Travelling round M25 and needing a loo- please help.

[nervoustraveller]

Help! I have a medical condition which means at times I need the loo more often than most people. I am going to have to travel from South Mimms round to Guildford. Sometimes it will be fine, other times I may be desperate especially if having been stuck in traffic.
I know there are no service stations as such but is there any junction where I can drive off the M25 and will find a garage or supermarket with loos within a mile or so of the junction?

There is a tesco in addlestone about 2 miles from junction 11.

Not sure which way round you'd go but there's lots of garages & hotels near Heathrow.

There is also a petrol station on the stretch of the A3 between the M25 and Guildford.

Look up the location of chain pubs - Brewers Fayre, etc. Nip in one of those?

Google 'traveljohn' and have one or two next to you in the car. I wouldn't recommend pulling onto the hard shoulder (for safety reasons) but if you can pull safely off the road you can use one in your car seat in the event you don't make it to a services. There are a few truck stop type areas on the A3 between the M25 and Guildford, also as mentioned previously a Services too.

there are petrol stations with toilets inside the petrol station shops just off the a127 and a 12 junctions. at a13 junction turn off off for lakeside and go to the big tesco.

Thank you all- MN is brilliant at times, any more ideas gratefully received. I am travelling anti clockwise from south mimms. I have a car potty - travel john- but they are actually hard to use (have had a practise) and you do have to lift your bum right off the seat or squat so not easy and not in view of hairy truckers on the hard shoulder.

I think the 'danger spot' will be after Heathrow and before hitting the A3.

There was an infamous thread once where a Mumsnetter confessed to peeing in a disposable nappy when stuck in a traffic jam. They hold a surprising amount. Would that be possible as an emergency backup to give you some reassurance if stuck in traffic?

Not ruling that out!
Thing is though if i am with DH and he's driving, I don't think I could pee in front of him, even if he couldn't actually see. I'd not feel 'shy' I just don't think I could!!!
I know there are often garages and the like off junctions but it's knowing where they are.

Using google maps, there seems to be a garage- Esso- and a Burger King on the Egham Bypass going towards Runnymede if anyone lives nr and knows, let me know. Can't see the exact road but J11 I think.

Wont you go past Clackett Lane services (Jt5/6) or Cobham services (Jt9/10)?

sorry just seen youre going AC

Check out garden centres too. There is one near Denham before Heathrow.

I so sympathise with you ...
I panic if I can't get to the loo - I need to pee now. I know it is psychological - I can wait for ages if I can go if I wanted to. But I have wet myself.
I once peed in a cat food tin on the hard shoulder in a traffic jam in front of (newish at the time) DP - figured that was better than pissing myself and especially pissing on the seat of the hire van (we were relocating several hundreds of miles - hence the cat food tin - had been feeding cat on route!)
I now have a travel potty and a she wee etc ...but I keep thinking I should get adult nappies - just wear one then if I needed I could wee - I am pretty sure I would never need it - I could hold it ... Which is the reason why I haven't bought any -obviously I would have to keep throwing them away unused. (Looked at reusable ones but apparently they are hard to come by and have a poor capacity)
I think what sums it up best is recently once a week I had to do a 40 min (max) drive somewhere - only loo on route is a petrol station after 30 mins.
I can't drive past - I have to stop and use the loo...even though I don't really need to....just think what if the car breaks down or I get stuck in traffic...on the way back I can drive past cos I think well if I do piss myself I'll have to clean the car seat etc but at least I won't be expected to go somewhere in wet pants... Once I was running late and I didn't stop, ended up stopping at a supermarket about 3 mins from where I was going -on the verge of pissing myself. I literally just made it (and was then late ....as it took longer to park and find the loos than stopping at the garage would have )

Thanks for that LIZS. Great to know.

unlucky- thanks for your experiences. I am the same. I do take prescribed medication for this condition but it only helps to an extent. Worrying about getting stuck in a jam or 'where is the next loo' makes it 100 times worse. Some days I am 'normal' like other people. I get anxious before a journey where I don't know about loo stops. Unfortunately if I have to hold on my bladder becomes very painful and then goes into a kind of no-go mode where it shuts down and it's hard to wee even though I feel bursting, because I've been tensing all my pelvic muscles.

So, if anyone else lives near the junctions I'll be travelling past and knows of anywhere with a loo, please join in the advice!

I have given up with pride in front of my DH in regards to having a wee. The number of times we have to pull over so I can pee in a hedge or in our emergency wee bucket is ridiculous. If really desperate and in a more secluded area the 2 car door squat is my emergency back up. DH looks the other way, open front and back passenger car doors and pee between. It gives you some coverage from cars if the car is parked correctly :-). In regards to motorways I try and avoid them but sadly not always possible. I do what you do and plan ahead, either get a map of route and mark on the toilets I can find or write a list by junction on my phone. People always joke that I constantly scope out where the nearest toilet is, wherever I am. I must admit the M25 is one of the worst as junctions are so far apart and no lay-bys either. Good luck and stay strong!

If you don't mind a 5 mins diversion off the M25, there's a Waitrose in Staines (along with a McDonald's and other eateries) town centre that's easy to get to off the motorway, junction 14 I think.

Would something lile Google maps help, it can show all the petrol stations in an area? Alomg the route you're travelling.

Thanks for the latest ideas.
It helps to know it's not just me too!

It really annoys me that the M25 was built without services or loo stops. It's not only women like me, but older men with prostate issues and other people with medical problems.
I'm happy to jump behind a hedge or a bush in a rural setting but a 4-lane motorway without a tree in sight is harder and when traffic flow is so unpredictable.
I don't mind a detour at all - we've done that many a time- as long as I know there is help in sight! Was once devastated to find a Waitrose in a small town but no customer toilets there.
Google maps help- I've been googling junctions which is how I found Burger King and a garage in Egham which seems nr a junction, just off the A30 but on the B388.