When diapers start feeling necessary

[Alex Bridges]

My infatuation with diapers goes back to when I was 2 years old.

being almost 24/7 goes back to 2017

Being truly 24/7 goes back to the start of the pandemic.

Urinary issues started in 2018: overactive bladder, recurring UTIs, difficulty fully voiding, post-good dribbling. Probably also some Pelvic Pain Syndrome. And a slightly enlarged prostate for me age. I’m on meds prescribed by a urologist and seeing a pelvic therapist. I go through bouts of flare ups that can last an hour or a couple days. 

In the last couple months, I’ve noticed a drop of pee seeming to be ready to fall all the time, and a couple weeks ago I had a true accident. I went to use the toilet, and as soon as my pants were down, about a couple teaspoons came out onto the floor.

Yesterday, I had a long drive to a doctor and had an OAB flare up just as I was about to leave. I put on a diaper, used it in the garage, used it in the parking lot when I arrived, again in the lobby. Went to change into a pull-up and was ready to explain my wearing to the doc if it came up. It didn’t. Used the pull-up before I left and changed back into a diaper.

I guess my point is I don’t trust myself without something absorbent right now. When I really can’t wear diapers, I’ve started wearing period panties to keep my pants dry. 
I still enjoy wearing, but I’ve hit that transition point where I now feel anxious to not wear. Not a fun point. I worry about long hiking trips I used to take pre-pandemic and trips abroad. May have to start packing heavier ?

I think I need to double down on the exercises my pelvic therapist is giving me. I don’t want to need diapers. I enjoy them as much as ever, but it makes some of my favorite things a little harder.

[Enthusi]

As someone who is no longer able to wear diapers purely for fun, I have a lot to say on this topic. 

You’re right it is a huge step going from wanting to needing diapers.  It’s hard to even wrap your mind around the idea that you need to be diapered AT ALL TIMES.  

I was never an outdoorsy person so I can’t really speak to hiking.  I haven’t traveled abroad since becoming diaper dependent. But it is something I worry a bit about, especially if we visit extended family who don’t know I’m incontinent.  There are ways to mitigate the risk however.  For starters you can purchase diapers abroad.  You can also see about getting away with pull-ups.  In my case I would consider a condom catheter if I absolutely couldn’t have access to diapers or pull-ups. It’s not ideal, but it’s a cost for living my lifestyle. 

Though for me the biggest inconveniences come on a day to day basis with little things.  For example toweling off after showering. My routine isn’t conducive to diapering up right away, leading to annoying accidents.  Likewise in the morning sometimes  I wake up soaked and I end up getting out of bed before I’m ready in order to avoid a leak, because holding it in is no longer an option.  

On the other hand, there is peace of mind knowing that my incontinence is legit (even if it was psychological in origin) and knowing that I’m “stuck” in diapers is liberating in a way. So for me the costs are worth it.  Just something to think about. 

[ken2988]

I never had the desire to wear diapers until it started becoming necessary for me to prevent leaking and wetting my clothing.  As a kid I still wet my bed until I was almost 12, which was super embarrassing (at some time in the future I may post about how this felt, but not ready yet) considering my brother who was two years younger, and my sister who was 5 years younger both stopped wetting the bed years before I did.  It was no fun to use a rubber sheet on my bed, take the wet sheets to the hamper, and be seen in my wet PJ's by my little sister.  So, I had absolutely no desire to wear diapers as an adult.

Her I am now as an adult being forced back into diapers almost 24/7 always being worried that someone will see that I am wearing diapers, or see that my pants are wet from leaking of the diaper.  I have had numerous occasions where people have noticed my diaper hanging out over my shorts or pants which is usually most noticeable when I need to been over or reach up to get something.  I have also had people notice when my clothing gets wet either from too much pee overflowing, or from one of the tabs breaking and pee coming out the side.

[Little Sherri]

9 hours ago, Alex Bridges said:

I worry about long hiking trips I used to take pre-pandemic and trips abroad.

 

8 hours ago, Enthusi said:

I haven’t traveled abroad since becoming diaper dependent. But it is something I worry a bit about,

There are a lot of interesting comments on this string. First of all, I like hiking and I like travelling abroad, and I have been able to do both while wearing diapers. I've been on numerous hikes; the key is finding a product that is comfortable and reliable. I have walked 15 kilometers, and run 10 kilometers, in a diaper, so it can be done, but the key is being in the right product. The wrong diaper can wear through your skin like sandpaper. I can share the ones I've had success with if anyone is interested.

I've been on numerous business trips in diapers, pre-pandemic, and my family and I went to Europe for three weeks in 2019. For that trip, I had to shop local for diapers - I only brought enough to get me through a few days. Was it a bit more of a pain in the ass than travelling without diapers? Yes. But it was not insurmountable. I had a great time, and I was very happy to be securely diapered for all of it. 

7 hours ago, ken2988 said:

As a kid I still wet my bed until I was almost 12, which was super embarrassing (at some time in the future I may post about how this felt, but not ready yet) considering my brother who was two years younger, and my sister who was 5 years younger both stopped wetting the bed years before I did. 

I can sympathize deeply with this; I had a sister 4 years older and a brother 3 years younger, growing up, and neither of them had any wetting issues. I wet the bed until I was about ten and a half. In my case, I wore diapers to bed, and I had a plastic sheet on my bed. I can 100% sympathize with the feelings you have about that; my younger brother was potty trained and graduated from needing diapers, day and night, when he was around 3, they threw him a ticker tape parade, which is understandable, but, I still had an appointment with the changing table every night after dinner. When I got bigger, my diaper leaked a lot, and I found myself walking through the kitchen with my sheets in my arms, in a saggy diaper, at least a couple of times a week, on my way to the laundry room, while my brother and sister ate breakfast in their "big kid underwear". Our family's annual marathon highway pilgrimages to the East coast and to Florida were studies in protracted humiliation for me, because I had to wear diapers, in case we fell asleep in the car, and nobody else did. 

 

7 hours ago, ken2988 said:

I have had numerous occasions where people have noticed my diaper hanging out over my shorts or pants which is usually most noticeable when I need to been over or reach up to get something. 

For me, the key to solving this issue is buying "diaper shirts" - onesies or snap-T's. I have about a dozen of them now, most black, a couple white, and I wear them whenever I'm away from the house. I find black to be the most confidence-inspiring, because printed diapers can show through the white ones. If I have a black diaper shirt on, even if it's not fastened up, the tail on it is so long that there's no chance of it coming untucked, and if I close the snaps, it prevents diaper sagging, and I can bend over or crawl around on the ground (such as when installing flooring) with zero concerns that someone is going to see my diaper down the back of my jeans. I had that happen as a kid several times, so when I found a solution, I was ecstatic. 

[jeremy12312]

17 hours ago, Little Sherri said:

my family and I went to Europe for three weeks in 2019. For that trip, I had to shop local for diapers - I only brought enough to get me through a few days.  

I also did this in Paris when there was a shipping delay and an expected package wasn’t waiting at the hotel as planned. Isn’t it glorious to know you can just pop down to the corner pharmacy and get a pack of Tena Slip Maxis?

[Little Sherri]

56 minutes ago, jeremy12312 said:

Isn’t it glorious to know you can just pop down to the corner pharmacy and get a pack of Tena Slip Maxis?

I settled for the Auchan store brand tabbed diapers. They were fine, probably a bit better than what you can get in store brands here in Canada, anyway. I've never tried the Tena Slip Maxi - the only Tena product I have tried is their "breathable with tabs" diaper, which we can get in pharmacies and drug stores here, and which I assume is designed primarily for palliative care settings, where the occupant doesn't have much time left, because the diaper isn't good for more than a few hours... I'd be intrigued to actually find a good Tena product. 

[jeremy12312]

53 minutes ago, Little Sherri said:

... I'd be intrigued to actually find a good Tena product. 

Euro Tena offerings are night and day from their North American ones.  Like, the difference between Depends and, well, a good diaper. 

For a while there, the Slip Maxis were a hot import item from the usual suppliers. I think they went breathable though, so that ended most of the love affair.