I’m Lee (f) and I’m 62. I’ve apparently had some level of urinary issues most of my life, because in elementary school, a teacher wondered if I had a small bladder because I had to go to the bathroom so often. I was not a bed wetter, however.
Thirty years ago I had a very bad accident and a broken pelvis. I had stress incontinence after that and was mortified. Oh, if only I knew then how bad it would get! I saw several urologists for testing and they were unimpressed.
Almost twenty years ago, I had an illness that caused a lot of coughing for several months. At that time, I started having nighttime incontinence at times and had to wear a pad during the day. More urologists. No answers. Continued worsening.
It got to the point where I *could* get up at night to pee, but I would leak the whole way, so I began protecting the bed and trained myself to sleep through it. No night clothes reduced the laundry.
I’ve tried all the drugs. I tried the interstim (twice). Most recently, I have had several years of Botox to the bladder that worked like a charm until a year or two ago.
I am currently using pull ups with multiple booster pads. I have Medicaid, so I am stuck with what they will pay for. I protect the bed with washable pads.
Most recently, I have had to start taking Lasix for heart issues (removes fluid from the system via pee). Here’s a silver lining for you - usually one takes it in the morning and they run to the bathroom constantly for six hours. Hey, I wet the bed anyway! Might as well take it at night, when it will be less bothersome.
I have also learned to use a Foley catheter on myself so I can travel a bit without always worrying about soiling other people’s beds.
I feel like I am out of options. I wonder if there are any new treatments being used by docs in bigger cities? I do go to a university teaching hospital so I think that’s probably not likely.
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