Incon. Doctor's Visit

[Rue Rue]

Hey, everyone. I am having a back injury flare up and I am really uncomfortable. I have one in S5 I believe. I had an MRI and S1 through 5 have inflimation or are out of alignment. I am wetting myself and having bowel issues. My gut feeling is to not wear protection, but I cannot walk more than. 8 inches at a time. I am worried that I might have an accident in public since I am already having trouble. What would you do if you were in my shoes? I've never worn protection to my doctor before since an adult. Is is okay?

I forgot to say, I am having mostly wetting accidents right now. I have to stay hydrated with all the heat, but I keep just letting out small dribbles, almost constantly. (Thus may sound gross) I took off my underwear and saw I was dribbling pee and couldn't stop it. My butt clenched a bit but my urethra was still not closing. Sorry. I am having a rough time. This is the first time I have had this bad of a flare up. 

I am stopping drinking water now. 

[mick_dl]

Hmm - sorry but this is a strange question for me. Ether your incontinent or your not. If you are incontinent you have to wear and better discuss this with your doc. I have all my appointments in diapers because I don‘t want to stay there in soaked trouser. Docs see this every day so I’m honestly more scared to go to a gym as to a doc… But anyway - if your wetting starts with the flare up of your back injury this might be critical and you better check this as fast as you can with a neurosurgeon because this is a emergency situation. If the spine is really the reason and you wait to long your this may cause irreparable damage to the compressed nerves. 

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

I would ask a doctor, not ABDL's who do not have any meidica training

[WetDad]

As one who is IC, I would advise you to wear some form of protection until this gets fixed. Choose whatever is comfortable for you. If you want advice on a choice of protection, we can help you, as all of us have significant experience in that area, even if we have no medical training.

Yes, you should wear this to your doctor- s/he will not flinch a bit over seeing you in diapers/briefs/pads. It will save you from the embarrassment of wet pants.

Also, you should continue to remain hydrated. Drink lots of water, especially when it is the hot. Don't mess up you body any more than it already is. 😁

[Rue Rue]

5 hours ago, mick_dl said:

Hmm - sorry but this is a strange question for me. Ether your incontinent or your not. If you are incontinent you have to wear and better discuss this with your doc. I have all my appointments in diapers because I don‘t want to stay there in soaked trouser. Docs see this every day so I’m honestly more scared to go to a gym as to a doc… But anyway - if your wetting starts with the flare up of your back injury this might be critical and you better check this as fast as you can with a neurosurgeon because this is a emergency situation. If the spine is really the reason and you wait to long your this may cause irreparable damage to the compressed nerves. 

I have incontinence associated with my back injury when it flares up. I decided to wear protection and it was not a bad experience. The nurse who gave me my steroid shot told me that it is no big deal. But boy oh boy, did that shot burn! Its been a year since I had one and the burn brought back all of the memories. 

Furthermore, everyone: thank you for your replies. I am going to take this more seriously. Everyone, I mean everyone, keeps telling me not to shrug this off like it is not a big deal. It is. I know it is but I just can't believe it is really happening to me. I am in disbelief. I never imagined that I'd have this type of issue. I never thought I would have these symptoms so frequently. 

I got pain medication, a steroid shot, muscle relaxers and my doctor told me that if this continues I will see a physical therapist. Something about that does not seem all kosher to me. I was told once by a family friend, and again here by @mick_dl that a neurosurgeon is who I need to see, not my GP. I am going to look into that. I've been told too many times to see one. Thank you all.

[mick_dl]

Hi Rue Rue,

So I would really take this seriously if I were you. I had an accident many years ago in which several intervertebral discs were compressed. I had a lot of pain and no feeling in some of my fingers and parts of my legs. The whole thing improved after a few months of physiotherapy and sports. And then it disappeared completely.

I didn't follow it up until my inco (which also had other reasons) got worse some time ago.

I searched a lot until someone came up with the idea to do another MRI of the spine because I also got strange calf cramps and the feeling in one leg was gone again... Five intervertebral discs are now pressing the spinal cord together in different places of the spine and are the cause of the problems. 
If I had had the operation right away, I would probably have a good chance of getting it under control again.
Unfortunately, I didn't - and now I have to live with the crap... It can still be operated - but no longer minimally inversively and the chance that they do more damage is present. The already damaged nerves can no longer be repaired - in this case it would only be a matter of preventing me from ending up in a wheelchair...

[rusty pins]

A year and a half I slipped on the ice and fell hard in front of the grocery store entrance and even hit my head on the metal handrail by the door.  I was on the ground for about 5 minutes before someone rushed over to help me and get the store manager.  I had ex rays that really aggravated my leg and especially my sciatic nerves.  I was in the emergency room twice, the urgent care clinic once and my own doctor all within 5 days and getting heavy pain meds and morphine.  EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM ASKED ME IF I WAS WETTING OR POOPING MYSELF!  I wasn't, but that tells me these kind of injuries can cause it to happen, hence every doctor asking me.  With your situation they wouldn't bat an eye if you wore diapers to your appointment and would understand if you said you were wetting yourself and having some bowel accidents.

[feralfreak]

if you are having control issues, you need to wear something then wear it. do not cut back on fluids, my mom did when she fell and broke a rib, it made things rough on her, you have to stay hydrated.

[technomonkey]

I did not have bladder or bowel issues until i had back problems. It started with L5-S1 fusion then then L4-5 fusion L3-L4 siscectomy that will turn into a fusion some time soon. I have nerve damage and now scar tissue. i have seen and had lots of spine doctors and no luck. All my DR's know i wear diapers. Diapers use to be fun to wear when ever. Now its been years 24/7 it gets old.

[Rue Rue]

On 7/21/2023 at 8:43 AM, rusty pins said:

A year and a half I slipped on the ice and fell hard in front of the grocery store entrance and even hit my head on the metal handrail by the door.  I was on the ground for about 5 minutes before someone rushed over to help me and get the store manager.  I had ex rays that really aggravated my leg and especially my sciatic nerves.  I was in the emergency room twice, the urgent care clinic once and my own doctor all within 5 days and getting heavy pain meds and morphine.  EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM ASKED ME IF I WAS WETTING OR POOPING MYSELF!  I wasn't, but that tells me these kind of injuries can cause it to happen, hence every doctor asking me.  With your situation they wouldn't bat an eye if you wore diapers to your appointment and would understand if you said you were wetting yourself and having some bowel accidents.

This is a confidence booster. I guess what made me nervous is that I generally do not expose my underwear and I knew I was going to get a steroid shot, which means "pull down the back of your pants". This last visit was a first and I am going to swallow my pride in my next consecutive visits and do what is necessary. 

[Rue Rue]

16 hours ago, technomonkey said:

I did not have bladder or bowel issues until i had back problems. It started with L5-S1 fusion then then L4-5 fusion L3-L4 siscectomy that will turn into a fusion some time soon. I have nerve damage and now scar tissue. i have seen and had lots of spine doctors and no luck. All my DR's know i wear diapers. Diapers use to be fun to wear when ever. Now its been years 24/7 it gets old.

Scar tissue is exactly what is trying to be prevented with the medications I am prescribed. It really is crazy how things can change from a back injury. Diapers do get old... after wearing them to bed every night for years the idea of wearing them wherever I go was unappealing.

@technomonkey, you mentioned fusion of disks. Is that a surgery or something that happened over time from your damaged disc's?

You are dang right they lose the fun part when you need them, and I truly needed the for a few days. This is the second time in recent months where I needed to wear them just to take care of tasks. 

 

You all are so supportive in sharing your experiences and knowledge. Thank you! 😃

[Rue Rue]

On 7/21/2023 at 7:23 AM, mick_dl said:

Hi Rue Rue,

So I would really take this seriously if I were you. I had an accident many years ago in which several intervertebral discs were compressed. I had a lot of pain and no feeling in some of my fingers and parts of my legs. The whole thing improved after a few months of physiotherapy and sports. And then it disappeared completely.

I didn't follow it up until my inco (which also had other reasons) got worse some time ago.

I searched a lot until someone came up with the idea to do another MRI of the spine because I also got strange calf cramps and the feeling in one leg was gone again... Five intervertebral discs are now pressing the spinal cord together in different places of the spine and are the cause of the problems. 
If I had had the operation right away, I would probably have a good chance of getting it under control again.
Unfortunately, I didn't - and now I have to live with the crap... It can still be operated - but no longer minimally inversively and the chance that they do more damage is present. The already damaged nerves can no longer be repaired - in this case it would only be a matter of preventing me from ending up in a wheelchair...

I am very sorry to hear that this happened to you. I am going to take this more seriously. I recently had an MRI which exposed the damaged disks. It is so crazy. Just one wrong move can cause the injury to flare up again. I'll stay on top of this. My doctor wants to see me in about one month for a follow up, or earlier if the pain and my range of motion do not improve. 

The next step he mentioned is physical therapy. I have had physical therapy before, and surprisingly did help me! I am thinking I need to keep a record of how often I experience pain and what activities I was performing when the pain reappeared.

When it is not debilitating I used to brush it off and "say this is just the way it is going to be now, and the MRIs confirmed it." Its time to act, I really don't want this to get worse.

[technomonkey]

On 7/24/2023 at 3:07 PM, Rue Rue said:

Scar tissue is exactly what is trying to be prevented with the medications I am prescribed. It really is crazy how things can change from a back injury. Diapers do get old... after wearing them to bed every night for years the idea of wearing them wherever I go was unappealing.

@technomonkey, you mentioned fusion of disks. Is that a surgery or something that happened over time from your damaged disc's?

You are dang right they lose the fun part when you need them, and I truly needed the for a few days. This is the second time in recent months where I needed to wear them just to take care of tasks. 

 

You all are so supportive in sharing your experiences and knowledge. Thank you! 😃

So yes that is a damaged disc. when a disc no longer holds it shape and pushes on nerves that attaches to the spinal cord.  If you see a Neurosurgeon they will do x-ray MRi or a CT scan. to see what is going on.

[Rob110]

If you are experiencing bladder or bowel issues I would recommend wearing a tapped diaper when out and about as a just incase, let your Doctor know if he does not already and keep a spare with you for a quick change if needed. There is no shame in wearing a diaper to your Doctors as he probably sees multiple patients every day that like you needs them as a just incase.