Becoming a bedwetter as an adult

[princessarya]

So I never had any bedwetting or incontinence issues until the last 4 or 5 years. As a child I had a strong bladder and while I had the occasional accident, it wasn't anything to worry about. Then I started waking up wiuth a squirt of urine in my pj's and then it slowly grew to where it is now, where I need to wear diapers to bed, even though wearing them guarantees I wake up wet (vs not wearing and having a 50/50 shot). So I was wondering if anyone else experienced something similar, where they never had issues until their 20s/30s/40s?

 

[NappiedTruckDriver]

So I never had any bedwetting or incontinence issues until the last 4 or 5 years. As a child I had a strong bladder and while I had the occasional accident, it wasn't anything to worry about. Then I started waking up wiuth a squirt of urine in my pj's and then it slowly grew to where it is now, where I need to wear diapers to bed, even though wearing them guarantees I wake up wet (vs not wearing and having a 50/50 shot). So I was wondering if anyone else experienced something similar, where they never had issues until their 20s/30s/40s?

Yep early 40’s for me so started wearing at night 2018ish and now wearing 24/7 since 2022 as I was having day time issues
As for the night wetting it can be hit n miss unless I’m tired or drunk and it’s a 99% certainty

 

[Bigbabybret]

Myself always been wet at night.

But above that, with the changes have you spoken to your doctor, I suggest that you do, to check things out and see there might be something that can be done to help.

As that is, i feel that at some point most people will get IC for one reason or another, sooner or later.

Wether that is from prostrate, or child birth, or cancer, accident, nerve damage, diabetes, medications or unknown causes.

But to be honest wearing a diaper is not that big a deal to me, and i've tried clamps, caths, meds, etc and yes a foley cath works, as does other options, but for me, rarely have any issues with diapers, rare have a leak, rare have a rash, and rare have a UTI. all of which were worse with other options, and meds didnt work for me much at all, and still needed a diaper with meds.

Now, your only real option is to talk to dr, get some tests done and see what can be found out and then see if there is anythig that can be done to help. Either way need some tests to rule out some possible major issues.

 

[NappiedTruckDriver]

Myself always been wet at night.

But above that, with the changes have you spoken to your doctor, I suggest that you do, to check things out and see there might be something that can be done to help.

As that is, i feel that at some point most people will get IC for one reason or another, sooner or later.

Wether that is from prostrate, or child birth, or cancer, accident, nerve damage, diabetes, medications or unknown causes.

But to be honest wearing a diaper is not that big a deal to me, and i've tried clamps, caths, meds, etc and yes a foley cath works, as does other options, but for me, rarely have any issues with diapers, rare have a leak, rare have a rash, and rare have a UTI. all of which were worse with other options, and meds didnt work for me much at all, and still needed a diaper with meds.

Now, your only real option is to talk to dr, get some tests done and see what can be found out and then see if there is anythig that can be done to help. Either way need some tests to rule out some possible major issues.

Mine I think is due to coeliacs

 

[SparkyDog]

So I never had any bedwetting or incontinence issues until the last 4 or 5 years. As a child I had a strong bladder and while I had the occasional accident, it wasn't anything to worry about. Then I started waking up wiuth a squirt of urine in my pj's and then it slowly grew to where it is now, where I need to wear diapers to bed, even though wearing them guarantees I wake up wet (vs not wearing and having a 50/50 shot). So I was wondering if anyone else experienced something similar, where they never had issues until their 20s/30s/40s?

Get checked by your doctor with a possible urologist referal
just to make sure it's not anything else underlying causing the problem.
Its fairly easy. You start with an ultrasound & urinalysis (pee test)
if they need to go further you might get a camera up into your bladder it's not very comfortable but over quick

 

[daylight]

Yep, go see your doctor. Seems like a common question with the same common answer. Use the search capability.

Edit: a bit less harsh

 

[surprise35]

yup my bedwetting started when I was 45 and has stuck around regularly since. It does seem to come and go but prostate issues and a general weak bladder means either wearing a diaper or not sleeping well at all. Ironically any stress we have over our incontinence issues only adds to the problem so I try and stay calm about it when possible.
Now six years later it has become habit to put a diaper on for bed, my partner is 100% supportive and I'm generally sleeping better.

 

[princessarya]

Okay, I should have said this originally, but I have already seen my PCP and a urologist about it. I've been tested, they've prescribed me pills to help, etc... With that said, I just wanted to know if others had the same issue and how they handled it

 

[SparkyDog]

Okay, I should have said this originally, but I have already seen my PCP and a urologist about it. I've been tested, they've prescribed me pills to help, etc... With that said, I just wanted to know if others had the same issue and how they handled it

Oh good to know. We always ask in the IC forum that you see/seen a doctor
Because we care
I can't speak to the sudden onset because I've been life long, but someone should be along shortly with similar experiences.

 

[Bailedacademic]

30s, started up fairly recently. Don't recall having a history of bed wetting, but my childhood memory is unreliable at best. I've got urge UI and it's gotten worse gradually over the last decade. Over last year I went from getting up twice a night for the bathroom and maybe not always making it to rarely making it to not making it even out of the bed. Cut to diapers and I'm lucky if I wake up (though starting think it's luckier to sleep through with a diaper than the constant up and down).

And yes, I've been to doctor and urology. They can't explain it beyond history of SA and PTSD.

 

[daylight]

@princessarya It can take time for the medication to build up in your system, and success is measured in decreasing symptoms, not eliminating them. Something to consider.

Remember: How to approach your treatment is up to you. If you are happy with your treatment, fine. If on the other hand, you feel your doctors are not communicating or not comfortable with them, switch to new doctors.

Lastly, talk with your urologist to see if physical therapy is useful in your case.

 

[iatec779]

I had issues as a child into teenage years. Some in my 20's. I'm mid 40's now and had OAB and urge incontinence for several years. Just the last 14 months or so finally gave in to and started wearing protection. Anyway, I have some leakage at night almost every night and will sleep through a full wetting 2-3 nights a week.
So, your not alone. I've tried a ton of things to stop but I've pretty much just given in to diapers every night vs side affects from medications, drastically changing lifestyle etc.
Still seeing Urology and a pelvic floor therapist which i think has helped some. Its hard to do all the exercises she wants me to do daily though.

 

[Jeff Rictus]

Most definitely. My IC didn't start until I was 30. Took me completely off guard. There was an adjustment period of a few years. I still struggle with it today, but I'm not letting it control me. I live my life the way I want.
I just need a diaper change now and then.

 

[KechoDrips]

This past year, at 33 years, I started wetting the bed every night. The amount I would wet was very little at the start but enough to cause a problem. Over time it has gradually increased to the point that a Megamax is needed to handle it. It has been 7 months now without any sign of stopping.

 

[diapeybabybrian]

I started wearing Diapers for fun as a DL pretty much just before I got my Driver's License.

Then, even more often once I had a car. Bought GoodNites and Depends and wore them whenever I could, sometimes even to High School.

Had a couple legitimate bedwetting accidents in College, (both Alcohol related.)

Years later, I could probably wake up dry but I prefer sleeping in diapers every night.

 

[DinoFrant]

This is my case. Save for the odd accident every few months/years, I´d never experienced bedwetting while growing up... but then one morning when I was 30 years old I woke up to a completely soaked bed. My ex-gf was sleeping next to me, so it was even more embarrassing and disconcerting. Still I took it as a fluke and let it slide, but it happened again two weeks later, and then again another two weeks later, so I went to see the doctor.

Of course, the urologist´s first thought was that I could have prostate issues, but luckily it wasn´t my prostate. He asked me to take the conventional measures like cutting fluids 1 hour before bedtime, reducing my caffeine/coke/alcohol intake, using the toilet twice before hopping in bed... but still the intervals between accidents started to reduce more and more rather quickly and all of a sudden it was a nightly issue.

Encouraged by my dr and my ex, I started to use a bedwetting alarm, thinking that I could re-train myself... but the darned thing just kept waking me up 2, 3, 4, 5 times on the same night!!! And to make things worse, by the time I woke up my bladder was already empty and I´d have to change my undies and pjs, and the bedsheets too. That´s been the most frustrating period of my adult life. I threw that instrument of torture away and then my ex suggested I could try "some sort of protection" to which I agreed almost too eagerly because not only I´ve loved diapers all my life, but also because I couldn´t take all that extra laundry anymore.

At the same time I was still undergoing many painful and awkward tests to find the cause of my bedwetting, but they never found any underlying illness... then I recalled a painful rock-climbing accident I´d had some months earlier and that´s when they started to consider nerve damage as the actual cause. Indeed it turns out that when I´m sleeping there´s absolutely no connection between my brain and my sphyncter muscles, and that´s why I could no longer get up to use the toilet like I had done before and that´s why no matter how loud the alarm sounds, my bladder is just going to empty itself if I sleep more than 30 minutes. My doctor suggested some medicines to stop my bladder from working at night but I rejected them because I had read about the side effects -and also because I was somewhat happy to have a legitimate reason to wear diapers, even if it was only for sleeping.

But then I started to crave my night diapers more and more until I started using them for daytime as well... and here I am almost 6 years later happily wearing diapers to bed every single night for bedwetting, and also diapered 24/7 for almost 3 years because diapers are the best underwear ever!

 

[hiker]

This past year, at 33 years, I started wetting the bed every night. The amount I would wet was very little at the start but enough to cause a problem. Over time it has gradually increased to the point that a Megamax is needed to handle it. It has been 7 months now without any sign of stopping.

Similar scenario in my case. I started to wake up in a slightly-wet boxer pants two times a week when I was 31 yo. I tried to don't care about it firstly, but when the boxer pants started to be humid regulary and the amount of peeing increased, I had to start to solve it.

Some consultations, some tests and I started to wear men guards (the TENA MEN pads) and to use the incontinence (cotton) pants to the bed. A month or two later I had very embarrassing morning when my girlfriend snuggled me and she put a hand to my crotch. The man guard was not sufficient that night and I was wet as well as the bed sheets. Then my urologist prescribed me the pull-up pants (the TENA Pants Plus and later the TENA Night Pants) that I've been wearing to the bed regularly since last August.

I wet the bed four times a week but I use the pull-ups every night. I try to avoid an alcohol, because when I drink it, the bedwetting is much stronger and I have to wear the TENA SLIP Super tab-styled diaper instead of the pull-up because of leaking.

 

[Zeke]

I never thought about it before but my bed wetting until I was 10 and my affinity for plastic pants, that extends back as far as I can remember, both helped make my dual ic, and dealing with it, all that much easier. It seems that there’s a good side to most things if you dig deep enough and gain enough perspective.

 

[Edgewater]

There are at least three groups here on the IC Forum.

1. Those that IC was a reality very early-on
2. Those that IC developed with time as a result of other body factors, many later in life
3. Those that IC developed as a result of physical damage to their body

Yes, there are clearly those that have been affected by more than just one, but the point of this is that no one has chosen to become IC. As we know, some have wanted to become, but have found limitations in doing so. That said, many AB/DL's have become IC as a result of the effects of age and/or alignment and having been AB/DL has likely helped their transition. Regardless, all have found that acceptance is difficult as there is no joys to being IC, short that the protection that allows us to be out and about.

 

[slimjiminy]

I'm a #2 upon retiring, with diabetes inflicting IC upon me. There is definitely no joy in that.