From Shame to Sound Sleep: How One Customer Found Dignity and Freedom through NorthShore

Growing up in the 1990s, I wet the bed often, but not every night. This meant embarrassing sleepovers, pediatrician conversations, primitive (and in my opinion traumatizing) wetting alarms, plastic sheets, and frustration and disappointment shared between myself and my parents. I was an otherwise healthy child. Diapers were not positioned as an option, and at the time I would have rejected them out of the childish aversion to anything "babyish." I started washing my own sheets when I was 6. By my teen years, I knew the routine of cleaning my mattress and setting up a fan to help it dry. As a teenager, I would ride my bike to pharmacies in the early morning (so as not to be seen) to buy store-brand diapers and pull-ons in the hopes of addressing my issues at night. This turned into merely a learning experience of how poor many of the products on the shelves happened to be.

Surprisingly, my bedwetting suddenly stopped when I went to college. For a little more than a decade, I had no issues. This changed a little more than five years ago with a urologist's diagnosis of acute issues in my groin that affected my daytime control that included urge, stress, and overflow incontinence. Already knowing from my own purchases during my teen years that store-bought pull-ons were inadequate, I felt utterly defeated. My dignity and pride were hit hard when I felt I couldn't go out in public without the telltale signs of leaks being obvious to all. Additionally, part of the root cause of issues affecting my groin were extended periods of straining to "hold it" until finding a bathroom.

Around the same time, significant family health matters, for which I was the primary caregiver, became huge physical and emotional stressors in my life. A variety of urology professionals as well as therapists and a psychologist have suggested this was the underlying reason for the onset of secondary enuresis (adult bedwetting). Unlike my childhood, these incidents began occurring nightly and were unaffected by liquid intake, caffeine reduction, etc. I was so ashamed and frustrated to be experiencing bedwetting — again — in my early 30s. While the medical professionals made suggestions and a long-term treatment plan for the daytime incontinence, they did not find any medical reason for the bedwetting. This led to the suggestion that it was due to stressful conditions in my life (which were being compounded by the wet sheets!).

Already knowing that store-bought options were insufficient, I searched for options online. In finding NorthShore, I was quickly able to regain my dignity and freedom and forgo shame associated with my daytime issues by using the GoSupreme® Pull-On Underwear. The introduction of black as a color option was huge, as it allows me to get rid of the fear of something white poking out above my waistband in the daytime when traveling between business meetings.

Addressing the secondary enuresis was more challenging, and the MegaMax® seemed like the best option, but it took trying a few free samples of the EternaDry® inserts and, eventually, Trifecta Plastic Pants to find the right combination that would ensure dry sheets no matter my sleeping position, where I'm sleeping (I travel frequently), or how much I've hydrated during the day. (Medium MegaMax with a Large Insert and Medium Plastic Pants did the trick for me).

While I've made progress on these issues by overcoming embarrassment and talking about them promptly with doctors, neither is completely resolved. As such, I find that I'm able to ensure the best night's rest when using the combination of NorthShore offerings that fit me best. Life continues to be stressful, but at least I'm able to sleep soundly, wake up with dignity, and travel domestically and internationally for my job, without the pang of stress and shame that accompanied wet sheets and wet clothes.

The stories of others have been helpful reminders along the way that I'm not alone. I know that NorthShore's products have restored my dignity, freedom, and confidence. I hope that anyone suffering from the isolating feelings of shame and the frustrating experience of store-bought products simply not being enough can find their way to NorthShore's product line. These products literally changed my life. I am genuinely unsure what I would have done without them.

 

Thank you for reading our customer stories. NorthShore works to remove the confusion and isolation surrounding incontinence, helping individuals better understand that “incontinence is very common, often treatable, and regardless, very manageable.” — Adam Greenberg, President & Founder of NorthShore We are grateful for the opportunity to share these journeys and provide products that help people live life to the fullest. Learn more about sharing your story through the NorthShore Hero Club. Have a story to share? Submit it below to help others feel less alone.

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