Travel and Incontinence

I'm planning to go to England and France in 6 weeks and I'm concerned about my stress incontinence. I use one pad a day but the absolute worse thing I can do is walk on hard surfaces for any length of time. Do bull work in the yard, bike 35 miles, no problem. Go for a 3 mile walk on the bike path, full pad, I'm lucky to make it home without leakage. Of course when I do get home I don't have to go, it's all in the pad.

Most of what I'll be doing over there is walking on hard surfaces so my questions are; public bathroom availability in London and Paris, places to buy pads and the brands available (I like Assurance from Walmart). I plan on bringing 3 pads per day and not pass up any bathroom I see.

Hi Ken
Some suggestions
1) in cities, most hotels will have WC on 1st floor - Google Maps great tool for finding these in areas you're exploring
2) however, most smaller stores (Sainsbury, M&S for example) do not. Bigger stores like Harrod's do
3) as with the US, Starbucks, Cafe Nero, Paul Cafe, Gregg's and the like won't bother you if you need to use
4) you should be fine with most attractions like Westminster Cathedral & British Museum, floorplan maps are a great tool
5) Boots pharmacies (part of Walgreens) "should" have Depends products and are located throughout the country. I purchased some in London, Earl's Court location. I did call the actual location prior to leaving the US in case I needed some to make sure that they had the products (and I did) since I was staying around the corner from the location.

Great Post Treatment #'s

Tena pads are available in most pharmacies and supermarkets around Spain and I guess this is the case in most of continental Europe, not sure about the UK. I read some commentaries here claiming they are better than Depend, though they are slightly more expensive. I needed them for two months using different formats and sizes and everytime it was very easy to find what I wanted. Have a nice trip.

when i have to be on my feet all day i found that a condom catheter and a leg bag works best for me that way i dont have to worry about a full pad leaking at the worst time in public

jberda1 said...
when i have to be on my feet all day i found that a condom catheter and a leg bag works best for me that way i dont have to worry about a full pad leaking at the worst time in public

Many surgical supply stores carry these - sometimes referred to Texas Catheters (per my RN better half)

France is a major problem regarding bath rooms. You usually have to buy something and they are few and far between. I wore the depens on the 7 hour flight and daily. Good luck.