A question for the ladies: Have you ever experienced this?

[Jilly Poo]

Let me start out saying I am a mother to 4 children and in my early 50's.  I do occasionally experience stress incontinence and it is getting a bit more frequent.  I also suffer from heavy periods and use the largest tampons I can find and still have blood leak through them.  

I have seen ads selling products similar to tampons that are supposed to help PREVENT stress incon by pressing on the urethra pinching it closed but my question is about AFTER using a tampon or one of these urinary control devices.

It seems that after using these Ultra sized tampons for an entire week I have been having more urinary leaks (aka mini accidents) that last between 4-5 days.

Sometimes they are not enough to even dampen my undies but other times I know that without protection or a drop everything quick trip to the restroom, I will soak completely through.  I am not opposed to wearing protection but sometimes I am not even aware that I need it until I am,out for the day or its too late.

I have tried researching this on-line to find answers but all I can find is articles saying to USE tampons to prevent leaks but I want to know:

1. Can using tampons CAUSE mild temporary incontinence or make it harder to control leaks after using them?   

2. Have any other women experienced the same or similar?

[Suzie]

Hi Jilly, I had very similar problems at your age and it never occurred to me that the two could be linked, but it could well be. Like you, my periods were so heavy and completely disrupted normal life that I consulted my family doctor and was prescribed a drug, the name of which I now unfortunately can’t remember, which help enormously. Unfortunately the leaks still continued. I do hope you find a solution.