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I remember my parents trying a number of things when I was little. They'd take me to a hypnotist - but I would never go under. I'd peep through my eyelashes at the hypnotist taking notes at his desk while speaking in his hypnotic voice. If he felt that I'd been a good patient, he'd let me hold his dog (I had him fooled for a long time, not knowing just how much it was costing my parents!!). My parents tried the alarm pad but some nights I'd sleep right through the alarm. My parents would wake me up to take me to the toilet and one of them would stand there until I would do a wee. Sometimes I'd fall asleep on the toilet and fall on the floor, knocking my head...!!!
As there weren't any products back then for older kids, my mum adapted nappies by safety pinning them into my underwear - two safety pins at the front corners and two at the back. Sometimes this would suffice but a lot of the time, I'd still flood the bed.
To protect the mattress, my parents adopted the practice of putting a sheet of plastic (sometimes big rubbish bags) between my sheet and mattress so at least it was "only" the sheet and my pjs that were wet. Mum used to complain that the washing machine was going to breakdown because she had to wash sheets and pjs every day. This, of course, only made it worse. She wasn't to know that. She was just as stressed as I was.
So, to "help" my mum, I would put towels down on the bed after I had wet it - night after night. Sometimes I'd end up with 4 to 5 towels, one on top of the other, by the end of the week. I thought I was helping Mum by not giving her washing every day. Of course, this didn't help and the damn washing machine DID break down.
Sometimes my Dad would get very frustrated and would ask me in the morning, "did you piss the bed last night?". I felt such shame and embarrassment. I'd lie to him and just put a towel over the wet patch.
The plastic between the sheet and the mattress was horrible. I also have a condition called hyperhidrosis which is "excessive sweating". Yep, I have fluid coming out of me from all over my body!! I joke and say to my family and friends that know of both conditions... "there will never be a drought around me!!" I live in Australia.
Back to the plastic.... it would make me sweat so much. If it weren't for the smell of the urine, I wouldn't know which was which - sweat or urine! The plastic also made a noise when I moved about or corners of it would stick into me (it was thick plastic).
Then there were the sleep over parties during my school years. My Mum would sometimes call the parent of the child that had invited me to stay over. Mum would tell the other mum about my condition and make sure I'd pack some plastic when I stayed over at my friend's house. Seriously, I found it so stressful. I would do my very best not to sleep, or at least not to go into a deep sleep. Sometimes, I would chat away to my friend until about 2am. I found that once I got to that time, then went to sleep, I'd wake up dry.
I would stop drinking any fluids very early in the evening. If I'd been sweating all day, I had a real thirst so it would be difficult not to want fluids before going to bed. Most of the time, it made no difference at all.
One of my worst experiences was a four week school camp to central Australia when I was about 15 years old. We were camping the whole way from Melbourne in four-man tents. I was in a tent with only one other girl. I was so nervous at night time. I remember wetting my sleeping bag and not knowing what the hell I was going to do! I couldn't hang it out to dry because of the smell; I couldn't tell anyone - that would be motifying and I didn't want everyone else finding out. I remember using my towel to wrap around me the rest of the camp and fortunately, I had some baby powder with me so I used that to (hopefully) disguise the smell. The towel was sometimes still damp from after showering. I seriously don't know how I got through it.
My parents continued to have me medically investigated but there wasn't any conclusive reason as to why the bedwetting kept occuring and I never grew out of it. One test did find that I held about 30ml of fluid in my bladder most of the day - my bladder never fully empties when I go to the toilet. But nothing else was looked into after that.
When I moved out of home, it was a relief. I lived on my own and if I wet the bed, it was completely my own problem - no one else needed to know. I actually found that I didn't wet the bed as often during those years. Of course if anyone stayed over, again, I wouldn't go to sleep until the wee hours of the night (excuse the pun).
I've had various partners over the years but no-one as more understanding as my partner now of nearly six years. He is wonderful. I see he gets nervous mentioning it to me or asking me in the morning "did you have an accident?" when he sees me change the sheets. He is completely supportive. He doesn't complain about the cost of the incontenence pads or undies. I'm the one who complains about the cost of those!!!! AUS$13.00 for a pack of 8!!!
My previous partner (husband) actually wouldn't sleep in the same bed as me because of my incontenence. What a pig. Enough said about him. There's (several) reasons why he's my ex!
I don't know what medical science will find out about noctunal enuresis in the future. I just wish there was some sort of medical rebate (in Australia) for having to buy such expensive pads!!!
I wonder how I will be as I get older. I suppose it won't change. It may also start occuring during the daytime but I'll cross that bridge if and when I arrive at it.
My sense of humour certainly masks my real uncomfortable, frustrating feelings about my bedwetting. Actually, I'd rather call it an "accident". I hate the term "bedwetting". It remind me of my childhood and the fact that that word is associated to children - not adults.
I used to joke around, saying "I get to sleep with another woman each night. Her name is Tena (as in Tina)"!!! Now that I wear Depends pants ("more than 60% absorbent at night"), Tena is now defunct! She tends to leak!
See - I'm still joking about it.
So, that's my story. If there's any clever doctors who think they've found a drug that actually works (I was taking 10mg of Tofranil (imipramine) for most of my childhood years - yeah, didn't work), I'll be your guinea pig - as long as it doesn't make me leak from somewhere else!
Don't get me wrong - there were, and still are, the occasional dry night. Ah, how awesome is it to wake up dry! When that happens, it's going to be a good day.
Thanks for taking the time to read my story. I'd certainly like to hear from anyone who has a similar story/experiences. Oh, and if you've found the answer to eternal dryness!
As there weren't any products back then for older kids, my mum adapted nappies by safety pinning them into my underwear - two safety pins at the front corners and two at the back. Sometimes this would suffice but a lot of the time, I'd still flood the bed.
To protect the mattress, my parents adopted the practice of putting a sheet of plastic (sometimes big rubbish bags) between my sheet and mattress so at least it was "only" the sheet and my pjs that were wet. Mum used to complain that the washing machine was going to breakdown because she had to wash sheets and pjs every day. This, of course, only made it worse. She wasn't to know that. She was just as stressed as I was.
So, to "help" my mum, I would put towels down on the bed after I had wet it - night after night. Sometimes I'd end up with 4 to 5 towels, one on top of the other, by the end of the week. I thought I was helping Mum by not giving her washing every day. Of course, this didn't help and the damn washing machine DID break down.
Sometimes my Dad would get very frustrated and would ask me in the morning, "did you piss the bed last night?". I felt such shame and embarrassment. I'd lie to him and just put a towel over the wet patch.
The plastic between the sheet and the mattress was horrible. I also have a condition called hyperhidrosis which is "excessive sweating". Yep, I have fluid coming out of me from all over my body!! I joke and say to my family and friends that know of both conditions... "there will never be a drought around me!!" I live in Australia.
Back to the plastic.... it would make me sweat so much. If it weren't for the smell of the urine, I wouldn't know which was which - sweat or urine! The plastic also made a noise when I moved about or corners of it would stick into me (it was thick plastic).
Then there were the sleep over parties during my school years. My Mum would sometimes call the parent of the child that had invited me to stay over. Mum would tell the other mum about my condition and make sure I'd pack some plastic when I stayed over at my friend's house. Seriously, I found it so stressful. I would do my very best not to sleep, or at least not to go into a deep sleep. Sometimes, I would chat away to my friend until about 2am. I found that once I got to that time, then went to sleep, I'd wake up dry.
I would stop drinking any fluids very early in the evening. If I'd been sweating all day, I had a real thirst so it would be difficult not to want fluids before going to bed. Most of the time, it made no difference at all.
One of my worst experiences was a four week school camp to central Australia when I was about 15 years old. We were camping the whole way from Melbourne in four-man tents. I was in a tent with only one other girl. I was so nervous at night time. I remember wetting my sleeping bag and not knowing what the hell I was going to do! I couldn't hang it out to dry because of the smell; I couldn't tell anyone - that would be motifying and I didn't want everyone else finding out. I remember using my towel to wrap around me the rest of the camp and fortunately, I had some baby powder with me so I used that to (hopefully) disguise the smell. The towel was sometimes still damp from after showering. I seriously don't know how I got through it.
My parents continued to have me medically investigated but there wasn't any conclusive reason as to why the bedwetting kept occuring and I never grew out of it. One test did find that I held about 30ml of fluid in my bladder most of the day - my bladder never fully empties when I go to the toilet. But nothing else was looked into after that.
When I moved out of home, it was a relief. I lived on my own and if I wet the bed, it was completely my own problem - no one else needed to know. I actually found that I didn't wet the bed as often during those years. Of course if anyone stayed over, again, I wouldn't go to sleep until the wee hours of the night (excuse the pun).
I've had various partners over the years but no-one as more understanding as my partner now of nearly six years. He is wonderful. I see he gets nervous mentioning it to me or asking me in the morning "did you have an accident?" when he sees me change the sheets. He is completely supportive. He doesn't complain about the cost of the incontenence pads or undies. I'm the one who complains about the cost of those!!!! AUS$13.00 for a pack of 8!!!
My previous partner (husband) actually wouldn't sleep in the same bed as me because of my incontenence. What a pig. Enough said about him. There's (several) reasons why he's my ex!
I don't know what medical science will find out about noctunal enuresis in the future. I just wish there was some sort of medical rebate (in Australia) for having to buy such expensive pads!!!
I wonder how I will be as I get older. I suppose it won't change. It may also start occuring during the daytime but I'll cross that bridge if and when I arrive at it.
My sense of humour certainly masks my real uncomfortable, frustrating feelings about my bedwetting. Actually, I'd rather call it an "accident". I hate the term "bedwetting". It remind me of my childhood and the fact that that word is associated to children - not adults.
I used to joke around, saying "I get to sleep with another woman each night. Her name is Tena (as in Tina)"!!! Now that I wear Depends pants ("more than 60% absorbent at night"), Tena is now defunct! She tends to leak!
See - I'm still joking about it.
So, that's my story. If there's any clever doctors who think they've found a drug that actually works (I was taking 10mg of Tofranil (imipramine) for most of my childhood years - yeah, didn't work), I'll be your guinea pig - as long as it doesn't make me leak from somewhere else!
Don't get me wrong - there were, and still are, the occasional dry night. Ah, how awesome is it to wake up dry! When that happens, it's going to be a good day.
Thanks for taking the time to read my story. I'd certainly like to hear from anyone who has a similar story/experiences. Oh, and if you've found the answer to eternal dryness!
