Slomo

Ok, that's just funny. But I do know of other east coast veterans who are already getting Northshore Megamax from the VA. So at least you CAN get those.

Hi and welcome. Yeah the diaper stigma from general society is real. But it's misplaced. There's nothing illegal nor immoral about needing diapers for a legitimate physical or mental need. Once you start treating them like glasses or a knee brace it gets much easier to move one and get back out there.

All of this seems so stupid though. And here is what I intend to tell the advocate as my complaint. If I need glasses I'm not limited to off the shelf reading glasses. The VA is happy to give me custom prescription lenses mounted in really good frames. If I need a knee brace, I'm not limited to cheap elastic sport braces you can get anywhere. Without delay or problem, I'm given high quality braces with metal hinges and strong velcro straps. But if I need diapers, I am only limited to the thinnest possible stuff you can get in most food stores or pharmacies. Or worse, I'm not even given a diaper, but pullups which are even thinner and have a lesser capability. It's easier to have them pull my teeth than it is to get a good quality diaper that actually works for my legitimate and service connected disability. But to really hammer this in, my urologist wants to get me the Megamax diapers. Yet the pharmacy is being allowed to dictate what a doctor can and cannot do. They have literally been allowed to set a gate-keeping policy whih limits the care we can receive. It is this discrepency I want addressed. Not just for me, but for every veteran that needs them.

Thanks, I plan to do the same. I also sent a letter to my senator but it doesn't seem to have done anything. I did also put in a formal complaint with the VA advocate. The day after I got assigned a case number my urologist assistant called me. She said they were able to move forward with a Prior Authorization Dispensation (PAD). If approved I'd be able to get what I need. And FYI. CptKirk on SPANDI is also a veteran. He lives in Pensinvania and has been getting Northshore Megamax for years now. He says he had to go through EVERY pad, pullup, and diaper the VA has in formulary stock (which as you know is all crap). Only then were they able to approve them. So at least we know for sure the East coast VA can and does supply them.

Yup. I have a case number assigned but haven't talked to the advocate yet.

I'm going through this same thing. Been trying to get a decently thick enough diaper, like Megamax. Except they keep sending me pullups. They're so far from what I need all I can do is throw them out as soon as I get them.

It funny here too. I requested decent diapers through the VA (Megamax or equal). And they sent me 15 bags of Attends pullups and another 9 bags of Tranquality pullups. These things are so cheap and horrible you couldn't pay me to wear them (and the VA does pay me). There so bad I decided to save everyone else and NOT donate them to charity. They're all going straight to the trash.

Uugh. NEVER look at the cost per unit! You need to look at it as a cost per day! Take the 1st and last as example. Trest @ $3.40 each versus Attends @ $0.84 each. Trest can easily handle 12 hours without any signs of leaking or discomfort. Attends can barely make it 2 hours (which is being very generous), and will already be leaking and feel wet. So. In 24 hours you use 2 Trest @ $6.80. Or 12 Attends @ $10.08. As you can see, Attends as a MUCH higher cost. Not to mention having to wake up every 2 hours at night so you can go change. Or dealing with extra leaks, time wasted changing, feeling and smelling worse, and on and on.

I've recently tested the new Megamax USA V2 in medium. They have an ok rise to them. Still a slight bit too short for my preference, but there still the best I've come across. Skip all of the Chinese diapers (hard tape landing zone, the same no-lower-tapes design, and the blue tips on each of the tapes). Every one of them is just a clone of the next one but with a different print. If you've twsted one brand, you've tested them all.

Apologies it took me a while to see this. As I mentioned, I grew up as a diaper lover. I fought this part of who I am all while growing up and thinking I was the only one, that it was immoral, disgusting, yada yada yada. This, in part, led me to join the USMC. In hopes it would help me get rid of my compulsion for diapers (which we all know never works as it's ingrained). While in the Marines, I was involved in a really bad car wreck. Which is how I became urge incontinent. And I became mobility impared at the same time. So at first my doctor and I thought it was the mobility limiting my ability to get to the bathroom on time. Which was 1-3 minutes and it started hurting. 3-5 minutes and it was painful. Any longer and I'd be doubled over in so much pain I'd choose to pee myself just to make it stop huring. I should have known better than tocthink ot was just my mobility, but actual urges too. Regardless, my doctor was the one who suggested temporary "just in case" diapers, so I went along with it. At least until my legs healed. All the while I secretely thought I had the perfect excuse to start wearing diapers again. But the real problem was I "could" hold it during an urge. It was painful for sure, but I had to choose to use my diaper. Yet I wanted to stop wearing them for good. So in my mind, I though I was making the excuse to choose wearing and using diapers. And that my urges were all just innmy head. That went on for about 4 years. Until one day it just hit me. I had a legitimate physical need for wearing diapers. I also had a compulsive yearing to want to wear them too. So why the heck was I fighing against what I needed AND wanted. I've embraced diapers ever since.

Oh. I'm also on SPANDI, also as Slomo there too.

Hi and welcome. Sorry to hear that. I got the same treatment from urologists at 18 after an auto collision. So I know how frustrating it is. I was also abdl before then, so I know how that can mess with us and make us think the physical problem might be a mental excuse. That was almost 30 years ago for me though, so I've had a while to figure things out. Feel free to ask me anything, my "experience" can probably help.

That's good to hear. Yeah they first wanted to do a diversion using a small neo-bladder made from my intestines. I would also have had a stoma pee hole near my belly button. Which would have also needed to be catheterized 24/7 and draining into a bag. I questioned why I would need another bladder and pee hole when I already have them, and they bboth tull worked just fine. But to also need uncomfortable catheters and bags was stupid. It was only my retaining pee that was the problem, so I pushed to just have my sphincters removed. It took more than just that, but I'm still glad Iget to keep using diapers.

Sorry but I have to disagree. Tena and Seni are so-so mediocre, but Molicare, Wellmess and Tranquality are all bare minimum diapers. Just barely enough to work. I highly remommend better diapers like Betterdry day Northshore Dupreme, or maybe the new Megamax lite. They are very thick, so don't expect to be wearing the same one all day. But they still perform much better against leaks and blowouts.

That sounds like some pretty serious urge incontinence. I still have that as well. And even though my sphincters were removed, I sometimes still get a bladder urge. With nothing in my bladder too. It's nowhere near as bad as it used to be, but enough to still give me pause for a minute. In fact, removing both urinary sphincters was exactly what I needed. No regrets having it done, especially given that diapers work better to absorb a near const dribble much better than they can floods.

Welcome. Sorry to hear you're having a hard time nailing down that diagnosis. Trust me, I was there for about 15 years. And if you don't nail down the problem, your symptoms will never improve and can even get worse. As someone who had Detruso Sphincter Dysynergia, your symptoms don't sound like that's it. DSD is when one or both of your sphincters go haywire and act differently than how you conciously want them to (or automatically should). In my case, every time my sphincters tried to relax, they'd clamp down instead. Coupled with severe urge incontinence I struggled with years of straining to pee. Made worse by quack urologists who couldn't diagnose their way out of a wet paper bag. I'm stable now because I became my own expert on it. May I ask, what does it feel like your bladder is doing when you get the first sign its filling up? Any abdominal pain? And does your internal or external sphincter feel like the muscle is spasoming any? Then again what does it feel like your bladder is doing when you get the full feeling? Both your sphincters too? Then again as you bladder is emptying? Just my sugestion, but once you answer those 3 sets of question, revisit it withcyour urologist. Then push for more testing if you can get it. That urodynamic test is uncomfortable as heck, but it can reveal a lot of clarity. And swith out your medication. Different drugs, even in the same class, can have wildly different side effects. And if that fails, seek out a different urologist to get another opinion.

We've already been over this. Agree to disagree.

LOL. Northshore wasn't targeting their ads to medical facilities either. Those ads were directed at consumers. And I get you don't need absorbency. You need tall leak guards and elastic leg and waist bands. You aren't going to find any of that in a medical grade diaper though. At the very least you need a standard/consumer grade diaper. You "might" be able to get away with Abena Xplus or Northshore Supreme. Betterdry is better though. It's probably the thinnest diaper I know of that still has what you need for bowel incontinence. I understand all of those are out of the question for you though, since they are leagues ahead of medical diapers. Unfortunately, what you're asking for doesn't exist for what you are needing.

Yeah.... No they aren't. You are literally and seriously trying to convince me you can find Northshore diapers being distributed to patients in a hospital. Prove it, then I will believe they are medical diapers. Or are you again confusing plain white with medical grade? If that's the case, I have a brand new 1-ton pickup I'd like to sell to you for just $40K. It's make is Ford Escort. Don't worry, it's white so that alone proves its towing and off road capability. And FYI, I deal with occasional IBS-D, so I know how important it is to use a capable diaper. That's why you will never find me wearing that medical grade crap they have to offer- in medical facilities. Those diapers are so bad I bring my own with me whenever I need to go to the hospital. But hey, if you insist on medical grade only, that's all you. Just no Northshore.

Remember. "Medical" diapers are what you can expect to get in a medical setting, or through insurance. They are going to be the cheapest crap around. Though they're not always all-white. Some have blue, green, or purple on them.

Ah. You mean all white, not really medical grade. Nappies R Us has a STR8UP diaper. It's close to the same as Forsite and Bambino. UT for real premium it will be hard to beat Betterdry or Megamax. I'd recommend scratching off Wellness and Abena. They're mid-grade at best, but Seni Quatro would also be mid-grade all white. And definetely scratch off Tranquality. There truly medical grade and not worth using.

I was thinking about this some more. We seriously need to start complaining to the VA patient advocates in our area. I've done it several times in the last 30 urars, but nothing has changed. But if enough of us do it, something just might happen for our benefit. So... Calling all Veterans. Contact your local VA clinic and ask to be transferred to their patient advocate. Let that person know we are being denied the medical equipment we need. Let them know the pharmacy or supply distributor for the VA is dictating what we can and cannot get. And often enough they are doing it against our doctors own wishes too. Let them know that forcing inferior diapers onto us is literal neglect.

NO medical grade diaper is worth using. Just stay away from Tranquality and Wellness, and get something better. If you really want something a mid-range diaper, I'd recommend Abena XPlus, Seni Quatro or Northshore Supreme. For premium I'd recommend Betterdry (a favorite of mine). There's also Megamax or Sunkiss S/M (which is basically a Megamax copy but sized between Medium and Large).

I too am fighting the VA to get diapers. And yeah, they only want to give me the cheapest, thinnest, crap they possibly can. I have gout, kidney problems and pre-diabetes, so I absolutely need to stay well hydrated. But I also have Nocturnia so I pee 2/3 of my daily intake in the 8 hours I'm asleep. At least I have convinced my VA urogist I need something with at least a 5000ml ISO rating. Unfortunately the local system my VA uses doesn't allow for entering in non-formulary diaper prescriptions. Nor does it even allow for a pharmacy consult. And of course the pharmacy has already pushed back, saying that I need to try even more of their crap diapers first.

I'm still trying too. I saw a urologist at the VA, and he was surprisingly on board with getting me the diapers I really need. Unfortunately their system is less than user friendly, and doesn't allow for non-formulary prescriptions of diapers. Nor does it allow for a pharmacy consult for me to get them either. I just heard back from the doctor too. The pharmacy has pushed back and is insisting I try a couple more of their crappy diapers. Depends "maximum" and some no-brand I've never heard of. But worse still they also want me to try a "belted diaper" and poise pads. And no, apparently that last one isn't supposed to be a joke. But it is a joke on me, an insult too. Still, once I can confirm their cheapness and rule them out, I'm hopefully I can then get something better. Time will tell.