IC and bedwetting development

[Jochen]

So IC pretty much started to destroy both my life and marriage. Controlling how I spent time with wife and kids, stopped going away from home or office, and became not a very fun person to be with, sometimes mean and horrible. Honestly, I became so extremely good to cover this from my wife that it scares me, like an alcoholic. Told hear a month a go and asked for help from the healthcare after a complete bed wetting and several severe daytime accidents when being alone with the kids. This was life changing and can very well has saved out marriage. Lesson, don't hide from your significant other.

The UC most likely comes from 20+ years of prostate problems, with severe pain on and off and overuse of toilet breaks, as one of the main strategies to avoid pain became to pee frequently, leading to an OAB. The investigation is still ongoing though...

Now I have support from an fantastic incontinence nurse and a fantastic supporting wife.

One thing puzzles me, and that is my recent bedwetting. So the IC is pretty much small leakages with urgencies, and then bigger leaks if I don't run to a toilet within 5-10 minutes. Developed over a four years period from lol get to severe At night this usually means bigger leaks but still I have the last two years woken up quite rapidly and had time to finish on the toilet. Wet underwear but nothing more. Now I have started to have complete leaks 1-2 times a week. Sometimes connected to dreams of peeing. The only thing I can relate this to is the huge pressure the IC took on me, on top of pressure from work. Talking with my nurse about this she had no good explanation either. Anyone else have experience with this kind of development? Could this just be temporary? Really, it is enough to handle the daytime IC. Also, I got Tena Maxi pants from my nurse, and the last two weeks the complete leakages have doubled. Don't know if this is good or bad but at least the amount of sleeping has improved.

 

[slimjiminy]

One thing puzzles me, and that is my recent bedwetting.... Now I have started to have complete leaks 1-2 times a week. Sometimes connected to dreams of peeing. The only thing I can relate this to is the huge pressure the IC took on me, on top of pressure from work. Talking with my nurse about this she had no good explanation either. Anyone else have experience with this kind of development? Could this just be temporary? Really, it is enough to handle the daytime IC. Also, I got Tena Maxi pants from my nurse, and the last two weeks the complete leakages have doubled. Don't know if this is good or bad but at least the amount of sleeping has improved.

The cause of my daily U-IC is long term high glucose levels from diabetes causing nerve damage. I mention that only because until last fall, I never had a bedwetting episode (save perhaps twice as a child). So what changed? Why then?

I can only attribute my own bedwetting to the fact that by the fall of last year, I had developed half a year of peeing in pull-ups when I was away from home for any length of time (due to U-IC). By this time, I had lived the life of a diaper wearer -- you get used to it mentally. So in your unconscious sleeping mind, it too must get to that same conclusion that "it is ok to let go". I also did have one peeing dream when it happened. I used to be able to get away with that (stay dry) but not anymore. Dream peeing = reality peeing now.

Given that getting up in the night was already a pain and disturbing my sleep, I eventually embraced the overnight diaper. Even my wife was encouraging me to wear a diaper because as much as she was understanding about my wetting problem, she very much hated having to wash the bedding. I get that-- sleeping in someone else's pee is yuk. So now in a diaper, even though I don't always wake up wet in the night, if I need to go, I just give in to the diaper. Then I go back to sleep. I struggled with that too at first, but I rationalized it this way:

• I have a diaper on just in case anyway
• I've paid for this diaper, whether I use it or not
• it's going to be disposed of in the morning anyway

So I have embraced the overnight diaper and enjoy my sleep. In the morning I just get up and shower and start a new day refreshed. If you're incontinent, "Resistance is futile!"

 

[tiron101]

So IC pretty much started to destroy both my life and marriage. Controlling how I spent time with wife and kids, stopped going away from home or office, and became not a very fun person to be with, sometimes mean and horrible. Honestly, I became so extremely good to cover this from my wife that it scares me, like an alcoholic. Told hear a month a go and asked for help from the healthcare after a complete bed wetting and several severe daytime accidents when being alone with the kids. This was life changing and can very well has saved out marriage. Lesson, don't hide from your significant other.

The UC most likely comes from 20+ years of prostate problems, with severe pain on and off and overuse of toilet breaks, as one of the main strategies to avoid pain became to pee frequently, leading to an OAB. The investigation is still ongoing though...

Now I have support from an fantastic incontinence nurse and a fantastic supporting wife.

One thing puzzles me, and that is my recent bedwetting. So the IC is pretty much small leakages with urgencies, and then bigger leaks if I don't run to a toilet within 5-10 minutes. Developed over a four years period from lol get to severe At night this usually means bigger leaks but still I have the last two years woken up quite rapidly and had time to finish on the toilet. Wet underwear but nothing more. Now I have started to have complete leaks 1-2 times a week. Sometimes connected to dreams of peeing. The only thing I can relate this to is the huge pressure the IC took on me, on top of pressure from work. Talking with my nurse about this she had no good explanation either. Anyone else have experience with this kind of development? Could this just be temporary? Really, it is enough to handle the daytime IC. Also, I got Tena Maxi pants from my nurse, and the last two weeks the complete leakages have doubled. Don't know if this is good or bad but at least the amount of sleeping has improved.

There are so many potential causes you sometimes never find a cause unless you stumble on it or develop a full blown health complication that bedwetting was an early symptom of, before you were diagnosed. I wouldn't plan on it being temporary unless you get diagnosed with something treatable that is suspected to cause it.

If you don't get diagnosed with some contributing disease or condition that shows up and explains the increase, I have a theory about the increase in wetting when wearing protection. You were waking up earlier in the wetting and able to stop it previously. Once you started using protection, your brain realizes, it doesn't have to monitor for that all night long at the expense of your sleep. Also you don't feel yourself wetting in a diaper as much, so you could just be sleeping through the whole accident instead of ruining your sleep waking up in a wet panic, or sleeping poorly because it's always a fear.

it's possble that in conjunction with better sleep, my theory is that your brain was monitoring for it all along, and causing you not to sleep well. The protection tells your brain as you go to sleep that it doesn't have to worry. You sleep better, but the side effect is heavier wetting. I had the same thing happen to me long ago, when I started wearing diapers at night again. The more it happened, the more well-rested I felt when I woke up.

 

[Jochen]

There are so many potential causes you sometimes never find a cause unless you stumble on it or develop a full blown health complication that bedwetting was an early symptom of, before you were diagnosed. I wouldn't plan on it being temporary unless you get diagnosed with something treatable that is suspected to cause it.

If you don't get diagnosed with some contributing disease or condition that shows up and explains the increase, I have a theory about the increase in wetting when wearing protection. You were waking up earlier in the wetting and able to stop it previously. Once you started using protection, your brain realizes, it doesn't have to monitor for that all night long at the expense of your sleep. Also you don't feel yourself wetting in a diaper as much, so you could just be sleeping through the whole accident instead of ruining your sleep waking up in a wet panic, or sleeping poorly because it's always a fear.

it's possble that in conjunction with better sleep, my theory is that your brain was monitoring for it all along, and causing you not to sleep well. The protection tells your brain as you go to sleep that it doesn't have to worry. You sleep better, but the side effect is heavier wetting. I had the same thing happen to me long ago, when I started wearing diapers at night again. The more it happened, the more well-rested I felt when I woke up.

Makes sense. Also, I have realized since starting to wear pull ups that you easily wake up by the discomfort of wet sheets and/or underwear, but my Tena pants don't even feel wet when I wake up.

 

[CheshireCat]

Avoiding your prostate issues MAY have caused your OAB. OAB is not a diagnosis, but a cluster of symptoms. Physical therapy, medication, specific voiding practices, etc., MAY correct your OAB. If your OAB is not being corrected by treatment or your OAB has an additional cause(s) beyond your prostate, then you may continue to see changes in your incontinence, both daytime and bedtime. What you describe is that your bladder has shifted from overflow incontinence (damp underwear that wakes you up) to urge incontinence (bladder empties a large amount) when sleeping.

You should follow up with a urologist and discuss the changes. You should discuss being checked for residual urine in the bladder and possibly urodynamics to assess what is going on.

Also, I have realized since starting to wear pull ups that you easily wake up by the discomfort of wet sheets and/or underwear, but my Tena pants don't even feel wet when I wake up.

Your wife is probably getting a better night of sleep herself with you sleeping better in Tena pants!

 

[Pino]

My reason for UIC are completely different from yours, but the development is more or less similar.

Started with OAB dry for about three years, then going OAB wet. Only day time issues, woke up 3 - 4 times at night.
After one year the first bedwetting experience. It happens maybe 3 or 4 times a month, but i have got a feeling it is getting more.
When using a diaper the chances to wake up wet are higher for me, but i get better sleep. What to prefer?
Most times i just wake up to late, but i had nights i did not remember waking up.

UIC is not a stable condition for most. Some have good or bad days, like myself, Triggers, or just development of the underlying cause.

Sounds absolutely normal to me, but get other reasons for the OAB checked, i have got more than one reason to be UIC, i have got lower spine damage, brain damage, interstitial cystitis (not sure), and polyneuropathy / dysautonomia - all these diagnosis work together and nobody can tell, which problem causes how much UIC.