I’ve got a cough and I keep wetting myself!

I had whooping cough last April and wet myself quite a lot when I coughed. If you look at NHS website it says that's one of the side effects.

I'd worry if it was a regular cough but for a severe cough I think it's to be expected

Have you had children? And do you do pelvic floor exercises?

I have that exact model of TENS machine and it works very well for me.

Yes it's really good and a bargain IMO.

I am also 35 and after 4 kids this happens to me too, I can't trust sneezing, coughing sometimes even laughing 😅

For anyone who has regular bladder problems, look up Jude tablets. They were on Dragon’s Den, I’ve been taking them for a couple of months and can’t believe the difference they’ve made. They’re not cheap and it does got to pot a bit if I’ve got a cough or am ill, but really worth looking into.

Tena lady and a wad of toilet tissue. It's horrible.

It's not normal and you need to see a pelvic Physio. I wouldn't bother with GP and get private physio consult.

Well, it's not normal, and it is annoying. But-

• kegals don't fix a lot of pelvic floor issues (usually the cause)
• I'd rather pee myself a bit when I cough than use a pressary
• and I'd MUCH rather pee myself a little than go anywhere near pelvic floor surgery, which is just a shit show.

So maybe there is a place for shock and outrage about the lack of investment at a research and NHS level about women's health, but with what we have at the moment, a lot of us just have to live with peeing ourselves- and it's good to see it being openly discussed.

I have that exact model of TENS machine and it works very well for me.
Looks the same but I bought mine in 2017.
It still works, just takes a couple of AA batteries that last ages.

Took a couple of weeks although I noticed improvement within a few days when I used it daily, then I went down to weekly for a bit until I forgot about it for a couple of years.
I really noticed a massive difference after the first couple of weeks using it daily and I could basically stop worrying about any accidents.

Started when I had an uncontrollable cough and was at my wits end.
Got the same problem a few years later, pulled the machine out and it fixed it again.

I don't seem to get the pelvic exercises right, but this does them for me, or at least solves that issue.

It's basically silent and fairly discreet - you need to be sitting down so not really suitable for use while walking around.
I used it on all the different settings as I hadn't got a clue which I ought to be using.
Just sat down, turned on the tv and watched something while it did it's thing.

Couldn't really feel it much at first, but as it strengthened my muscles I could, so if you try one, give it time.

I went from fine but no trampolines, to having to use at least a pack of the heaviest Tena a day and change clothes, to needing nothing even on a trampoline.

I tend to disagree.

We had years of not talking about stuff like this, and it is so common. There are exercises that help some women, but they don’t work for everyone. There are plenty of products available to help with leaks, and it’s good that it’s accepted, and there’s no need for embarrassment.

In my 30's, had a terrible non-stop hacking cough that was like a previous poster described, where I was often retching/gagging from the force that I was coughing with. It got to about 2 months of this going on (I even very painfuly cracked a couple of ribs at one point, too), this was a few years ago now, but the same thing was happening with me, really embarrassing to happen, obviously 😳.

Once the cough settled down and started to go away, the incontinence went away too. I think the force and frequency of the coughing just temporarily absolutely shot my pelvic floor muscles.

Baffled to see so many people saying this is normal and 'just one of those things'. It absolutely shouldn't be, I'd be seeing the doctor ASAP if this happened to me. Or a pelvic floor physio.

Im 38 and since my 20s if i cough sneeze laugh i pee a bit,
Been to the gp nothing wrong i do pelvic excise that helps.
Just ike to say its not a lot of pee when it happens (about a hundred times a day).
And ive no kids.

Doing my kegals as I scroll now

Yes, I had dd by cesarean but for some reason still have this problem

Every time I throw up (and I do a lot due to gallstones ) i pee loads, even if my bladder is empty

Bladder is so weak. Dd can hold urine in all day and I used to be the same

Yes me too sadly. I've had a cough for best part of a month. I'm mid forties with 1 DC.

One cough and it's a little bit of wee, two coughs or more and it starts a deluge😳

I did, when just a bit older than you, after a nasty case of flu. Muscles were so affected by so much coughing that I wasn’t just leaking every time I coughed or sneezed, I was farting, too!

It did pass. Can’t remember now long it took, but IIRC it was weeks rather than months.
In the meantime, get yourself some little Always pads or something.

I'm mid forties (2 dc) and this happened to me when I had a chest infection a couple of years ago. It was quite a shock! It went away when the cough did though. 🙂

Get incontinence pads, Lidl has them very reasonably priced. It's common with coughs

You can get a little tens machine for this on Amazon for around £60.
https://amzn.eu/d/fxbwJmq

I get this and I'm only mid forties with no children (and exercise regularly). I was also surprised.

Not at all an instant fix, but weightlifting means you have to engage your core (including pelvic floor).

It really makes a difference, my pelvic floor has never been so good since I started lifting. You should see results in ~2 months if you can do 3x 30 mins/week. And you get toned but you won't bulk up.
I used to have similar with strong sneezing fits, but absolutely fine now.

Given you're only 35, would strongly recommend getting into it as that effect absolutely is reversible!

I had pneumonia in April last year (I’m 31) and my pelvic floor completely went and I was wetting myself every time I coughed. Had a week wearing incontinence pads and then was back to normal once I started to heal.
my body was just so weak from the illness.

I have the cough from hell too and have discovered Tena. Waiting for a chest x ray now. I had no symptoms until early December when I started with whatever hideous virus was going around and since then I've not got rid of it properly. Just finished antibiotics which didn't do much

I get this practically every time I have a bad cough (which thankfully isn't very often!). I am quite a bit older than you (61) and only had one child. I obviously wasn't rigorous enough about my pelvic floor exercises. I've found the only way to deal with it is to use a high absorbency sanitary towel,and to make sure I always have a spare one in my bag when I go out.