John Davis

Good luck. You are fortunate to have gone 5 years with an indwelling catheter and no UTIs. --John

Do you ever hear anyone discussing incontinence? Surveys indicate that incontinence is fairly common but it seems that very few are willing to mention it. I live in a retirement community where demographics suggest that a high percentage of the residents must be incontinent. Nonetheless, no one - absolutely no one - has discussed it. Not only has no one "fessed up" to being incontinent, but no one has brought up the topic as affecting others. Have you encountered any discussions of the problem? --John

It now is a few days after my acupuncture. I have not detected any changes to my incontinence. I may try acupuncture again, but with a different practitioner. --John

Dan, a thin cotton pullup over the diaper and under the plastic pants catches any overflow from the diaper. Cotton will wick extremely well and prevents having a "pool" of pee in the plastic pants if the diaper leaks.🙂 The extra bulk is negligible. I usually wear BetterDry with a BoostUps or NorthShore booster. However, like Iken, for long car trips I usually put on a Megamax with a BoostUps booster pad. I do add a thicker cloth pullup over that (plus plastic pants) --John

Interesting how long Slomo and Iken are able to last without a change. I stay well hydrated and am a heavy wetter. I usually need to change at about 6 hours and rarely risk going longer than 7 ½ hours. However, on long car trips if I "diaper heavy" I usually can last for 12 hours. Otherwise my changing habits are similar to Scarth. --John

How do you guys/gals diaper up? Do you plan for the easiest diaper change or to stretch out the time between changes to the max? For me, an "easy" diaper change would be to wear only the diaper with no other layers on top (cloth pullups or plastic pants) that would make a change difficult. The idea is to avoid having to remove shoes and trousers in order to change. Of course, this choice runs the risk of a leaky diaper wetting outer clothing. I usually maximize the time between changes. To stretch out the time between changes I wear a premium tabbed diaper with a booster, a thin cloth pullup to catch leaks, and then plastic pants on top. I also wear a onesie to help support the diaper. This combination makes it very difficult for me to change without having to remove my shoes and trousers.🙁 Of course, some of you probably are more agile than I am. So, how do you optimize your diapering? --John

Yesterday I received acupuncture from a local Chinese doctor who practices traditional Chinese medicine. I went for acupuncture to see whether it would help with the pain from my lower back. I have read that quite a few people have had success with this and Medicare even covers a limited number of sessions. Both my PCP and my SCI rehab doc approved of trying acupuncture. I have no previous experience with acupuncture or Chinese medicine. After the doctor debriefed me regarding my health and issues, he seemed to focus on my incontinence as well as my back. I did not expect this. Some of his needling was supposed to help my incontinence (his English was very poor so I was not able to get any detailed information on this). The session went well and with almost no discomfort. He surprised me by using electrostimulation via acupuncture needles in my back. It was like IFC TENS on steroid!! I cannot claim any change in my incontinence habits (yet). Has anyone else had any experience with acupuncture for incontinence? --John

That is a large part of my reason for experimentation. Too many times my go-to diaper has changed or been taken off the market. --John

I am so frustrated by medical practitioners who refuse to use the word "Diaper," claiming that it is humiliating for their patients. As Slomo indicated, it feeds the continuing stigma. If we cannot educate the doctors, how will we educate the general public? In many rehab and assisted living facilities the staff are prohibited from using the word "diaper." Too many people still feel that being identified with wearing a "diaper" means that they have lost their adulthood or maturity and somehow have reverted to being infantile. --John

We talk about the need to be fully accepting of our incontinence in order to manage it most effectively. I have said that one of many indicators of “full acceptance” is the ability to use the dreaded “D” word - “Diaper.” Can you call it a “diaper” rather than “absorbent garment?” Of course, if you are in the UK, substitute the word “nappy.” Of course, this applies mostly to newly or recently incontinents. So, what does “full acceptance” mean to you? —John

Slomo, good point. --John

Are you experimenting with managing your incontinence? Are you reading and still testing new procedures, products and combinations of products? I think it important to always be checking out new things (products or procedures) that may help us. This is true even for those of us who may have been incontinent for a long time. I have been wearing diapers for about 10 years and had bowel incontinence issues for longer than that. I scan articles and newsgroups about incontinence and related products. I still find new things that help me. Even small things count. We may find sometihng new that works better for us. However, I suggest that, more importantly, being proactive in this manner can be very beneficial for our mental and emotional health. Asserting ourselves in this manner keeps us in control (insomuch as may be possible) of our incontinence. That is good for our emotional well-being. Our emotional health is as important as our physical health. What about you guys - what do you think? —John

I usually am around seniors. Fortunately most of them have lost some hearing.🙂 I have been incontinent and wearing diapers for a fairly long time - about 10 years. The thought of others hearing my diaper noise concerns me, it does not worry me as much as it used to. --John

I resent all the time lost for diaper changes. However, that beats the time required to have to go home to change wet trousers. As I also am bowel incontinent, think how bad that would be without a quality diaper - yuk!💩😱 I I hate the incontinence but appreciate the diapers. --John

I am a heavy wetter and pee in my diaper in public frequently, but rarely have a leak. I wear a premium diaper with a booster pad, a thin cloth pullup, and a diaper cover. I know my capacity and time my changes. I have not had a leak onto my outer clothing in about three years.🙂 --John

David, where do you buy your diapers in France? --John

I should note that the above topic came to me because, as I played bridge yesterday, I suddenly realized I was peeing my diaper. Not feelilng that I needed to pee or that I was about to pee, but going right then, with no warning.☹️ I was not able to excuse me from the table and just prayed that no one could hear me pee. --John

Do you worry that someone will hear your diapers? Perhaps the rustling or crinkling sounds many diapers make? And, it is not just the diapers themselves, our plastic pants generate their own sounds. My wife could hear a my pair of urethane pants from across the room.😱 Admittedly, with some hearing loss, I am unlikely to pick up on those sounds, but others might. I think many women have better hearing than most men. Of course, my clothing does function as a "silencer." Over my diaper I wear a thin cotton pullup for absorbency but it also acts as a silencer. My onesie over diaper and plastic pants acts as another layer, and, of course, my jeans. Nonetheless, sometimes I can hear a faint sound and worry that the sound may sound louder to others. In most active areas, the sound levels help to mask any sounds from our diapers. Fortunately, most non-incontinents who hear our diaper-related sounds are not likely to recognize them for what they are🙂. What do you guys and gals think? --John

Bienvenue, David. Congratulations on coping very well with your incontinence. We look forward to hearing more from you. Your English is excellent. --John

At night, I definitely would go for one of those baby diapers scaled up to adult size. I am very wet at night and could actually use the extra absorbency. --John

Aggree re the scaling. Also, an article I read a couple of years ago extrapolated the size and padding of a baby diaper to adult size and determined that it would be so overly large that adults would refuse to wear it (even though it would perform its function very well). --John

Zombie, one community (I forget where) last year classified used diapers as biowaste and required highly visible biowaste containers. As it was a city health regulation, those involved had no choice and were "outed" for all to see.😱 --John

I forgot to mention that many inexpensive (read "cheap") diapers have no internal standing leak guards at all and depend on just the leg gathers. I avoid these like the plague. However, they may play a useful role as they are very inexpensive. --John

Good point, Zombie. The awkwardness can work two ways. Those not accustomed to being around incontinent people often do not know how to handle the subject. They may feel embarrassed because they think we should feel embarrassed (although that may be incorrect). --John

As the old saying goes: "If you wear cloth, you never run out of diapers." Of course, you also create very little trash. --John