Giggle incontinence. Help.

[liv854]

Hi everyone,

I'm now a 17 year old boy, and have suffered from giggle incontinence since I was about 8 years old. My whole life has been more or less a constant battle, all because of this condition.

I've been to the doctors many times, and first they told me that I would probably 'grow out of it' as I would hit my teens but that certainly did not happen. I was also told that my brain was kind of sending a signal to 'pee now' as I laugh. I went to the same doctor about two years ago when we tested how well the muscles work there and they worked perfectly fine. At the end of the visit I ended up with this answer: ''There's a chance that this will pass, but there's also a chance that it won't.'', which makes me beyond than sad to hear. I'm slowly losing hope of the ''it could pass''-idea, because why would it now when it didn't when I hit puberty?

I know this could inherit to my future children, which would absolutely break my heart, because no one should ever have to go through what I've already experienced.

I can't enjoy life properly. Every time I laugh, I fear I might have an accident (the accidents are still usually pretty bad). I fear every day at school, and it has happened in school countless of times, but I'm sneak enough so no one, other than my closest friends, know what's going on.

I have missed significant social events just because of the fear that I might pee my pants, and when I go have fun, it really is rare that an accident doesn't occur.

I am depressed and this certainly does not help my mental health at all. I'm seeing a counselor but nobody (other than the people who suffer from giggle incontinence) can say the right words to me. Nobody except from us knows what kind of pain this creates. But before all, this is absolutely the hardest thing for my mentality.

I am going to a doctor again soon, hopefully getting to test Ritalin (MPH) out.

It would really mean the world to hear other peoples stories, so please share your own experience about anything related to giggle incontinence. Thank you.

[CN4321]

Hi,

I’m afraid I don’t have any experience but having read your post and seeing no reply I couldn’t leave it here without saying something.

I’m so sorry that life is so hard for you at this point in time, I really hope that the medical professionals sort something out for you soon. Have you got a support group/forum for other people suffering like you? Have you thought about looking into alternative therapies (I’m a big believer in medicine not always being the entire answer).

I hope you can also get support from feeling so depressed about it, but please remember this, your giggle incontinence doesn’t define you, you have so many other qualities and facets to your personality and whilst it probably feels like you are the only person with a problem, you definitely won’t be. Most people especially at your age will have things that they hate about themselves/feel embarrassed about and in time things will improve (even if it’s only the way you deal with things)

I wish you all the luck in the world on your journey and hope things improve for you soon.

[liverish]

Hi, my daughter was diagnosed with giggle incontinence 12 years ago, she is 19 now. She takes Concerta (Ritalin) and it has made life much more bearable for her - it got her through school pretty much intact. The problem, a cataplexy, is still with her but, the kind of laughter that triggers it happens less often, and when she is going into a situation that may result in laughter dosing with Concerta can stop the voiding occurring. All her friends know she has this and her boyfriends have always known, you may find that talking to friends will reduce the anxiety for you. As far as I am aware, Ritalin is the only treatment, though in the US I understand they encourage kids to wear bracelets that they can activate to give them a mild electric shock when they start laughing... I didn’t fancy that, but it makes me wonder if snapping an elastic band on the wrist may serve the same purpose? Anyway, this is a problem but you can cope with it - seriously it can make you a far more resilient soul. I would not wish this on anyone, but with the right support you can live well with this. Good luck!