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know when this will happen. Yes he wears diapers, but if any of your loved one have this problem, you'll know diapers don't always do the trick for that incontinence. there is the odor and the mess. Is there someway any of you have dealt with this same issue? Is their a medication that he could take to insure this won't happen while your out? I've given him Imodium AD. I don't know if it worked we didn't have any problems that day. I want him to get out, but this is a nerve wracking issue. Any thoughts?

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I don't know about meds but perhaps you can try to develop some regularity by using specific foods that would cause him to go on a more regular basis, then plan your outings accordingly.

Eg, if you can give him supper with foods that contribute to a BM in the morning, you could try going to lunch and/or supper before it was time for another event.

Cheese also can be constipating, but in smaller amounts it can help regulate movement. You might give him a small amount of cheese before you go out, then balance it out with fruits when you get home.

Unfortunately, it's not an exact science.
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I just went through this for the last two years. It ultimately led to outings only. We stopped going inside. I figured if we ate at an outside restaurant (casual) we could get up and leave if it happened. It was devastating for me. He never seemed to notice! He loved getting out also. I would take him to Giant for food shopping or little shopping trips to CVS, etc. But all restaurants, theaters, church, and friends houses were no longer attempted. I finally just had to put him in a home last week because he was getting combative and threatening to me and would not allow my caregiver to do anything for him. Now that he is in the home, he is much more mellow. He is happy to see me and all smiles when I go to see him. The nurse asked about the incontinence problem. I told him it has been that way for two years. I tried Immodium, Miralax to give him bulk, probiotics.......all with no success! It was the most difficult time of my life. Like I said, he never noticed what was going on! What a huge mess! God Bless him, he is happy and I am at peace!
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I lived with issue for two years when Mom lived with me. I changed her over to a geriatric doctor who immediately recognized the bowel incontinence was due to cholesterol meds. He stopped those meds and the issue went away. So, I'd check out his meds. Mom's general MD did not find this. In fact, she had her on more meds to correct the issue which did not work. A geriatric dr knows the older body and what it can handle.
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smcbeth1, does your hubby take over the counter vitamins? When you open the vitamin bottle take a good sniff of the pills.... if the pills smell strong then one's urine will smell strong.

As my Dad had aged he developed an intolerance to dairy products. Got him the lactose pills and lactose-free milk which helped. But trying to convince Mom not to give Dad ice cream or cottage cheese was almost impossible because she felt "a little bit won't hurt".... [sigh].
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My sister in law has had this problem for 20 yrs. She is 79. Her doctor gives her a prescription for lomotil and she takes one tab every day and it has curbed her problem. My husband has the same problem but our dr will not give it to him as he says it isn't safe. I guess they all have different opinions. Metamucil does help some. If he misses a dose I can count on him having n accident but taking it does not guarantee it won't happen. Strangly though more that half of his accidents are at night while sleeping. Good luck.
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I've noticed in my own body that I am very sensitive to artificial sweeteners. Just a few sticks of chewing gum and i need to wear a pad for leaks. I've learned to look at labels. I recently got into trouble with a "no sugar added" fruit pie that I later discovered the first ingredient in the list was sorbitol. So i wonder how much artificial sweetener might be affecting others too with loose stools and diarrhea, in addition to their meds. I can be careful and avoid the problem, lucky me; my heart goes out to the caregivers who now have to give up restaurant dining and visiting at friends' homes.
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Charcoal liners do help, and we used plastic-lined overpants over the Depends for extra protection on outings to seal it just in case. A thin disposable pad can go on his seat too if you're worried at all about the seats. The kind for nighttime incontinence work great in the car. For inside we used fabric ones intended for infants in car seats that were beige, only about 12" and very subtle. People thought it was just a little cushion for his comfort if they saw it at all. Prune juice in the am helped with regularity. Warm for taste. Raisins too. And a dose of humility for anyone who is intolerant enough to make you or him feel bad about it. Try to keep him enjoying life as much as he can. I've managed clean up in places I never would have imagined. Armed with a sense of "oh well" and a fashionable backpack smaller than many womens' handbags which held a change of pants, a travel pack of big wet wipes, travel sized hand sanitizer, and a gallon sized ziplock bag let my grandparents and then my parents enjoy things long after others would have shut down. Family restrooms and non-gender specific restrooms are more common now in public too, and nicer restaurants usually have a separate staff restroom, so maybe select restaurants with those in mind just in case it does happen. Applause to you for looking for solutions and not giving up! I found many, many more people were kind and helpful than judgmental.
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My mother sees a doctor here in Pittsburgh who prescribes a powder (resin) called Cholestyramine that we mix with 8 oz. of liquid (I use coconut almond milk and shake it vigorously to make it frothy like a milkshake.) The medication/powder absorbs the liquid in one's colon to clump the waste together so that fecal leakage (incontinence) doesn't occur. She takes this 2 times per day. Take your husband to a doctor that specializes in colon issues.
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My elderly mother wears diapers, too. She had both issues: bowel and urinary incontinence and now only suffers from urinary incontinence. I discovered her bowel issues were due to her diet and in working with our naturopath, we pinpointed the type of foods that caused her bowels to become an issue. If you live in a state that recognizes naturopaths - go to one ASAP. Naturopaths are licensed as primary care physicians where we live (AZ) and their clinical training is exactly the same as a traditional doctor. The big difference between the two fields is that naturopaths receive an additional year of training in natural medicine - but they are trained in conventional though they don't prescribe traditional medications; for example, I'm on a cholesterol-lowering supplement through our naturopath but she is also trained in how Lipitor works. The smell in your husband's "output" is a strong signal that his body is not tolerating a certain food, a group of foods, or the timing of food groups eaten together, so his meal just ferments (sorry to sound so graphic!) in his gut, while waiting to be expelled. The fermented food is the "smell" you smell. Surprisingly, one can live for decades with a very minor food intolerance and/or minor food allergy - and not even realize it was that food that was causing problem(s) until the actual food was removed from the diet. My recommendation is to keep a food journal, keep an eye on what he's eating and note when the bowel issue happen. You may be able to see right away a pattern developing and work from there to correct the problem. I discovered (through a lot of trial and error) my mother had difficulty processing all complex carbs (grains, dairy, certain types of beans, white sugar, etc) and after putting her on a diet very, very similar to Paleo, her bowels were no longer an issue. Prior to this change, her "output" smelled horrendous! It smelled like a combination of rotten eggs, gasoline, and licorice. I was very close to buying a gas mask to wear whenever I had to change her. Good luck!
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You might want to try Abena Abriflex pull-ons. They have an inner elastic edge that keeps the mess from spilling out as long as the person is standing. It also helps with the odor until you get out of the store. When we were in this stage, I kept several plastic underpads in the car to cover the seat until we got home to clean up the mess.
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