Urinary Incontinence Support Group

My name is Tim & I'm a 48 year old male who has been dealing with this condition for several years now. I have nerve damage in my lower back. My problem is always worse at night but I do have daytime accidents as well. I've tried medications & bedwetting alarms & everything else I could think of but nothing really seems to help. Guards and protective underwear seem to do the trick so I've just gotten use to wearing them. At first I was ashamed & even scared but not so much anymore. Sure I still get embarrased at times but I try not to let it spoil my day. Thanks for the great site you have here & I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday Season !

Tim

Thanks for posting! There are a number of guys here with very similar low back injuries and dealing with the same results. My situation is a bit different as I believe it is due to undx'ed hydrocephalus causing nerve and brain injury.

I've dealt with incontinence all of my life always feeling that if I "tried harder" I wouldn't have this problem. Needless to say, this caused me an awful lot of guilt and shame because I just wasn't good enough, strong enough, trying hard enough. I finally realized that perhaps this really wasn't my "fault" when my neurosurgeon repeatedly asked me if I had any incidences of incontinence as incontinence is a symptom of hydrocephalus (particularly as severe as my case was when it was discovered). Even having a legitimate reason for it, I continued denying I had a problem, trying to minimize the problem as "just a little leaking" because, after all, I had 3 kids! But, it wasn't stress incontinence I was dealing with at all and no amount of exercise was going to treat it.

Following my 1st brain surgery, my bladder shut off completely like a faucet! I had NO more accidents! Certainly, this had to do with the release of pressure on my brain. However, over time, my incontinence returned... even following a 2nd surgery.

I have and do treat my overactive bladder and urge incontinence with Detrol LA... when I choose to take it. I'm bad at taking meds long-term and don't always take them. I am currently off of meds since June and using pads. Most days I can even go without those, but heaven help me if I should drink too much coffee!

We are glad to have you join us!

~Mary

Thanks for the reply... Although I wouldn't wish this problem on anyone, it's always nice to know I'm not the only one. I just got back from a short visit with friends & family & will be off on another visit soon. Staying at someone else's home always presents a challenge but I usually get through it ok.

Cheers !

Tim

Good to see you here although not a place we'd want to be. It sounds like you have similar problems to mine. I did have surgery - bladder neck incision - and it has at least eliminated the pain from my bladder which had become so much a constant thing that I didn't know until it was gone! I too wear 'absorbents' of some kind all the time and have found more freedom to go about,and now with much less embarrassment than at first. As you say though, travel presents some problems. I have degenerative disc disease for which I have had surgery and I blame that for the problems although the Doctors seem to prefer to be less definite about causes and even suggest I may have had some problems in my anatomy since birth that only caught up with me as time went on. I'd love to know your story. Thoughts with you as you deal with these issues

Gordon