Anxiety/Panic Incontinence

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@snow - the fecal incontinence part is a constant fear when we who are having IBD have flares and ends up going 25-30 times a day with hardly no response time. With IBD the bowels does not work properly and separate out the liquid into the bladder - so we end up with chronic diarrhea.

To me incontinence is difficult regardless of being urine or bowel - and you don’t want unprotected accidents of either type. But I think the stigma is even worse for bowel incontinence. And there are fewer good and discrete options for protection.

 

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@Allan_59 Sorry to hear you suffer from both urinary and fecal incontinence. I agree that fecal incontinence is much worse than urinary incontinence. I also did some permanent damage to the nerves to my bowels when I fell down the cliff that caused my Neurogenic Bladder (severed nerves between my bladder and my spine while snowboarding).

I take medication as soon as I wake up every day to control my diarrhea, but I have the occasional day when the medication doesn’t cut it. I take Fortify extra-strength, which has billions of probiotics and prebiotics. It costs about $1/day and works 9 out of 10 days.

Fortify® 50 Billion Daily Probiotic | Nature's Way®

Probiotic supplement to support digestive balance and immune health.*

naturesway.com

If Fortify doesn’t control my diarrhea for the day, then I have to drink about 1/4-to-1/3 of a bottle of liquid Imodium (also known as Loperamide HCl) to stop my diarrhea and cramps. That’s more Imodium than one is supposed to take but it’s what I have to do. It works for up to three days afterward, but then causes constipation ultimately followed by an extreme diarrhea backlash, so it’s not a perfect solution. That’s why I prefer it when Fortify works because I experience no side effects nor backlash from Fortify. Fortunately, the generic form of Imodium works just as well as the brand name, and is quite affordable.

IMODIUM® A-D Anti-Diarrheal Oral Solution Liquid Medicine

Learn about IMODIUM A-D Oral Solution (liquid), a single ingredient OTC anti-diarrheal medicine that helps to control diarrhea symptoms, including Travelers’ Diarrhea.

www.imodium.com

I would be at my wits’ end if I couldn’t control my diarrhea with medication. If I had to wear taped diapers to fix that mess, I would have a major crisis that I’m sure would be much worse than how I felt when I initially experienced urinary incontinence, which is hard to imagine surviving, emotionally. I’m not sure I could handle it, but I’ve survived so many previously unimaginable medical problems already, so maybe I could. But I don’t think I’d ever leave the house. I have an elderly female friend who has permanent fecal incontinence caused by a previous C-DIFF bacterial infection incurred during a longterm hospital stay following a car accident. She barely leaves the house and can only eat a handful of foods without experiencing instant liquid diarrhea. I really feel for her and try to visit her often since she doesn’t go out.

 

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@snow I guess you don’t have much choice - you have to deal with what is coming your way.

I do take Imodium/Loperamide in periods with a flare and when accidents are “impossible”. But as you said - after using Imodium - my stomach is really unpredictable - so some trouble free days needs to be followed by a relaxed scheme close to bathroom, otherwise a problem solver becomes a major problem.

And you are right - there are not many good options for fecal incontinence. The diarrhea is often “explosive” (sorry for the details) and without proper protection you end up changing both diaper and clothes.

The taped options are far from discrete - and I hate using them in public. At night or at home - I don’t mind, but among people I am not equally happy. Normally I hoped pull-ups would do the trick.

But regardless of protection - life must go on…

And thank you for understanding and support

 

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@Erin Same. But I think bladder leaks are caused by my anxiety. Whenever I forget to pee just in case, I panic that I'm going to have an accident. Sometimes I don't have one, other times I leak a little.