What decided your method of protection?

[JunkyardDog1]

I have a friend who was paralyzed in an accident when we were in high school. He has extremely limited mobility into his hips. Initially until he got control of bowels and urination he wore diapers. He then started using a catheter once he figured out his bladder. I say that because over the years he's had multiple accidents multiple times because when he gets drunk or gets jostled around too much he pees and basically refuses to wear a diaper as a backup. So I guess my question is, why wouldn't you opt for something sure fire instead of accidents? Or is it mobility? Or stigma?

 

[SparkyDog]

So as a child I was in diapers it was just the go to
as an older teen & young adult I tried various other options Caths condom Caths
the constant UTI and the pain & discomfort of the cath and going in and out was just too much for me
decided diapers was the way for me

now when I talk to people about it they almost always ask why not Caths? anything be better than diapers
but they don't understand and live with the diaper stigma

 

[Zeke]

When I first became dual ic to the point something had to be done and the my condition was getting worse I tried disposable pull-ups like Tranquility ATN’s which led to Tranquility 4 tab “briefs”. The cost involved with disposables was a bit of a shock as my wife and I had cloth diapered our children and this led me to think about adult cloth diapers for my needs. Initially I bought cotton gauze Contour ll’s from AdultClothDiaper.com and later switched primarily to night weight Birdseye prefolds from the same source and InControl.com. So cost, performance, and previous experience were all factors leading to the various combinations of diaper(s), soakers, and liners that I wear today. After more than 8 years of wearing 24/7 I’m satisfied with my choices for containment.

 

[greatlake5]

Since I've always been IC I always use a diaper. When I was getting ready for high school, I thought that pull-ups would be less obvious. So I tried them. Wrong choice. I wet heavily so they leaked. Since then I've used a quality diaper and sometimes a booster (when I think I might be unable to change [ Eternadry contour booster 2 xl ] ), along with plastic pants. I've never looked at possible option since the first pull-up experience.

 

[Tundra1975]

When I started having incontinence issues, it was bladder issues at first and I tried using pull ups and very quickly realized they are not adequate for a full bladder. I switched to tape on diapers and it took a few weeks to find a diaper that fit me correctly and gave me the protection I needed for my incontinence. After about a year of bladder issues, I started having bowel incontinence issues and was really glad I was already wearing good quality diapers to contain my accidents. What I learned about pull ups is they are only for small bladder leaks and are not at all adequate for containing pooping accidents.

 

[Bigbabybret]

Myself, I have always been in diapers at night, but tried the external cath, indwelling, chux, medications, clamps, looked into suprapubic.

My issues were i had a lot of UTI's with the cath's, so that was not an option, the meds didnt work, and clamps and texas cath are not too comfy and fail/leak...chux were a mess...

As it were for me, diapers are the best for me option, they work and rarely have a UTI and leaks are very rare. Now that i'm mostly wheelchair bound the last issues with chafing/walking and people noticing are no longer an issue/concern at this stage in my life.

Really overall it's working good using diapers, and i'm not an AB or anything either.

 

[AlwaysPissed]

For my first few years of IC, I fought diapers. I tried everything else; drugs, imaging/surgery, pads of varying sizes and pull-ups. None of them was reliable enough for my needs, so I finally tried diapers, and once I found the higher quality medical diapers (not from the drugstore) I knew this would be my chosen method.

 

[SparkyDog]

For my first few years of IC, I fought diapers. I tried everything else; drugs, imaging/surgery, pads of varying sizes and pull-ups. None of them was reliable enough for my needs, so I finally tried diapers, and once I found the higher quality medical diapers (not from the drugstore) I knew this would be my chosen method.

and what medical diaper did you settle on?

 

[Neroforte]

My Ic became way to strong for pads so I had to jump very fast on Diapers

 

[Mapboy]

I’ve tried medicine, exercise, changing my diet, pull-ups, and a diaper. I feel that full diapers work the best for me as they hold most liquid or solid and don't leak. I use the Abena M4 plastic backed.

 

[sledder23]

With my bladder issues related to my diabetes and resulting damage, I decided a while back that I would pursue behavioral changes to get the disease under control and limit further damage to my body. Was hopeful that the incontinence would ebb or resolve with these changes, however that didn’t happen. I decided that medication was not a route I wanted to go due to side effects associated with the ones that treat urge incontinence. Diapers don’t have side effects and are a convenient management tool that allows me to live an otherwise normal lifestyle. So, diapers it has been. I’m totally satisfied with the choice and they don’t bother me a bit. Just a practical solution that works.

 

[JunkyardDog1]

I thank everyone for the input. My friends particular position and our relationship always made me wonder why he would never opt to avoid obvious embarrassment. And even knowing him well enough and asking why when I knew options were available the subject was always avoided. I just wondered if anyone else didn't want the "stigma" or "hassle" and tried a method that was subpar.

 

[slimjiminy]

Like others here, I did a lot to avoid briefs (diapers). But nothing really worked well enough, so overnight I do wear them. When I am away from the house for 3+ hours or at perceived risk of diarrhea, then diapers are the solution for containment. I don't like them per se, but I like the fact that they work the best.

 

[AlwaysPissed]

and what medical diaper did you settle on?

Abena at first (L4), then later Seni SuperPlus

 

[SparkyDog]

Abena at first (L4), then later Seni SuperPlus

Nice I wear Abena L4 (plastic version)
I have not tried Seni how are they?

 

[rennecfox]

I started having problems with ibs-d after grad school, there are times that I can't get to a bathroom and my pants down before the inevitable happens.

 

[FrodoSkywalker]

I was open to other alternatives. But after going septic from a UTI from a cath, I said goodbye to tubes.

 

[hbic60]

When my urinary IC came up I started with pull-up style, the dry feeling compared to damp/wet underwear and the comfortable, soft fit surprised me positively. As my IC grew stronger it was an easy and small step for me to switch over to more absorbent products (belt type diapers and tabbed diapers for the night). I regard diapers as a very practical, comfortable and free of side effects tool to manage my IC properly and enable me to continue my active life as it was before IC. My doc agreed and accepted my wish not to play around with additional meds and their side effects as he saw I'm OK with simply wearing protection.

 

[Napincolove]

Every time I have tried a condom or Catheter I have very quickly ended up with a really nasty infection which reduces what little control I still have and my fear is if I get another one I will be totally out of control of my ic.
Bowel is another reason why it has to be Nappies as well as being a DL.

 

[Pino]

I personally did not hesitate to take left over diapers (pads) from my father when my incontinence hit me. It was just the logical solution for me, but in discussions with urologists about how long i am able to hold when getting bladder cramps i said up to 10 minutes. So they thought i do not need diapers for that problem at all and that i am basically incontinent because i am mentally ill. That changed after UDM though, but the first year of problems was extremely frustrating.

When i got my first Botox injections in a clinic, my bed neighbor had the same problems as me but from MS, not ME/POTS.
We talked about our problems, one time with his wife present. He was still working as a bus driver and i was curious how that worked out with bladder problems and i asked what kind of diaper he was using for that job. He looked shocked at me and said he would never do that and told a story about getting an extreme urge to pee, left the bus he was driving and peed in front of all passengers onto the front tire.
And that is something i would never do voluntarily when i have got the option of a functioning diaper.
His wife on the other hand was very interested in my testify that i would wear to prevent such situations, i think she would have appreciated it to reduce stress when outwards on both sides, but her man was really contrary to it, even with a "perfect" MS diagnosis to justify.

I tried condom catheters as well, all kinds of medications, all that did not work for me. Botox is helping a lot, but not allowing me to get rid of diapers completely and the bladder pacemaker is not an option for me right now, maybe later.