I had normal control of my bowels when I was younger but I wet the bed into my early teens. I also sucked my thumb and had to wear diapers for the bedwetting. Back in the late 60's most mothers used cloth diapers and plastic pants. Disposables early on weren't very good and were used mainly for trips and visits to make it so moms didn't have to lug around wet,messy diapers. In my early 30's I began to suffer diverticulitis where small pockets form in the large intestine. These little pockets would sometimes trap undigested food particles (like seeds) and over time the diverticulum (the small pockets) would become infected. My first flare/infection made my whole side by my descending colon swell out and was extremely painful. I ended up in the hospital on a course of Cipro (very strong antibiotic) and nothing by mouth for a week. It was torture. I was warned about diet and told to be careful. A year later I had a second flare up and repeated my first hospital stay. I was told that one of these times I wouldn't be as responsive to the cipro and there was a danger of perferation and sepsis. An emergency colostomy would be performed with the removal of the affected part of my colon and 6 to 8 months later they would do a reversal. From the x-rays after a barium enema at the hospital it was determined that I had a heavy concentration in a foot long section of my lower colon. I was told this was caused by poor diet. (diverticulitis is more prevalent in western cultures, almost unheard of in Africa were the diet it more fiber and less protien) I was out of collage and living with some friends in a rented house and our typical diet was steak washed down with scotch. The doctors said I would continue to suffer the symptoms unless I had the bad part of my colon removed electively. So I had it done. The recovery was painful and difficult. I also began having severe urgency, often with a BM in my clothes. I just couldn't make it to the bathroom in time. Within a month I was reduced to having to use diapers. I was also told to use a bulk producing fiber supplement to prevent loose stool. This seemed to work but my BM's became abnormally large, well formed and frequent. I was told that these symptoms presented in a small number of cases and usually go away in time. Right! I don't trust a thing the surgeons say. Nearly 25 years later and I still experience extreme urgency. Since I had been a bedwetter the transition back to diapers was a bit easier. But it still sucked. I did have slight ab/dl tendencies from my youth but this was another thing all together. Not having a choice really changed my life. For a few years I attempted changing in public bathrooms which always turned into a nightmare. I decided to adjust how I was handling the constant (seemingly so) messy diaper. I began using Abenas until the confi-dry 24/7 came out. I had at various times used Attends, Molicare and several other types of disposables. After numerous leaks and blow-outs I decided to wear a pull-up cloth diaper over the dry 24/7 disposable and use plastic pants. I had been using Desitin ointment (zinc oxide) to prevent rashes and then started using Nullo for odors that managed to escape my plastic pants. I had to dress different to hide the thickness of my diapers and over the years became quite adept at it. The dry 24/7 in actuality became my "diaper liner", keeping stool off my pull-up cloth diaper (model 10700 from Kins) and plastic pants. The horror of public diaper changes left me with no choice but to head home for a proper change. After a few years of having to stop what I was doing and return home I decided to just accept and own it. With the many precautions I take (Desitin, Nullo and heavy gage plastic pants) rashes and tell-tale odors are a non-issue. Now I don't go rushing home for a change.It took a while to get used to having a big load in my diapers (sometimes 2 loads) but with time I got used to it. The extreme urgency is still quite uncomfortable but when I feel the red alert light go on I don't try to hold it. Release equals relief. I always feel the release and the stool pile up but after that I don't hardly notice it anymore. It can be enjoyable when I'm in the ab/dl mood but most of the time it is a major inconvenience. I still live an active life from kayaking to playing golf. But I own my incon and simply deal with it. My diapers are just my form of underwear.