How to label my incontinence

[Anonymous12]

Hi there,

   I hate to post every other day but I am trying to figure out how to manage my incontinence so that is why I’m asking another question. I do identify with the label of incontinent and would call my case mild. However, I am not sure how I would get more specific about it. I am a wheelchair user and I sometimes struggle with making it on time. The part where I’m torn is that I usually do not have genuine accidents but sometimes I am “forced” to because it literally gets painful holding it in while waiting for the handicap stall and I cannot get out of my chair and transition to the toilet  by myself because I will wet my pants. 
 

Would you call this urge incontinence? I feel like I’m potty trained but my incontinence is more about environmental factors than biological/physiological factors. 
 

I hope I’m not being annoying but I want to figure out how to communicate my disability to other people 

[~Brian~]

41 minutes ago, Anonymous12 said:

Hi there,

   I hate to post every other day but I am trying to figure out how to manage my incontinence so that is why I’m asking another question. I do identify with the label of incontinent and would call my case mild. However, I am not sure how I would get more specific about it. I am a wheelchair user and I sometimes struggle with making it on time. The part where I’m torn is that I usually do not have genuine accidents but sometimes I am “forced” to because it literally gets painful holding it in while waiting for the handicap stall and I cannot get out of my chair and transition to the toilet  by myself because I will wet my pants. 
 

Would you call this urge incontinence? I feel like I’m potty trained but my incontinence is more about environmental factors than biological/physiological factors. 
 

I hope I’m not being annoying but I want to figure out how to communicate my disability to other people 

@Anonymous12

I would not worry about your posting habits: I post quite frequently myself.  If you are dealing with incontinence, it sounds like you are dealing with URGE incontinence.  I say that, because you are saying that sometimes, you are "holding it, and it is painful.."   I also am disabled, have Cerebral Palsy, Diverticulitis, IBS, and incontinence.  Don't worry about whether you can get or cannot get out of your chair:  I would use diapers if you are NOT currently doing it, and if you are using them, I would continue to do that.  Sometimes, the hardest thing to do is to make a decision for your dignity, safety, comfort and convenience, to use incontinence products to deal with it:    There is nothing wrong with doing this, as I do it myself, and there are others here that are disabled, and use diapers to deal with incontinence (I also use a wheelchair as well)

I don't think you are annoying, and I think you did FINE communicating your disability to me

Brian

[Anonymous12]

Hi Brian,

  Thank you for replying! Currently I use briefs which is similar to a diaper except it can only hold a small bowel movement. I think I will need adult diapers eventually but my main type of incontinence is urinary incontinence. Right now I’m new to this so I probably would ironically have an accident if anyone pointed out that I was wearing a brief/diaper. I might wear diapers eventually but right now I’m most comfortable with wearing a brief.

[Cruiser 03]

If you can't always use the toilet due to physical limitation such as impaired awareness of need or access to facility ,you are considered functionally incontinent , when i had the occasional correct urgency and put chairs thru walls or smashed toilets etc trying to get to one (my body was screwing with me because it could ) knowing my diaper was going to catch it anyway that's functional incontinence . Many of us in wheelchairs fall into this category and several others , knowing its name is less important than knowing its game ,how it effects you makes you feel etc .

[~Brian~]

18 hours ago, Cruiser 03 said:

If you can't always use the toilet due to physical limitation such as impaired awareness of need or access to facility ,you are considered functionally incontinent , when i had the occasional correct urgency and put chairs thru walls or smashed toilets etc trying to get to one (my body was screwing with me because it could ) knowing my diaper was going to catch it anyway that's functional incontinence . Many of us in wheelchairs fall into this category and several others , knowing its name is less important than knowing its game ,how it effects you makes you feel etc .

@Cruiser 03

I stand corrected:  this is because the inability to get to a toilet, is indeed a functional limitation.  My roommate has the Urge incontinence, so there have been times, when he feels the urge, and then he will have a spastic reaction, and when he does that, he hits the stick, and hits the toilet so hard, that it knocks the wax ring out of position, and he has to have it replaced.  NOW, because of the ingenuity of our Maintenance Director, he built a RING around the toilet so that all he'll do is hit the wood, and that way it does NOT move:  The chair hits the ring and stops.

Thank You for the information

Brian

Edited January 18, 2021 by ~Brian~
corrected spelling on a word

[XyXy]

Yep, sounds like "functional incontinence". If you were not in a wheelchair, you would be able to make it to the toilet. 

[Anonymous12]

Hi @Cruiser 03,

 

18 hours ago, Cruiser 03 said:

If you can't always use the toilet due to physical limitation such as impaired awareness of need or access to facility ,you are considered functionally incontinent , when i had the occasional correct urgency and put chairs thru walls or smashed toilets etc trying to get to one (my body was screwing with me because it could ) knowing my diaper was going to catch it anyway that's functional incontinence . Many of us in wheelchairs fall into this category and several others , knowing its name is less important than knowing its game ,how it effects you makes you feel etc .

Thank you! The term “functional incontinence” really resonates with me. I don’t know why it’s not used in the US but I am happy there is a term to describe what I am experiencing. 

[Anonymous12]

One last question @~Brian~. Did you ever have trouble telling your body that you have an optional “toilet”? If so, how did you overcome that?

[Clr224]

That’s something that you learn through practice. Long ago when I started wearing diapers, I could only wet them if I was standing up and with a great deal of concentration.  I practiced going in different situations and different positions and after a while it became easier.  You have to overcome a great deal of training you learned as a kid.