ClaudTheBear
Est. Contributor
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- Incontinent
I'm going to try my best to keep this short. I know a lot hate the drawn out post.
Basically I have been dealing with incontinence for almost 10 years now. Started out with dribbles and progressed from there for about 4 years when I went 24/7. The whole thing was mentally and emotionally draining to the point of considering suicide. I got to a better place and the fact that I'm here is proof that I have a new level of acceptance.
What has changed is I am now beginning to have some retention and this is aggravating the pain and discomfort symptoms I have in the bladder. My urologist feels it's from overly tight and tence pelvic floor muscles but I think it is from a growing prostate (I'll be 44 Wednesday). He has me going to a pelvic floor physical therapist for the next 4 months and the therapist seems optimistic she can help with both my leaking and pain symptoms. I do not share the optimism because I know any urine that is in the bladder causes pain and urges.
My question is this:Am I crazy for preferring to let the incontinence go and even making it worse for a chance to have less or no pain? My thinking is this, if we fix things to allow constant drainage and keep the bladder empty this will keep urine out of the bladder and not allow any build up of pain or pressure. I understand this will make my incontinence worse but as of now, I wear 24/7 because if it try, I might be able to go 20 minutes without running to the bathroom to flat out leaking. That includes night time as well. I realize a while back that I was miserable when I was trying to maintain what control I had. Living next to a bathroom, refusing to go anywhere unfamiliar because I had no idea where the restrooms were. Having to stop every 30 minutes on car trips. It was maddening. When I gave up and just wore, I felt I gained a big part of my life back. Granted I gained new challenges like changing in public places, dealing with leaks and all the other stuff that goes with it. It still sucked but I was in a better place.
Now with the therapy I can work to get some control back but I know I will never be like I was before. That being said, I still picture needing some type of protection all the time. I lived the life chained to a restroom and I don't want to go back there. Am I crazy to say to hell with working to any control and focus on being as pain free as possible? I don't want to be one of those people hooked on pain pills, drugged up and high all the time. I have an active job that I can not be under the influence of anything and I also have a family. I guess the way I see it, I can manage incontinence very well. Yes it's a pain in the ass but I can control it and how I manage it. Pain can only be controlled with pills.
Am I crazy?
Basically I have been dealing with incontinence for almost 10 years now. Started out with dribbles and progressed from there for about 4 years when I went 24/7. The whole thing was mentally and emotionally draining to the point of considering suicide. I got to a better place and the fact that I'm here is proof that I have a new level of acceptance.
What has changed is I am now beginning to have some retention and this is aggravating the pain and discomfort symptoms I have in the bladder. My urologist feels it's from overly tight and tence pelvic floor muscles but I think it is from a growing prostate (I'll be 44 Wednesday). He has me going to a pelvic floor physical therapist for the next 4 months and the therapist seems optimistic she can help with both my leaking and pain symptoms. I do not share the optimism because I know any urine that is in the bladder causes pain and urges.
My question is this:Am I crazy for preferring to let the incontinence go and even making it worse for a chance to have less or no pain? My thinking is this, if we fix things to allow constant drainage and keep the bladder empty this will keep urine out of the bladder and not allow any build up of pain or pressure. I understand this will make my incontinence worse but as of now, I wear 24/7 because if it try, I might be able to go 20 minutes without running to the bathroom to flat out leaking. That includes night time as well. I realize a while back that I was miserable when I was trying to maintain what control I had. Living next to a bathroom, refusing to go anywhere unfamiliar because I had no idea where the restrooms were. Having to stop every 30 minutes on car trips. It was maddening. When I gave up and just wore, I felt I gained a big part of my life back. Granted I gained new challenges like changing in public places, dealing with leaks and all the other stuff that goes with it. It still sucked but I was in a better place.
Now with the therapy I can work to get some control back but I know I will never be like I was before. That being said, I still picture needing some type of protection all the time. I lived the life chained to a restroom and I don't want to go back there. Am I crazy to say to hell with working to any control and focus on being as pain free as possible? I don't want to be one of those people hooked on pain pills, drugged up and high all the time. I have an active job that I can not be under the influence of anything and I also have a family. I guess the way I see it, I can manage incontinence very well. Yes it's a pain in the ass but I can control it and how I manage it. Pain can only be controlled with pills.
Am I crazy?