first started happening and nothing we tried would work.

Welcome to the club Jerry.

Im sure that a lot of people here have been in your shoes at one time or another.

Hi Jerry,

Allow me to join Schoppy in welcoming you to the club of incontinence!

Yeah, most of us hate diapers to some degree, from their being a minor nuisance to a major headache.

But....most of us and I'll bet you as well, after dealing with your problems for just over a decade now, have come to realize diapers are a much better alternative to accidents and embarassment.

Getting used to diapers involves both mental and physical acceptance. The physical acceptance is not that bad (for most) as it involves getting used to the extra bulk of your "different" underwear and the need to change your wardrobe to accommodate the different underwear, ie the diapers. The great disposable diapers available these days go a long way to making this part of getting used to diapers easy. With minimal bulk and comfortable fit, most find getting used to the physical feel of diapers not that difficult.

It's the mental acceptance that is so difficult! Much has been written on that already, our Forum (and others) devote a lot of space to posts dealing with accepting diapers. Hopefully you've perused our Diaper Primer. We start that off with diaper stigma which does remain with us. It is important for your mental health to get past the diaper hang up since diapers for most of us are the "best" solution for a very unpleasant condition. No one wants to wet their pants or the furniture or the bed every night and be constantly dealing with clean ups and embarassment and explanations. For most, diapers put an end to all of that and allow us to return to being normal.

Let me end with reminding you that we are NOT "normal" if we do not wear diapers and have accidents. However we ARE normal when we wear diapers because we can then function "normally" in society, free of wet clothes, furniture, embarassment and so on.

JoeK

About a year after this started, I met a girl through a support group who also had incontinence. The first thing she taught me to do was to disassociate the word "diaper" with babies. Like most people, I was also pretty self-concious of the "crinkley" noise the diapers make, but she also helped me realize that for somebody to notice that and determine that I'm wearing a diaper would have to have waaay too much time on their hands!

Hi Jerry
Welcome to the group it's nice to have you join in with us. I'm aware that many adults are not comfortable with the word Diaper. But as for me I've been in them for so long that it really dosen't matter to me what you call them. Protection, Pads, Briefs. Strap ons, Snap ons or Diapers it's all the same to me I know many people like you state feel more comfortable calling them Protection. I think your girl friend is right the word Diaper does tend to relate to babies in the minds of most people. But I'm the type that likes to call something what it is...........
Hope to here from you more Jerry...............Sandy

Jerry,
Joe K hit it right on the head. I welcome you to the forum. Schoppy has a great board here, and we try to keep it active.
If you ever have any question or comment, please submit it. The modirators keep close watch here.
Sandy put it right also. I use the word diaper whenever I refer to my protection. It's going to be hard to get people who are not incontinent to not think of a baby when someone mentions a diaper. Big deal! I'm not going to let it bother me! It's all about attitude. It's like water off a ducks back. It'll never effect me.
Good luck, and again, welcome to this site! .................Paul Martin

My name is Joe. I have heavy urge urinary incontinence from a freak accident while in the service. I sat on a coffee table counter-topped with glass. The table and glass broke and I suffered major trauma to my buttocks which cut into and through my colon (9 places), bowel, and pretty much destoyed my bladder. The bowel was sewn up along with the colon. My bladder was completely rebuilt (from what I haven't a clue), but the glass also cut through the external shpinter muscle and even though everything was sewn back together I still can't stop myself from peeing when it starts. I was on many meds for it to include "uroxitral" which was suppose to strenghten the muscle around the bladder but ended up just making me dizzy all the time. I get frequent UTI's because of a diverticula on the bladder. I take macrobid for that. My question here is what type of pants do you all wear? I mostly go around in sweats because that is about all that fits over my cloth diapers and plastic pants. And I have had quite a few people notice that I am wearing a diaper.

Marty,

I also have urge incontinence. Mine resulted from an unexpected side effect of surgery when I was a teenager. However, our current situation sounds similar. I also wear a diaper 24/7/365, and I hold a somewhat high-profile job where I am in front of the public.

For the past several years, I've been wearing Abena X-Plus diapers. Over the diaper I wear a pair of stretchy boxer-brief underwear. The boxer brief supports the diaper when it gets wet and keeps it from sagging down. Over the diaper and brief, I just wear ordinary loose-fitting pants. Dress pants, jeans, cargo pants, sweat pants all seem to work OK. I don't think many people notice that I'm diapered. People aren't expecting to see an adult in a diaper, and they mostly don't perceive it. However, it's also important to remember that incontinence is a medical problem. Wearing a diaper is no more "shameful" than wearing glasses or a hearing aid or using a cane.