Help with Bed Wetting

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For about a year I've been using the condom catheters for my husband. We're also avoiding coffee, tea and soda as per the doctor's suggestion.

The catheters along with those washable waterproof pads Camilla told us about, and a couple of large thick towels under the drawsheet usuaully either meant a dry bed, or one or two days a week a wet bed, but usually I didn't also have to remove the bottom sheet AND the mattress pad.

However my system seems to be failing almost daily. I'm not exactly sure why the condom catheter is coming off, or why the floor is getting wet too. But anyway, it's a queen size bed and this is getting a bit much.

Has anyone tried an adult diaper-like thing along with a condom catheter? I'm open to ideas here! Also which "garment" have you found to be the most absorbent. I think someone once suggested adding a hand towel inside helped. Do I remember this correctly?

Maybe it's time to be thinking about a hospital bed? At least changing one that size would be easier and create less laundry for the aging washer and dryer.

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I knew a lady who used a preemie diaper around her husband's penis, then a regular adult diaper over that. She felt this helped to keep both her husband drier as well as the bed and was less-invasive than a catheter.

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Hope this of some help. My husband (PWP) and I (PP, Parkinson Partner and appropriate to designate subject today it seems) were happy to find Assurance Protective Underwear for men and women at local Wal-Mart. It's comfortable and does the job well. My husband is mobile so it's not difficult to put on though he needs help was with most things now. He feels more secure and it does save the bedding change we were having to do in the night on occasion. He does waken to go to the toilet with help most times (which I'm thankful for because he has a problem with bed sores on his buttocks since a trip to the hosp. in May. At that time I was so concerned about his medication times that I failed to advise staff that he would probably not articulate any problem, nor move w/o prompting. We also sleep in a queen bed and he sleeps only on his back. I know about use of drawsheets but didn't think about such for this size bed.

Hope the Assurance helps your situation. Depends has a similar product for $13.97 but Assurance was $9.68 for same quantity (20) and quality everybit as good.

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In addition to all of the good replies already submitted I wanted to mention a plastic sheet for your bed. We have a king-sided bed and the only store I found a plastic king size sheet was J. C. Penneys. This too makes it a little easier when accidents happen.

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Thanks for the information about the Assurance products. I was going to recommend the Depends Nighttime. I got them at Walmart on special for $10.47, but I'll try the Assurance next time.

Try some Neosporin or the Walmart equivalent, Equate, on the bed sores. They used zinc oxide on Mom in the nursing home, but I've found the Equate ointment to be very effective. It just takes a little and works very quickly. Also, they showed me how to wedge a pillow under her back on one side so that she doesn't lay completely flat. I have her roll over on one side and take an old pillow that I can fold in half lengthwise and tuck it under her from shoulder to bottom. When she rolls back over the pillow stays put (most of the time). I hope this helps.

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Thank you all so far for your help. I might add for those who might be interested that there is a leg bag available to use with a condom catheter. I wonder if it might be preferable for some to use in the day time instead of a "Depend" type thing?

One message said:

OH! Where have my brains been? Of course that would help!

I do have a plastic cover on the mattress, of course, but that's *under* the quilted mattress pad. A plastic sheet could go under the the blue and white pads and the towels, and he'd have no direct contact with it. I don't know how long a plastic "drop cloth" would last, but they're cheap and my Home Depot, and various dollar stores, are a lot closer than Penney's.

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Leg-bags are great! Just a word of caution.

Empty often! Weight of urine more than 1/3-1/2 bag tend to really pull down the leg strap, therefore making the bag droop. Give it a try. You just might find this more acceptable to patient than adult diapers. If positioned properly, they work well. Good luck.

We used the leg-bag with a lot of our patients in the nursing facility.

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We have been dealing with this for almost two years. It began with an impaction procedure for which we had the visiting nurse here. She told us that incontinence sometimes does follow that. We began at nighttime wearing Depends, then heavier Depends, and then daytime Depends and this is where we are now. Even with all of this I wash a load of bed clothes almost every day!

Seems I have taken it in my stride. To withhold fluids would be to jeopardize the regularity. I make good use of the large cotton, plastic backed washable pads and the disposable smaller pads. The cotton pad goes under the bottom sheet; otherwise it would be all wrinkled 'til morning, and the disposable pads go under the washable pad to extend the waterproofing.

At first during the day when urge would come he could not take care of himself quickly enough and I had lots of scrubbing of floors, carpets etc. Urologist confirmed there is no physical problem but it was too labor intensive for me not to use Depends.

There are some battles we just cannot win. And we must choose our battles.

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After struggling with incontinence for about five years with my mother, trying medications for bladder control, using pads, bladder guards, depends, waking up at night to use the commode, using a urinal while in bed, changing clothing and bedding repeat times during the night. etc. etc.) she now has an indwelling catheter and it has been wonderful. Why we waited so long I don't know, but actually it was because she didn't want one. She has always thought they were for people at the end of the road, and she wasn't/isn't ready to concede that yet. Also, I think we both had incorrectly thought that she would be likely to get urinary infections easily, but the doctor said not necessarily so and if she did, then they could treat that easily.

The doctor was easily able to convince her to do it for one month because she had some sores in the pereneal area and we couldn't get them to heal. However, after she got it in and saw the benefits (no rushing to the bathroom, no wet nightclothes, no sores, better sleep at night, etc.) she has been content (and even glad) to keep it in. We are in the 7 month of it now and have not had any infections or problems. She wears a leg bag during the day which doesn't show under her clothing and a large overnight bag at nighttime.

So although this may not be the choice for everyone, it sure has improved things for us. Although there is still significant caregiver responsibility such as cleaning the bag and cleaning the pereneal area twice a day, it sure beats changing wet beds in the middle of the night and wrecking havoc on sleep.

Sorry to go on about this so long, but this was a MAJOR ordeal for us for so long and I'm glad we are using the catheter. One other major benefit, is that she now drinks a lot more water because she isn't worried about the outflow.

Hope this is helpful to anyone else who may be having to choose this route.

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For quite a long time, my husband has been wearing both a condom catheter and a Depends to bed at night. Because he has Shy-Drager Syndrome, we must force liquids during the day along with Florinef which makes him retain fluids until he lies down. When he lies down, his Blood Pressure rises, and all the fluids come out. So, he can produce great quantities during the night. We also use a washable pad and a couple of disposable pads on a waterproof hospital bed. Usually, this works, but occasionally, the whole system fails, and as Ken himself said one morning,"Someone poured water on me". When this happens we just wash everything and start over. We tried several brands and sizes of condom catheters before settling on the ones we use now. The are supposed to be self-adhering, but we also use paper tape too. Ken is not shaved in that area since the tape sticks better if he is not. He doesn't complain about the pulling, but then he is pretty long suffering. Most nights all this works, but last night, the bed got wet!

This is the best solution we have devised short of an indwelling permanent catheter which some of our PD friends have resorted to. I hope this has been helpful.

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