I'm female, aged 68 and have been diagnosed with heart failure since my second heart attack six years ago. A while back I was put on water tablets to help with the swollen ankles, by making me go to the toilet more often - and I'm getting to the stage where I'm finding it difficult to cope, so I'd appreciate any tips/advice on coping.
I wear an incontinence pad in my knickers 24/7 but I have to limit the amount of liquid I drink because it goes straight through me and I literally wet myself. It's not uncommon for me to wet myself through three pairs of denim jeans in a day to the extent that I have to put my night attire on at 2pm because all my day clothes are on the washing line drying; I'm dreading the oncoming winter because I don't have a tumble dryer so have to resort to turning the central heating on and draping wet washing over the radiators to dry or using the clothes horse in front of the gas fire in the living room. At night I have a folded-over big bath sheet (the largest size of bath towel available) under the sheet on the bed to protect the mattress; I also have to get up at least twice in the night to go to the toilet which means my sleep pattern is disrupted considerably.
In the recent hot weather we were advised to drink lots of water to prevent dehydration but I daren't follw that advice no matter how thirsty or sweaty I might be, because I knew that I'd only wet myself. I'm now getting to the stage where I'm reluctant even to take my small dog fpr a walk round the block lest I feel the need for a wee when I'm out.