Shared Stories from People with Incontinence

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Incontinence affects men, women, and children of all ages and races. Everyone has their own unique story to tell, and these are just a few. Please keep in mind that everyone’s situation is different, and what worked for one person may not work for another.  These stories are told by the individual with incontinence, in their own words. We invite you to share your story with us.

A Life-long Bi-product

My Story – Submitted by: James

I have cerebral palsy and started life at a special school in Chicago where the physical therapy staff routinely diapered the kids who had accidents. This was nearly 60 years ago. Some of the students wore diapers regularly. As a deterrent, I suppose, they made fun of the kids who had the occasional accident. The method of humiliating punishment was general. Boys were made to feel sissies, changed into girls’ underwear; girls and boys ridiculed as babies (“How many babies need changing?”), and shaming was applied as a general deterrent. Maybe it worked in a number of cases. But I have come to believe it was precisely the wrong way to address the problem. At the time there was only one other special elementary school in the city’s public school system.

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30 Year Old Male with Enuresis

My Story – Submitted by: Dave

Hello. I am a 30 year old male who wets the bed almost every night for as long as I can remember. I wear diapers to bed for this and have worn diapers since I was about 10. My PCP can not find a cure for me and has sent me to a urologist and they have tried many things but nothing helped. My wife has been understanding throughout our 3 yr marriage that if she wants a dry bed then I must wear a diaper to bed.Continue reading→

Living with Spina Bifida

My Story – Submitted by: Anonymous

I was born with spina bifida. I was also one of the lucky ones – I could walk, even run, and never suffered from hydroencephalitis (water on the brain). I am also urinary and fecal incontinent.

At the age of 3 years, I had a urinary diversion surgery called an illial [ileal] loop done. I wore a urinary bag until I was 18. Kids can be cruel. In addition to the normal teasing that goes with growing up, I also had to deal with being shunned due to the bag springing leaks, as well as regular accidents from the bowel incontinence. You can probably imagine how bad things got. When I was 18, an artificial sphincter was installed on my bladder – I still had to self-catheterize to pee, but at least I didn’t have to wear that damned bag.

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Using Kegels for Bowel Incontinence

My Story – Submitted by: Anonymous

I developed bladder incontinence years before I began to have bowel incontinence. The bladder incontinence began in my late fifties, and the bowel at age 61.

Neither of them were due to accident, disease or other outside causes. Perhaps they were inherited, as I know my mother had bladder incontinence in her later years. I don’t know if she had bowel incontinence, and I no idea whether my father suffered from either condition.Continue reading→