Re: BM's, Accidents & Protective Underwear.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 3/13/2006 9:37:22 AM Eastern Standard Time,

JJEROME14@... writes:

This is EXACTLY what I deal with. I had many accidents at work, I was able

to hide all of them. I am not retired, so life is much easier. But I don't

go out much for fear of this happening. It doesn't seem no matter what I

eat, so that doesn't help. I recently started wearing heavier diapers, as I

call them, and I am a little more at ease. I do take Levbid for bowel

control It does help a lot, you may want to ask your doctor about that.

Hang in there, you are not alone. I just wish I could take a walk, I don't

want much. But most days that is impossible.

I know for people who have bowel control for the most part, what I am going

to mention might sound extreme, but my son was born with an anorectal

malformation and this kind of thing is common place. For what it's worth,

maybe

this info will help someone... the cause might be different, but the management

of it is very similar from what I have read on other TC lists...

My was born without the external anal opening, so the day after he was

born, he had surgery to create an anus. He was scheduled for a colostomy

first, like most children with this kind of birth defect receive prior to their

repair, but the docs discovered that things inside were good enough to do

the repair right then. One of the long term complications of this kind of

birth defect is ongoing bowel issues. Mostly constipation, although some of

the

older types of repairs or some of the more complex anomalies left a person

with diarrhea. Most kids have some problems with colon motility and sensation

when it comes to knowing when they have to go to the bathroom.

MOST kids do some kind of bowel management to get their bowels regulated so

they can empty out at one time so they don't have to worry about accidents.

For some this means diet, and I see that you mentioned that. For many it

means laxatives. My son has taken Exlax since he was eight months old to

push his bowels to empty. He goes every morning before school, then he is

usually good for the day. He may have a small movement later in the day,

depending on what he eats, but he usually can make it to the toilet. If he

stays

away from sugary stuff (high fructuse corn syrup, malitol, sorbitol, etc, can

run right through bowels, especially if they are neurogenic) he can be clean

the rest of the day.

Other children/adults don't find laxatives predictable or reliable enough

and do an enema routine. This gives YOU control over emptying the colon, as

you can pick the time and place, and then usually have 24 hours of being clean

(unless you have super fast motility). Even if this is just something you

want to do once in a while, to get that ability to go out and not have to worry

about BMs...

For the people who need to do this on a daily basis, there is a surgery that

creates a stoma in the abdominal wall called a cecostomy (more info at

_www.cecostomy.com_ (http://www.cecostomy.com) ) and you can insert the enema

flush liquids directly into the top of the colon and use gravity to clean it

all

out top to bottom, without having to go rectally.

Many parents of children with tethered cord that I talk to on another list

(along with people with spina bifida) also do bowel management of one form or

another to avoid accidents, since nerve damage from TC brings about most of

the same issues as the birth defect my son has does. Many problems with

accidents happen when a person gets backed up and softer stool goes around

harder

stool blocking the intestine. It is stressed to us that daily bowel

movements (whatever you need to do to get them) help keep everything moving as

best

as it can and help prevent further incontinence problems (and also urinary

problems as unchecked constipation can cause UTIs and bladder spasms)...

Connie

Mom to Sara 14, Nicky 7 (GI issues, megacolon), and 5

(CRS/VACTERLS incl. tethered spinal cord (repaired 9/00) perineal fistula

imperforate anus (repaired 5/00), single kidney, PDA (closed on its own),

malformed pelvis and hemisacrum, long segment lumbosacral levoscoliosis with

hemivertebrae, extra left rib, genital anomalies with hypospadius (repairs

9/00,11/00, 5/01,12/01,12/03), hypoplastic left leg with clubfoot (repaired

5/01)

and 4.5cm length discrepancy - wears AFO and 3.5cm lift, SUA, GI reflux,

DGE/gastroparesis, mild swallowing dysphagia, eating issues and the most

beautiful

smile ever) _conni60640@..._ (mailto:conni60640@...)

Our website _http://members.tripod.com/conni60640-ivil/_

(http://members.tripod.com/conni60640-ivil/)

TC support group _http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/LMC-TCS/_

(http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/LMC-TCS/)

Congenital scoliosis support group

_http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/CongenitalScoliosisSupport/_

(http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/CongenitalScoliosisSupport/)

S. Jersey

[Guest guest]

This is EXACTLY what I deal with. I had many accidents at work, I was able

to hide all of them. I am not retired, so life is much easier. But I don't

go out much for fear of this happening. It doesn't seem no matter what I

eat, so that doesn't help. I recently started wearing heavier diapers, as I

call them, and I am a little more at ease. I do take Levbid for bowel

control It does help a lot, you may want to ask your doctor about that.

Hang in there, you are not alone. I just wish I could take a walk, I don't

want much. But most days that is impossible. Try the Levbid, it might

help. Judy

>

>Reply-To: tetheredspinalcord

>To: tetheredspinalcord

>Subject: BM's, Accidents & Protective Underwear.

>Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 13:47:34 -0000

>

>Hi all,

>

>I am feeling a bit down this morning. I had a pretty bad accident at

>work. Thank god I don't work in a public situation. I usually have

>time from the first urge until I actually go. This time however, I

>got the feeling and it happened almost immediately. Of all the things

>we have to deal with, I think this is the worst one. I keep spare

>clothes at work and was able to rush into the bathroom, clean up and

>change without anyone noticing. I had to run home to shower. I hate

>this. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.

>

>I have been making an effort to eat healthier and this seems to be

>the side effect. I am having more accidents than normal. I also have

>to spend more time cleaning up after a BM. It seems that when my

>stool is soft, it doesn't all come out. Then when I go to wipe with

>toilet paper, it makes things worse. At that point I have no choice

>but to use a washcloth to clean up.

>

>The other thing that happens is that i will have a BM and then for

>the next two hours, I will have more BM's(sometimes as many as 5)

>with my stool becoming softer each time. The last few BM's will be

>diarrhea. When I am like this, I cannot go anywhere.

>

>Is this common among everyone else? I want to eat healthy but still

>have a social life. I sometimes wish I was constipated all the time.

>It is much easier to just use my enema to empty myself.

>

>I am so jealous of my Father. He does his exercises in the morning,

>then retires to what he calls his " library " with his paper. 20

>minutes later he is out the door to conquer his day.

>

>-------------------------------------------------------------

>

>I have been considering wearing some sort of protective underwear. It

>isn't an easy decision for me and I have many questions. Do many of

>you wear something? Do you wear them all the time or just when you

>feel threatened? Do they look bulky and are visible under pants? Do

>they make noise when you walk? Do they come in low rise, possibly

>mesh? LOL

>

>Any comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

>

>Thank you to everyone. Have a great day!

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

That's the sort of problems I used to deal with, too. As long as I

stayed fairly constipated, it was managable, but with stool that

even approached the " normal " peanut butter consistency, it'd just

ooze out. And if I ate fiberous food, it was lots worse. Fiber was

not my friend!

Laxatives don't work for me, because I just ooze more and had no

control on when or how much happened.

What works for me is an enema every other day. Since I take a lot of

pain medication, I also use miralax to keep every thing soft. using

a stoma irrigation set, which has a cone instead of a catheter for

insertion, I can take care of the whole bm in about 30-45 minutes

and I don't leak anything for two days, when it's time for another

enema. I do have to jiggle and massage my abdomen to keep things

moving during the bm.

I have a guy friend with TCS who uses low volume enemas (like a

Fleet's) to empty out. Since I don't have much control of the anal

sphincter, the liquid from a Fleet's falls out as fast as I could

get it in. That's why the cone thing works better for me - the cone

acts like a stopper to hold the liquid in until I move it.

The ACE or cecostomy that Connie mentioned is another kind of enema

that you do from the top down thru the stoma created from your

intestine or bowel. I've found that most doctors do not want to do

this surgery on older adults.

I do wear pads, mainly for urine leakage, and once in a while when

I've eaten something strange that upsets the usual every other day

bm routine, it has caught the beginning of a oozing problem. But

since I started this bowel program three years ago, I've not had one

problem of a big bm that made me need to change clothes.

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I feel for ya, been there, done that. Then the anxiety it causes, makes

it worse!

Ask your doctor for a script for Cholestyramine.

It is normally for soaking up the fat you eat to lower your cholesterol.

I've been taking it for 5 years, it WILL make things 'controllable'.

Good Luck,

Rick

wrote:

>Hi all,

>

>I am feeling a bit down this morning. I had a pretty bad accident at

>work. Thank god I don't work in a public situation. I usually have

>time from the first urge until I actually go. This time however, I

>got the feeling and it happened almost immediately. Of all the things

>we have to deal with, I think this is the worst one. I keep spare

>clothes at work and was able to rush into the bathroom, clean up and

>change without anyone noticing. I had to run home to shower. I hate

>this. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.

>

>I have been making an effort to eat healthier and this seems to be

>the side effect. I am having more accidents than normal. I also have

>to spend more time cleaning up after a BM. It seems that when my

>stool is soft, it doesn't all come out. Then when I go to wipe with

>toilet paper, it makes things worse. At that point I have no choice

>but to use a washcloth to clean up.

>

>The other thing that happens is that i will have a BM and then for

>the next two hours, I will have more BM's(sometimes as many as 5)

>with my stool becoming softer each time. The last few BM's will be

>diarrhea. When I am like this, I cannot go anywhere.

>

>Is this common among everyone else? I want to eat healthy but still

>have a social life. I sometimes wish I was constipated all the time.

>It is much easier to just use my enema to empty myself.

>

>I am so jealous of my Father. He does his exercises in the morning,

>then retires to what he calls his " library " with his paper. 20

>minutes later he is out the door to conquer his day.

>

>-------------------------------------------------------------

>

>I have been considering wearing some sort of protective underwear. It

>isn't an easy decision for me and I have many questions. Do many of

>you wear something? Do you wear them all the time or just when you

>feel threatened? Do they look bulky and are they visible under

>pants? Do they make noise when you walk? Do they come in low rise,

>possibly mesh? LOL

>

>Any comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

>

>Thank you to everyone. Have a great day!

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

,

Jeff from NYC here, I too have had stool control problems

ever since my bladder augmentation, 14 yrs. ago. Only within the last 5yrs or

so, have I gained some control back, but it didn't compare to how it was

before the operation. I had absolutely no problems, unless I over indulged

around

Thanksgiving and the Christmas holidays In the last 2yrs, I've been seeing

a new GI doctor and she is a genius, unlike the previous one, who was a

" professor " lol. The new GI doc put me on something called WELLCHOL. These are

tablets and I was told to take 3 with each meal. My BM situation is almost not

a

problem, unless I over indulge on fatty foods and foods with a lot of

artificial flavoring.

Since I have SB, I have had to wear pampers my whole life. I

mostly had problems with wetting myself because of my then small bladder, not

to

mention UTI's. You really can't compare how it was then because I was a kid

in school trying to make it through my adolescent and teenage years and you

get teased for the smallest thing.Now I am always making sure I am not in

danger of having an accident or that I smell funny, but then, I am now dealing

with adults who are supposed to be mature.

If I recall, I used to take CHOLESTYRAMINE, but I had to switch

because the heartburn it gave me started to become more painful. I used to

take it everyday for several weeks in a row, then I used to be able to go days

before I would need to take it again. Not so with Wellchol. If I miss more

then 2 or 3 days, I'm back to where I was before, diareha wise.

I hope this helped you. Keep us informed.

JEFF - NYC

[Guest guest]

Hi

The urology PA at a very reputable institution gave me a list of " bladder

irritants " to avoid, in case the healthy diet is affecting your bladder too b/c

it might have more fruits and vegetables.

I tried to scan it but can't get it to come out...basically it is strawberries,

citrus, chocolate, caffeine, spicy foods, grapes, guava, tomatoes, onions, B

complex vit, vit E, cranberries, vinegar, cantaloupe, nutrasweet, apples,

alcoholic beverages, tea.

I didn't pay attention to it b/c I decided that it was bad enough to have to go

through everything that was going on, all I needed was a diet to feel more

miserable.

The point to all this is, that if you feel you can try it, it might help to do

this like an elimination diet...cut these things out and gradually add back to

see if you can find any that are particularly problematic and then you just

minimize or avoid the problem ones.

Hang in there...

BM's, Accidents & Protective Underwear.

Hi all,

I am feeling a bit down this morning. I had a pretty bad accident at

work. Thank god I don't work in a public situation. I usually have

time from the first urge until I actually go. This time however, I

got the feeling and it happened almost immediately. Of all the things

we have to deal with, I think this is the worst one. I keep spare

clothes at work and was able to rush into the bathroom, clean up and

change without anyone noticing. I had to run home to shower. I hate

this. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.

I have been making an effort to eat healthier and this seems to be

the side effect. I am having more accidents than normal. I also have

to spend more time cleaning up after a BM. It seems that when my

stool is soft, it doesn't all come out. Then when I go to wipe with

toilet paper, it makes things worse. At that point I have no choice

but to use a washcloth to clean up.

The other thing that happens is that i will have a BM and then for

the next two hours, I will have more BM's(sometimes as many as 5)

with my stool becoming softer each time. The last few BM's will be

diarrhea. When I am like this, I cannot go anywhere.

Is this common among everyone else? I want to eat healthy but still

have a social life. I sometimes wish I was constipated all the time.

It is much easier to just use my enema to empty myself.

I am so jealous of my Father. He does his exercises in the morning,

then retires to what he calls his " library " with his paper. 20

minutes later he is out the door to conquer his day.

-------------------------------------------------------------

I have been considering wearing some sort of protective underwear. It

isn't an easy decision for me and I have many questions. Do many of

you wear something? Do you wear them all the time or just when you

feel threatened? Do they look bulky and are they visible under

pants? Do they make noise when you walk? Do they come in low rise,

possibly mesh? LOL

Any comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you to everyone. Have a great day!

Not Medical Advice. We Are Not Doctors.

Need help with the list? Email

kathy@...,michelle@..., rick@...

[Guest guest]

, this is the exact reason I don't eat healthy.

I am very careful not to overdo fruit. I am very

careful to try to avoid too much fiber. When things

are soft, I can't control them. Constipation works

very well for me because it means I don't have to

worry about this issue. So far, my heart is healthy,

so I figure it can't be all that bad, right?

This is my worst nightmare. When I was on neurontin,

I had this issue all the time at work. I lived in

fear constantly that I'd have another accident. I went

home more times than I care to count. It's so

embarrassing, and unlike bladder accidents, you can't

exactly hide fecal incontinence.

I've used just the absorbent pads, not the full

underwear. Tena is the brand I used. It didn't

always work. I still had problems. I know they sell

wipes for adults that might be better for this than

just toilet paper, which yeah, just makes the mess so

much bigger. They're flushable so you don't have to

take the 'evidence' outside of the bathroom stall.

I hope things get better for you. My advice would be

to cut out some of the fibrous foods you're now

eating, and/or add in some more binding stuff. Iron

supplements do the trick for me, but I think it's

dangerous for men's heart health to take extra iron.

But maybe a multivitamin? And black tea is a

wonderful natural cure for diarrhea. Maybe it would

help this too?

> BM's, Accidents & Protective

> Underwear.

>

>

> Hi all,

>

> I am feeling a bit down this morning. I had a

> pretty bad accident at

> work. Thank god I don't work in a public

> situation. I usually have

> time from the first urge until I actually go. This

> time however, I

> got the feeling and it happened almost

> immediately. Of all the things

> we have to deal with, I think this is the worst

> one. I keep spare

> clothes at work and was able to rush into the

> bathroom, clean up and

> change without anyone noticing. I had to run home

> to shower. I hate

> this. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.

>

> I have been making an effort to eat healthier and

> this seems to be

> the side effect. I am having more accidents than

> normal. I also have

> to spend more time cleaning up after a BM. It

> seems that when my

> stool is soft, it doesn't all come out. Then when

> I go to wipe with

> toilet paper, it makes things worse. At that point

> I have no choice

> but to use a washcloth to clean up.

>

> The other thing that happens is that i will have a

> BM and then for

> the next two hours, I will have more

> BM's(sometimes as many as 5)

> with my stool becoming softer each time. The last

> few BM's will be

> diarrhea. When I am like this, I cannot go

> anywhere.

>

> Is this common among everyone else? I want to eat

> healthy but still

> have a social life. I sometimes wish I was

> constipated all the time.

> It is much easier to just use my enema to empty

> myself.

>

> I am so jealous of my Father. He does his

> exercises in the morning,

> then retires to what he calls his " library " with

> his paper. 20

> minutes later he is out the door to conquer his

> day.

>

>

>

-------------------------------------------------------------

>

> I have been considering wearing some sort of

> protective underwear. It

> isn't an easy decision for me and I have many

> questions. Do many of

> you wear something? Do you wear them all the time

> or just when you

> feel threatened? Do they look bulky and are they

> visible under

> pants? Do they make noise when you walk? Do they

> come in low rise,

> possibly mesh? LOL

>

> Any comments and suggestions would be greatly

> appreciated.

>

> Thank you to everyone. Have a great day!

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Not Medical Advice. We Are Not Doctors.

> Need help with the list? Email

> kathy@...,michelle@...,

> rick@...

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

onions nutra-sweet, are very irritating to the bowels and the stomach. i

was having trouble with somethings,I am a Vegan .I eliminated these 3