www.incontinentsupport.org

I'm generally not concerned about bulk and all I have to do to conceal that I wear diapers, even most premium ones, is to go up one pant size. But, I have to say that when I wear Better Dry diapers the front swells up so large that I am self-conscious about it. I can't imagine that what appears to be a baseball size bulge up front isn't noticed by many. I love the capacity of Better Dry but not the swelling, so I usually only use them for things like long car trips or certain overnights. As for the rear I've already got a fairly large rear (my wife calls it a girly-butt) so even with the addition of a diaper the one-size larger pants makes it all look "normal" so no problem there, even with a Better Dry.

I am pretty lucky with my situation. My office allows me to dress rather casually, so I usually wear a large tshirt and light active pants (think golf pants or the ever popular "tactical pants"). These types of pants are usually dark in color and very good at dealing with general moisture. Even if I do leak, I'm generally dry within an hour. Further, the cut of these pants are generous to accommodate more movement, and this translates to roomier legs and crotch.

As an aside, I'm also on the cusp of some brands' sizes. I've had to order a lot of samples to get a handle on what *atually* fits me. I have disproportionately large thighs, so a lot of incontinence staples don't fit. The best fit I've ever had was probably the ConfiDry 247 in medium, but I am seeing better features with nearly perfect fit in a lot of products recently.

Bottom line, leaks are the worst enemy, and adding bulk helps the most, up to a point. Beyond that, different clothing choices (never wearing skinny jeans again is fine with me), additional layers (plastic pants and diaper covers), and out of the box ideas (I constructed a stand-up desk, because I was getting leaks on the rear thigh area from sitting).

i rather have the bulk over wet and smelly leaks we have found that when i leak also comes the smell it also gets in the seat of my chair and play heck to get the smell out of my chair nobody has ever said anything to me over the bulk if they was to say anything i wold just tell them to take a leap and go on with my day i dont give to craps what they say about me bulk is leak protection to some degree and being in a chair kinda hides it

Don,

Quick question,.....have you had any success getting the VA to buy, and/or reimburse you for the purchase of the cloth diapers you purchased? In short, I have never had any success getting my local VA to purchase and/or reimburse me for cloth diapers. Like you, and many others here I find the use of disposable during the day and cloth diapers at night to be a near perfect combination. I know every VA pharmacy has different policies so your local VA hospital pharmacy can be very different when compared to other VA pharmacies. This is just Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for each VA pharmacy so what takes place in one VA pharmacy may, or may not be the same SOP in a different VA pharmacy.

I am getting ready to move soon (relocating out of state), so any suggestions you can make are very much appreciated. Because of the out of state relocation, I will transfer from one VA hospital facility to another which means a new Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Clinic primary doc, pharmacy, etc. At present, I am receiving Abena M4 diapers from my local VA pharmacy. Unless things have changed, the Abena M4 diaper is a "non-formulary" IC product that my local VA pharmacy special orders every month. I have been receiving this product from my local VA for more than 10 years and was a hard fought battle to receive this non-formulary product but eventually, my local pharmacy provided me with the Abena M4's.

Over the years, I tried switching to a few different products to include cloth diapers for nighttime use. I never had any success making any changes but now that I am getting ready to transfer to a different VA hospital facility "maybe" I will have a chance at making some modifications to my existing Rx assuming my new primary doc is willing to approve my changes to the different IC items I currently use.

I know you are VERY knowledgable about such things and have made some relocations yourself so you also have the experience in transferring from one VA hospital facility to another.

Any thoughts, and/or suggestions are appreciated.

Johnstone,
I don’t know anything about how VA pharmacies do their purchasing. I’ve never done any such thing. I have worked Med/surg, which is not the same thing. It is separate from pharmacy. The pharmacy has their own rules to which not many people are privy to. I don’t know how they do what they do. I am just like other veterans. If I need something, I have to ask and hope I get it. My only advice is to ask your pharmacist and tell them your situation. That’s all I’ve ever done.

Don,

Thanks for the reply. I will be relocating to CA in July so I will be using a different VA hospital for all my needs. As such, I will have a new primary provider that I will meet with for the first time on Aug. 12th. (already have the appointment). The first appointment is scheduled for 90 minutes so I'm sure we will be going over everything including IC supplies. I'm almost afraid pharmacy will force me to try every formulary product they have before they will talk to me about products that DO work. You know the drill. I was just hoping there was an easier way to receive the "correct" products that work the best from the beginning but I have serious doubts if that will happen. Hope for the best but expect the worst probably sums it up. As a former VA employee, you know better than I, there is the right way, the wrong way, and the VA way of doing things.

I've read many of your more recent posts. Things have really changed since the last time we spoke. I hope your doing better and the worst is behind you. Keep the faith and enjoy summer activities with the family.

Thanks again.

realworldinc,

If you really are interested in trying cloth as an alternative to disposables, might i recommend trying pocket diapers or AI2 from Ecoable and threaded Armor? There ARE reusable cloth products that act the same way disposables do in keeping urine from the skin. I do NOT wear traditional pin on cloth products for several reasons. 1)Pins are hard to manipualte with my poor fine motor control 2) it makes toilet use difficult to impossible 3) Does not keep urine from skin 4) bulk. Out of all of these, the lack of regular toilet use and impracticality of application and not keeping urine from the skin are the biggest reasons I don't use traditional cloth. But all those concerns have been addressed by pocket style diapers in my expereince. They do keep urine from the skin, are easy to put on, and don't hinder toilet use. Toilet use is especially important to me since I do not have complete loss of bladder control and only very infrenquent bowel incontinence. In my inventory, I have several diapers from ecoable.net and one pullup from threaded armor. Both are very good to order from. The ecoable products keep urine from my skin when wet, as do the threaded armor products. Just something to consider!

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

Ellyn,

Do you find your cloth selection provides comfort when wet? I never could feel comfortable in a wet traditonal pin on diaper. I prefer diapers that actually keep urine from the skin.

_________________
"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

Truer words were never spoken!!! Wet pants are much more noticeable than fuller pants. Fuller pants can be dismissed as having a big butt or gaining extra weight. But its a little hard to explain away a wet spot near your crotch or what is obviously a disposable diaper peeking from your waistband.

_________________
"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

I wear cloth and disposable products, depending on the occasion and need. If I use a single cloth diaper, I feel wet and uncomfortable fairly quickly (a few hours). With double diapers, I can go a very long time between changes, much more than double the time (up to as much as 8 hours). It has to do with wicking and capacity of the whole diaper. Double diapers seem to pull wetness away from my skin much more effectively, making me feel dryer longer. When I change a cloth diaper, usually the whole diaper is damp. When l change a disposable, the top front and back is usually pretty dry, yet the bottom area is soaked and puffed way out, which is a testament to its’ inability to wick well.
Yes, when I’m wet, I feel wet, but that’s true with any product I use. I use medicated creams and lotions when I feel irritated, but I usually wash very well with soap and water between changes to kill bacteria.
Being dry is always a good feeling, for as long as it lasts, but feeling wet is a “normal” feeling and a reminder that I need to think about a change soon.
Cloth diapers are bulky. Double diapers are bulkier. Disposable diapers are much less bulky but less comfortable to me. Fortunately I have found ways to deal with the bulk a LONG time ago so I can feel comfortable and carry on with my day.