Hi Pam, nice to see you again in the forum! I hope you don't mind a male answering in this "Women's General Discussion", but I don't see an absolutely specific gender relevant aspect in your post, so I dare to give my comment.
Being urinary IC (combined dribble- and urge IC) I did the same at the beginning - not drinking anything unless absolutely necessary, following the thought "where there is no input, there will be not output" - which worked relatively well. No need to say that this dehydration (what this behavior means to be honest) ended in issues with concentration, balance and others - and in the end also , which my doc explained later as I consulted him for my IC - additionally causes bladder irritation with the high concentrated urine.
Anyway, during vacation in the heat of south France and Spain my wife remarked my extremely low liquid input and asked if there was any reason for it, so at the end I opened up with my continence issues. In a very open and honest discussion we agreed that at once I normalize my liquid input and in case I leak I would wear some Tena pants I bought in a supermarket. And of course I would visit our doc as soon as being back home from our vacation, which I did of course. He found some reasonable background behind my IC, it's sure that it can't be healed completely but maximum only be decreased to a certain level.
At the beginning of this journey - although wearing those pull-up style - I tried to reach the toilet whenever an urge came in (up to 10-15 times a day + nights), I tried to stay more at home near our restroom, I tried "planned voiding", with going out I tried token in mind where there might be restrooms around and used my protection only as a very last security shield. In a short time I realized that my life changed significantly to the worse: I arranged it all around my IC, I let my bladder more or less dictate my way of living. I asked myself if that's what I really wanted to do and decided against it. Switching from those "emergency pants" to good, reliable diapers and, without fear or shame or embarrassment using them, I started to accept and live my life with incontinence instead of fighting my condition. Of course I had deep discussions with my wife about my thoughts and she agreed that I should do whatever makes me feel best for managing my IC. Choosing the right products for different activities, I (rsp. we - my wife and me share many activities) can do nearly everything we liked to do before my IC started. I honestly totally got used to wear (and use) my protection instead of arranging my life around my IC and my doc agreed that it's fine to do so as long as I'm OK with it instead of trying to limit my IC with meds or botox injections.
I just wanted to share this with you; maybe - besides of any medical options to limit or even heal your bladder issues - it might also be an idea to mentally accept your condition and act accordingly. Don't let your continence issues dictate your life!
Feel free to ask whatever might come to your mind, and if you regard my post as inappropriate, please ignore it. - Helmut
