Great article, and very good points, but I would like to bring up that finding the best protection is tough. In my case I was sent home from the hospital with some low quality disposable briefs, and I had major issues with leaks. It was another online support group that able to suggest protection that would work much better than what I was using.

Finding the best protection for my needs and body type was the biggest help in dealing with the initial affects of incontinence. For me I needed something very quiet and thin for day use so that nobody could tell what I was wearing, and once I found that then my confidence started to go up, and as I went through all the test's I needed that confidence.

The bottom line is that there is typically no "easy solution" and many of the test are invasive, and ALWAYS remember that no matter what the Doctors say, there is no 100% cure everytime.

Hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst. I went through seven surgeries and leak as bad now as I did before the first one.

maloninc

4/13/12 1:02pm

Yomike -

Often the physicians take a "one size fits all" approach to incontinence.  Like Dr. Jen pointed out, you can find a lot of support groups online and they aften have sections regarding protective underwear, adult diapers, etc.  I don't agree with the term "diagnosed" with incontinence.  That's like being diagnosed with a cough and right away this give the health profession and excuse not to look for the cause of the cough.  Same with incontinence, how are you going to address it without a firm grasp on the cause.  Seems you've already had that experience too.  I suggest you start developing a detailed journal: what are you eating, drinking, doing that may exagerate your incontinence.  Everyone with incontinence should start with kegel exercises and move on from there.  Make the online forums and blogs your friend.  There are a lot of people in your shoes and you might learn from their experiences. Best of Luck