Meeting With Your Doctor to Diagnose Your Incontinence Problems

Are you suffering from the embarrassment of having incontinence problems? Incontinence is embarrassing and frustrating as it may seem like you can do nothing to prevent urination leaks. If you are suffering from incontinence problems, you will need to purchase some adult diapers. They will give you a chance to go out in public and have a great time without suffering from the embarrassment of leaving with wet pants.

Using adult incontinence products can give you the confidence to be social.

Find the incontinent product that suits your needs; pads, undergarments, pull-on underwear, adjustable underwear, briefs or guards at The Caregiver Partnership, you won’t need to worry about going out in social events and laughing with your friends or sneezing anymore. Since our bladder tends to age as we do, it’s common for the body to have problems holding in the urine as the muscles are not as strong as they used to be.

If you have made the decision to meet with your doctor about your incontinence problems, here are some of the questions you need to prepare yourself for along with things you need to mention to your doctor:

• What are your symptoms? Are you experiencing bladder incontinence when you do not urinate each hour or at least 4 times a day or more? Maybe your symptoms are opposite as you end p struggling with incontinence problems as experience constipation or other issues. It may help to sit down before your appointment and write down all of the symptoms you are experiencing so your doctor can make a complete diagnosis of your incontinence problems and develop a good treatment plan for you.

• Have you recently had surgery? Surgery can often cause incontinence problems, especially if the surgery was near the urethra. It is common to experience incontinence if you have given birth to a child recently.

• What medications are you taking.  Bring a list. Elderly individuals commonly experience urinary incontinence as they are taking a variety of medications that can trigger incontinence problems. Write down all of the medications you are currently taking, even if they are just vitamins because they can cause incontinence problems as well. Some vitamins cause the body to urinate more frequently, which can cause a lot of problems for elderly individuals.
  

Maintain a voiding diary like this to bring to the doctor

• How often are you leaking urine? Do you need to wear adult diapers all of the time or is it just for certain occasions like when you are laughing with your friends or if you are suffering from chronic cough.  Go to this link, print out the voiding diary, complete it and bring it with you to your appointment.  http://caregiverpartnership.com/media/c/file/voiding_diary.pdf
  
  
• How much do you leak?  When you leak urine, is it just a few drops or do you soak through your underwear. If you need to wear adult diapers consistently, this does indicate that you have urinary incontinence problems that may be induced from aging.

• Do you need to wake up during the evening to urinate? If you cannot get through the night without urination, you will need to purchase nighttime adult diapers. To find the right type of adult diapers for your age and gender, use the product finding tool: http://www.caregiverpartnership.com/incontinence-product-finder/. This will match you up with the right type of diapers for your incontinence problem.

• How much water or fluids are you drinking? How much caffeine are you drinking each day? If you are consuming large amounts of caffeine, it may be causing you to suffer from urinary incontinence. Reducing your caffeine intake will give you a chance to control your incontinence problems.

• Do you notice if certain foods or drinks cause incontinence problems? Exercising and lifting may make your incontinence problems worse so it’s a good idea to keep a list of all the times when you notice incontinence issues so you can limit your exposure to these activities and foods.

Founder of The CareGiver Partnership

About The CareGiver Partnership. The CareGiver Partnership helps caregivers and their loved ones with answers to their caregiving questions, including information about home health care products and supplies, from our Wisconsin-based team of Product Specialists who are all current or former caregivers. The company’s Web site provides the largest online library of resources on subjects most important to caregivers — from arthritis to assisted living, and Parkinson’s to prostate cancer — as well as access to more than 3,000 home care products for incontinence, skin care, mobility, home safety and daily living aids. The CareGiver Partnership was founded in 2004 by Lynn Wilson of Neenah, Wisc. Visit http://www.caregiverpartnership.com to learn more or call 1-800-985-1353.