www.incontinentsupport.org

I don't know the percentage breakdown but it appears from reading this forum that there is a fairly large group that are/were urge incontinent but do not wet in their sleep (at least initially, ignoring maybe a few times as a child). Then there is rest of urge IC that do. My question is this-

• Is it inevitable for the dry nighters to become overnight wetters over time?
  
• If so, how long did that progression take? Years? Decades?

I recently became IC but not for overnight (yeah). It seems that overnight wetters involve cloth diapering or heavy disposable costs, not to mention leaks cleanup and laundry.

Another reason for asking is that my wife has suggested in recent years that we change to separate beds. I have resisted the idea but now that I am IC, I wonder if that might now be sensible.

So if you're urge incontinent and were dry at first overnight, but not now, I'd like to hear about your timeframe. If you're urge IC and been dry overnight and stayed that way, that would be useful to know also.

Knowing the answers to these questions can help in planning. If there is one thing I have learned from this forum (aside from enough protection), it is the need to plan ahead.

I have wondered this my self. All I have is my own experience. I started with urgency however I did not realize it. it happened very gradual for myself. I would be doing a task, mowing the lawn gardening playing a game with my kids even just relaxing watching TV or reading. I would have a sudden quick urge to go. when at first I could easily hold it off I didn't think much of it. As it started to get worse my wife took notice. I would have to rush to the bathroom, she would usually get frustrated and ask me why I was holding it to the last second. I would tell her that I wasn't but that still was not a clear indication for me of what was going on. It then slowly developed in to post void dribbling. Which became very annoying always being worried it would seep through my pants and become visible if I didn't milk the prostate enough and try and make sure everything was out. However I still did not go to a Doctor denial is more than a river in Egypt.I then progressed to the night where it started in my mind a more advanced course of symptoms. I was laying in bed winding down and reading when the quick urge hit this time it came with a friend a spirt of urine. I sprung from my bed so quick to make it to the bathroom not making a complete mess but enough to finally make me go to a Doctor after mutch testing and probing and tubes and fluids going in directions that never where intended for entrances. I at least had diagnosis. Mind you not a cause for the problem just what it was. Urge incontinence with retention due to a trabeculation of the bladder the actual cause of that is still unknown and I'm still letting The doctor's practice on me. It was recommended I get pads initially which progressed to pull-ups. A debate on cathiters was talked about but the pain a discomfort I had from them it was not worth it for me. Urgency finally got to the point were I was waking up at night very often loss of sleep is great. Becoming more incontent trying pelvic floor exercises with physical therapy medication that may have helped but effected me very poorly mentally and physically not thinking straight and one causing an allergicreaction I had to discontinue. Eventually it happened I slept all through the night. having had slight dribbles I had already been wearing protection to bed. When I woke that emotionally eventful morning protection soaked sheets and blankets wet. My wife in her infinite wisdom had bought a mattress protector and had already put it on our bed. From there I had some control but very limited I have been in tabbed Briefs ever since. From urgency to today it has been almost 8 years of dealing with symptoms. I hope this helps.

I feel a need to add to this as well. For me, the concern is not only about progressing to enuresis, but bowel incontinence as well. At present, I have a very predictable bowel movement that will happen some time in the morning, but always right after I eat breakfast. Cereal, eggs, doesn't matter, the BM is right on schedule and I have little to no control when it decides to happen. Do others have this progression?

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- Tom

itjustleaks:

Thanks for sharing that. I assume that your doctor checked you for diabetes (type-2). People often go for years without knowing they have it. In my case, I only became aware of it because I eventually developed a strong thirst over the summer months. Avoiding colas etc., I developed a strong thirst for grapefruit juice over the next few months. I later realized that this is highly irregular so I went to the clinic to be checked. The doc even told me I was wasting his time with this test because I wasn't overly overweight or old at the time (in 40s). When the test results came back he apologized 3 times before I finally left because the results screamed type-2 diabetes.

If you went undiagnosed for diabetes for years, I could see the urgent bladder coming on as a surprise (nerve damage). It definitely surprised me when it started (my first instance was nearly peeing myself in a checkout line). But there are probably many other causes for urgent bladder IC and it probably is always a total surprise when it starts except for those that have the dribbles initially. So in your case, we can chalk up one confirmed case of dry overnight progressing to night time wetting later. Since I've posted this survey, I have read at least 2 other cases that progressed to bed wetting later. While this doesn't make it inevitable, it does suggest a trend.

My wife has also had a mattress protector under our sheets for years as well. Not sure if that was for her benefit or me. But she did mention that I sweat a lot in my sleep, which is a characteristic of diabetes apparently.

WetDad:

I worry about the progression for BM IC as well. From what I could gather medically from the web, at least for diabetes, the % chance for diabetes patients with both urinary and BM IC, is significantly rarer (I wished I bookmarked the link). I must say that my own BM is often predictable after breakfast but not always. Since I also take metformin, I periodically have diarrhea for short spells. I drink coffee in the morning and I find that it often causes me to have a diarrhea, particularly if I change coffees (especially going from instant to brewed, or vice versa). After that settles, then I am fine.

A scary thing for me is that a year before I became urinary IC, I once had a diarrhea accident at work and since then, a few close calls. The bathroom is about 40 feet from my office, and I lost it hurrying on my way there. Thankfully nobody was there at the time of that horrible experience. I had to stuff paper towels in my pants and on my car seat, to drive home, shower and change. I even threw out that underwear because I was so disgusted by the whole thing. This memory made me decide to wear a diaper 24/7 by the time I realized that I was becoming IC. I was horrified by the prospect of what if that BM accident happens again at work?

So I still worry that BM IC might be in my future. Beyond that, I have little to contribute.

Wayne
Surprisingly enough they actually did not test me for diabetes till about 2 months ago. As this was one of my worries as well. Having a grandmother who was type 1 an my mom being type 2 I was stressed about this. Lucky for me though my A1c was 5 so I was good.

I don't think so. I suffer from interstitial cystitis for round about 4 years what makes me also partly incontinent. Over the nighttime I need to wear diapers but I nearly never wet my self while sleeping. Normally I wake up with heavy pain from the urge and when I move or try to standup I can't hold it anymore. To be honest - I would be happy if I could wet while sleeping - but unfortunately this is not the case. So I don't think that this is necessarily the way it goes - but I guess this is also a question of the root cause of the UIC.

I also have the urge immediately after getting out of bed, though not with any pain. I usually only have about 30 seconds, even if I have relieved myself earlier in the night. But I agree with you that the progression of IC is highly dependent upon the cause. With diabetes, the higher glucose levels leads to progressive nerve damage. Even if your average A1C is good, you still have periods of higher levels throughout the day.

If you still notice it and it doesn't run immediately, a urine bottle is also an option. This may be more comfortable and cheaper than a diaper.

For me, the trip to the bathroom is right outside the bedroom. But even that trip can feel a little urgent sometimes with a semi-awake stumbling to get there.

My great-grandparents (Both passed years ago) had an adjustable bed with independent adjustability. Each bad is then made like a twin and my gram made a separator for down the middle. They sleep like that for as long as they were alive due to my great-grandfathers night issues (Gramps was a WW II vet and suffered from night time PTSD and would get up and stand at the door to their room at night so the bed was set up to not wake nanny). Keep them in the same room, close enough that they could touch and stuff before the bed was adjusted but once it was time to sleep, gramps did not affect nanny.

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