A woman who wet herself on her wedding day due to her incontinence says she finally feels like a "normal person" after being injected with botox. Sarah Stevenson, 34, from King's Lynn, Norfolk, suffered with the issue for her entire life and had to plan her day with regular toilet stops in mind. The business owner, who is married to Matthew Stevenson, 37, says her hayfever caused her to dribble urine due to constant sneezing.
She also struggled to jump or run without it triggering her incontinence. She said she had been put on tablets when she was younger but said nothing helped her. "The average person can hold around 600 to 700ml in their bladder and mine could only hold 200ml before I had to go to the toilet.
I can only hold a third of the average person," she said. Sarah, who owns a laundrette and dry-cleaning business, explained that after years of embarrassment, she has finally found some relief with the help of botox . She said: "I've always struggled with incontinence.
I started going to an incontinence clinic when I was about 15 so I was quite young. I can remember being incontinent from about four years old. Even when I was 10, I was still wetting the bed and was having three or four accidents a week.
"I couldn't control it when I was awake. There was never any rhyme or reason. I went to the doctors because kids could be quite cruel.
Every Friday, I used to go to the clinic and they found there was no reason why anything was happening. I went on some tablets and got a bit better but I was still going to the toilet around 14 or 15 times a day and you're meant to go around six times a day. At the worst of it I was probably having three accidents a day.
I would always have a spare pair of clothing in my school bag." Sarah described her incontinence issues as "soul-destroying" - often facing criticism for not growing out of the "baby phase". Sarah said: "I've lost control of my bladder walking down the road before and obviously didn't have a change of clothes with me.
Sleepovers and school trips were always hard. I've had to wear adult nappies in the past if I knew I was going to be out for a full day and knew there weren't going to be available toilets. Sneezing , jumping, running all affect it.
I was a big swimmer growing up but that was hard for me because I was losing control in the pool. "I get really bad hayfever and every time I sneezed, there would be a dribble. I can't go on a trampoline unless I have a nappy on.
I woke up on my wedding day in tears because I wet the bed. I only had four hours sleep and I still managed to wet the bed. I just burst into tears.
My husband is very supportive. We would literally plan our day through toilet stops. It's so soul-destroying and life-consuming.
Mentally it just knocks you for six." Sarah began getting botox injections into her bladder seven years ago. She added: "The botox just stopped my bladder spasming randomly, which was causing accidents.
Now my bladder can function basically like a normal person. I'm not worried about how much I'm able to drink, I'm not having any accidents. A big weight has been lifted off me.
You know your body better than anyone else. It's finding the mental strength of knowing it won't be like this forever. It's nothing to be embarrassed about - there's so much help out there.
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