[adanthar]

My stepdad, the acupuncturist, treats people for this. You should probably try that. PS: haaaaaawwwww haaaaaaaawww

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This is really long. I tried to keep it short but it all just came pouring out. I've never told this to anyone. Not even girlfriends, or psychiatrists.

Cliffs Notes:
I wet the bed 1-2 times a week. It used to be worse. I hate myself because of it. I've tried everything. I was ostracized in high school. I've peed all over girls. Surprisingly, once people find out about it they're usually very understanding and nice to me.

I was an incredibly difficult toddler to potty train. I understood the basic principles involved, and really wanted the independence that came with toilet use, but the problem was that I could never seem to identify the feeling that meant that I needed to go, and would constantly be taken by surprise. With a lot of practice, I learned to identify these feelings, and by Kindergarten, I was out of daytime diapers. During the day, I would occasionally (1/week or se) feel an "unusual warmth" down there, but I could usually stop myself before completely voiding and run to the nearest toilet. If I really let loose (1/month or so), my parents kept a change of pants/undies at the nurses office for me. I also had problems with the bowel side of things, and usually couldn't tell until a teacher/parent/babysitter alerted me to the fact that I smelled like a waste treatment plant. As embarrassing as this could be at times, I was just happy to be under enough control to get by at a "normal" school (the district wanted me placed in a "special" program, even though I was reading at a 4th grade level and doing basic algebra).

Nighttime, however, was another story altogether. I wet the bed every single night, even though my parents (one of whom is an MD) tried everything they could think of. I wasn't allowed any caffeine, ever. I couldn't drink anything after dinner. I had to pee right before I went to bed. When none of that worked they tried a few other things. They set an alarm to wake me up in the middle of the night. When I started sleeping through that, they would set an alarm for themselves and one of them would wake me up and take me to the bathroom. They tried bedwetting alarms, most of which would either fall off during the night or not be loud enough to wake me (I was an incredibly deep sleeper). Mostly my parents & doctors took a "wait & see" attitude. After all, it wasn't that unusual for a 6-year-old to wet the bed regularly (although the daytime incidents were a concern).

Well, it didn't really get better, and as I got older it started to affect my social life more and more. My family was very close with another in town, and that was the only house I ever "slept over" at, mostly due to my own embarrassment. I never went on overnight field trips, to camp, etc. The good news was that I had the daytime urination under control by age 8 or 9 (although a little brown would still leak out here and there) and by age 12 I was only bedwetting on 70-80% of nights. The general consensus was still "wait and see". I guess frequent bedwetting is not all that uncommon for those as old as 15, although when it's happening to you it feels like you're the only one in the world.

When I was 12, I became a day student at a boarding school, and had a mandatory 3-day, 2-night orientation. These were the most harrowing nights of my life. I was already an outcast because I was a complete social retard, and knew that my time at this school would be a living hell if they knew I wet the bed. I brought some meds with me to take for it but I had very little confidence in them b/c they'd never seemed to make a difference. Well, I got through the first night because I was so nervous I never really dropped into sleep, but on the 2nd night I was so tired I conked out and, sure enough, let loose some stinky pee. Thankfully my 2 roommates took a very "big brother" approach, and actually treated me a lot nicer after that night (although I'm pretty sure word got around somehow).

When I was around 15, the frequency was down to around 20-30%, and this gave me a false sense of confidence, which, combined with my desire to "fit in" by participating in overnight activities, led to a few embarrassing incidents:

-I completely soaked a tent I was sharing with 2 other guys during our yearly "campout weekend".
-I fell asleep in a school van during a long drive and soaked the seat I was in. Pretty sure the girl I was sitting next to (who was a smoking hot senior) noticed, although she didn't say anything, and later on took a very "motherly" sort of interest in me, always asking if I was doing OK, cleaning my nails for me, etc.
-The worst one by far also happened to be on the same night I first got play from a girl. I was 16 and was staying over at school for something, and I finally told this girl that I liked her (I'd had a huge crush on since 8th grade). We had one of those "oh my God I've had the biggest crush on you too" moments, and we made out for 2 or 3 hours after dinner, on the bleachers at the football field, looking out at the sunset. It was one of the most beautiful moments of my life. At the curfew bell, she told me to wait up for her. After the security check, she snuck into my room with a pint-sized water bottle full of vodka (rule #1 of nocturnal enuresis: DON'T DRINK ALCOHOL AFTER 5 PM). We made out for an hour or so while listening to Underworld, and I got my fingers wet, although that was as far as it went. We fell asleep in my bed, and I couldn't believe how perfect life was. I woke up before dawn, drenched in cold, clammy piss, and she was gone. I never even so much as made eye contact with her again.
-I completely drenched a mattress in a monastery in Europe (not going to say what country b/c 2p2ers know I've been there). Again, it was drink-induced. Thankfully, we were leaving early the next morning, so I avoided the impending exorcism.

Now I'm in college, and I managed to get my own dorm room by telling the Dorm Parent why I needed it. I still wet the bed 1 or 2 times a week, and after going through so much humiliation as a high-schooler I've decided to keep it a total secret. I got a plastic mattress cover, and I set my alarm super early so that if I wet the bed I can put my sheets in the washer before anyone is awake to notice. So far, it's working. I'm such a social disaster that I've only had a girl over once, and convinced her to leave afterwards b/c I'm "just weird about sleeping in the same bed with people". She never came back, btw. My problem has gradually gotten better every year, and I just hope that I'll be at a somewhat normal bedwetting level by the time I graduate. If not, I'll probably kill myself.

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