Sleep Disorder Resource Center Inc.

SDRC Inc.

These are the most frequently asked questions. You will find more information offered here than probably any other place or companies web site. In fact many companies will not share information like this. We want the parent to be informed and educated about this problem. If you have any further questions, just e-mail tlgoupil@tir.com or call Dr. Goupil at 989-288-3439.

How do you assess potential clients to see if this program will work best for them?  We do this either by personal interview or an evaluation that is filled out by the parent. Dr. Goupil will do the analysis to make sure we can do the correction for the family without creating another failure for the child.

How long have you been helping enuretics?    Dr. Tom & Maggie Goupil started this company in 1991. However Dr. Goupil has been counseling with families, and dealing with this problem for nearly 30 years.

Is your program strictly Christian?   We are Christians, and we  conduct our business by Christian standards. We do get financial help, donations etc., from other Christian sources, and this helps us keep our fee so much lower than the cost of a comparable program. The main reason for mentioning the Christian aspect of this company is to let people know where our funding comes from, and why our fee is  so much less than other comparable programs. The correction itself is what we call secular. In other words, we use the methods and techniques that have proved to be necessary for a proper correction, however, these methods and techniques have been developed by non-Christian organizations. So while our company is Christian, the correction program itself in not from a Christian organization and is not necessarily Christian.

How long does it take to achieve a correction?  The correction program will take approximately 3 to 4 months to complete. Some children take longer, however we stay with you until the child is declared dry, no matter how long that takes. And we cover any possible relapses for a period of two years at no cost to the family. So the child is actually a client of the Center for over two years.

What is better about your equipment than the little devices?  There are definitely differences in our equipment and the equipment other companies offer. The very important thing to remember when choosing a company or type of alarm to use is this: The thing that needs to be corrected is the deep sleep problem. That is the cause of bedwetting. What type bedwetting alarm is best at changing this pattern? The bell and pad system gets the fastest and most permanent results. That has been proven over the years. Companies who have been correcting bedwetting for decades still use this type equipment. Why? Because this type system works best. The little devices were invented in the first place not to do a better job at correcting the bedwetting, but to offer a less expensive and simpler alarm that could be mass produced and marketed so much easier. That does not make them a better solution to this deep sleep problem. We have used and tried all different types, and we only use the bell and pad system now because that is what gets permanent results for the bedwetter. this type equipment can solve the false alarm problem which is caused by perspiration. If the child is a warm sleeper, then during the night when the deep sleeper warms up and begins to perspire, the alarm sounds. Our equipment will do the same thing, however, we have techniques that will overcome this problem where the little device in the underwear does not. also, remember the alarm sounds after the wetting occurs. So unless there are therapeutic techniques, behavior modification methods, counseling, and personal instructions for each individual child, the alarm that fits in the underwear does not change anything. There are also less expensive bell and pad systems available. They tend to bend and roll up on the bed after a couple weeks of use, they fail because of cracks in the pad, etc. Our system is used for children as well as adults. This set of equipment is durable and will not fail because of being produced in a cheap manner. If for some reason something breaks, we will replace it at no charge to you. That is how durable our equipment is produced.

To look at our equipment package scroll down to the bottom of this page.

What if there is an equipment failure?  We will replace or repair any equipment failure at no cost to the client.

A letter from a family who purchased a product from another company...

Hi,
You and I had talked a couple of months ago about my son my son.  I purchased a Malem bedwetting alarm - one that lies on the mattress (bell and pad, I think it is called).  We then moved his into our bedroom and he slept on his mattress on the floor.  We started this on September 1, 2009.  When his alarm would go off, we made sure he was awake, by making him write down the time and a short note on a piece of paper, he had to wash his face, and then go to the bathroom.  (we also made him change his sheet if wet, but the alarm is so sensitive that he only had to do this piece for about a week). 
Is a relapse normal in your experience?  At this point, we are moving him back upstairs and starting back at the beginning - i.e. ensuring he wakes up right away with alarm and then ensuring that he is AWAKE enough to write a note, wash his face, etc.
Needless to say I am VERY SAD today, and I guess I am asking you for some advice and whether this is normal.

I wrote a letter explaining that the so-called program she purchased from Malem would not correct the deep sleep problem for heer son. I was saddened to let her know that she had bought a package that was sold her by someone who just wanted to sell an alarm with a few instructions, but did not really know how to treat deep sleep bedwetting. They did know how to sell an alarm because they are sales professionals, not professionally trained to correct this problem.  And the alarm pad that was purchased was one of those flimsy matts that would roll up under the child after a little use. We do get e-mails like this all the time.

How many cases do you handle?   Because SDRC does not hire other counselors, or does not send the case for someone else to counsel, there is a limit to how many active cases that can be handled. When we reach our limit we cut off enrollment and wait until there are a batch of openings, then begin to accept cases once again. The limit of active cases that Dr. Goupil will carry at one time is 70. There are many inactive cases enrolled. Those would be the cases that have been declared dry but are still in the two year guarantee time. Some companies will take all the clients they can get, however, we made a commitment some time ago to have a hands on experience with each and every case we enroll. This is a very personal thing to us.

What is your doctor degree in?  Dr. Goupil has an earned PhD majoring in counseling.

Will my child outgrow this?   The truth is that some do outgrow this, but many do not. Often our doctor, relatives, friends etc., will tell us "Don't worry about this, the child will outgrow it!" However, the data proves this to be very bad advice for many children and families. We enroll teens and young adults all the time which proves this advice to be wrong. The only ones we hear about are the ones who do outgrow this, but we very seldom hear about the many who do not. This is a very quiet problem, and parents who have children that suffer with problem do not talk about it much. And even if a child outgrows the bedwetting, the deep sleep problem and all the other things caused by deep sleep are still there.  The two things that create a bedwetter are the deep sleep, and the body's metabolism. By metabolism we mean how fast the body processes foods and liquids and produces waste. A child with a deep sleep problem plus a high metabolism will wet the bed. However, a child with a deep sleep problem but has a very low metabolism may not wet the bed. What the drugs attempt to do is slow down the body's metabolism. We do not do drugs with our correction program. We correct the real source, which is the deep sleep. In fact, if there is any success with the drugs, when you take them away from using them, the child's body will revert back to what it once was, and wetting begins all over again. Every certain number of years the child's body will go through a chemistry change, and this change may cause the metabolism to go down. This may result in the wetting slowing down or even going away. That is why more girls do outgrow this than boys. Because their body's go through a more extreme chemistry change.

So why is it so unfair for someone to tell you that your child will outgrow this? Because many do not, and no one knows what kind of chemistry change will take place. No one know this. And some children will have their metabolism go higher, which means that the wetting can begin at that time, or the wetting activity may increase. So the guessing game is not a good thing. We know that we can correct this, no guessing, and the correction benefits are great in many other areas of the child's life. ADD, ADHD, short attention span, self-esteem, self-worth, camps, sleepovers, fewer colds and infections, all can be improved with a proper correction.

Why are the meds not working for my child?   What the drugs attempt to do is slow down the body's metabolism. Some children have such a high metabolism that the drugs just do not change anything as far as wetting is concerned. We do not use drugs at all. We correct the real source, which is the deep sleep. In fact, if there is any success with the drugs, when you take them away from using them, the child's body will revert back to what it once was, and wetting begins all over again.

Are the disposable diapers hurting my child?   Actually the disposable diapers only prolong the problem, a problem that will have to be dealt with later. The disposable diapers do help with the laundry, but they do not help the child with this problem. Sometimes the child will begin to not care about the bedwetting because of the disposable diapers. Motivation to overcome this problem begins to go away. We have had teens still using these diapers who just feel that this is their lot in life, and they seem to not care about the wetting. Most of the time the disposable diapers are the cause of this emotional difficulty.

How do we know if our child has a deep sleep problem?  If the child has daytime control, and the wetting only occurs when asleep, the parent can rest assured the child has a sleep problem. Even if there is leaking during the day, or urgent situations during the day, the real problem is when the child is asleep. The bladder is sending signals, however the child cannot respond by waking up and using the toilet. Part of the training for holding during the daytime takes place during sleep. A normal sleeper will hold when the bladder begins to send signals. And this holding strengthens the sphincter muscle (the muscle we hold back the urine with). However the deep sleeper misses out on this training because of the deep sleep. This results in a weak sphincter muscle. Often the parent will think the child is just not paying attention or too involved in what they are doing. The real problem is the child hasn't learned to respond soon enough, or the sphincter muscle is weak and all of a sudden there is the urgent need to get to the toilet right away. All of this is a result of the deep sleep disorder. So, very often during the daytime hours there may be some leaking etc. Nevertheless, the deep sleep is the issue. Typically the child cannot remember wetting the bed during the night time hours. If the child is wetting while fully awake, this would be another issue. But the child that wets during sleep has the deep sleep disorder.

What is the best age to begin a correction?  There are many different suggestions with this issue. Many times the doctor will say "Wait until they are 7 or 8 or even 10 years of age." When the doctor does not have a real answer to this problem, the advice will be to wait. And if pushed for help they will offer medicine. We have corrected many doctor's children, and when this happens that doctor will always recommend getting the child corrected right away. We correct children beginning at the age of 4, because we know that at that age they have been wetting at least one year too long. The earlier the better for the child and family. However, because of the advice parents hear to wait for this to go away will almost always mean that they will be seeking more urgent help later.

Do more boys have this problem than girls?  This is another area where there is mixed answers. Some say more boys have this problem than girls, however, we have found from over 20 years of research and correcting this problem that the problem is just about even between boys and girls.

How does ADD and ADHD fit into this problem?   The deep sleep problem causes other difficulties in the child's life. The reason is the deepest part of the sleep cycle, stage 4, is the energy building stage of sleep for the child's body. The deep sleeper stays too long in this stage of sleep. The typical deep sleeper gets two or three nights sleep for their body's energy every single night. This exhibits itself by the child having more than normal energy during the daytime, short attention span because of this energy, and unable to sit still for very long because of this over dose of energy. And it is not uncommon for the child to have a difficult time getting started in the morning. However, once they are up for 15 minutes or so, they have more than enough energy for the day. Now the symptoms for ADD and ADHD and the deep sleep disorder are nearly the same. Consequently the child with the deep sleep disorder can be miss diagnosed to have ADD or ADHD. We put children on our program all the time who have been diagnosed ADD or ADHD and are taking meds for this problem. And when we correct the bedwetting by correcting the deep sleep problem, the other symptoms go away. Do not misunderstand here. There is a real chemistry imbalance that causes ADD and ADHD which is a legitimate problem. But because the deep sleep symptoms and the ADD and ADHD symptoms are so close, this can be misdiagnosed. So if the child is a bedwetter, and we know this bedwetting is caused by a deep sleep disorder, there is a very good possibility by correcting the bedwetting the other areas of difficulty will also be corrected. That is if the parent uses a program that corrects the deep sleep problem. Most alarm kits and bedwetting alarms will not do a thing for the deep sleep disorder.

Do we have to come to the Center?  Not any more. The great thing about this internet is that we can now correct this problem from the comfort of your home. All the counseling will be done either by e-mail or phone. It is amazing how many cases we have corrected in many other countries because of the internet. We have corrected children in Australia, England, Africa, China, Mexico, Israel, Jordan, Canada, even Russia.

What if thee is a relapse?   We have a two year coverage at no cost to you if a relapse occurs. We have  97% success rate, but there are 2% of our clients that have a relapse, and that usually happens in the first 6 months after declared dry. The largest areas we have the 2% of difficulties are with children who suffer from other serious diseases, and also adults who are living by themselves.

Does Hypnosis work with this problem?   No! We have enrolled children in our program who have gone through that ordeal. We have never found anyone who claims correction from hypnosis.

What about diet?  Diet does not cause bedwetting. Deep sleep does. However, we often use a few diet adjustments in our correction program, but only to make the correction quicker and easier to accomplish. For example, if a child has a large bowl of ice cream just before bed, the body will work harder digesting this. And this extra work can make it more difficult to change the deep sleep pattern. so we may make some diet adjustments, but diet does not cause bedwetting.

Do you offer personal counseling?   Yes we do. Dr. Goupil has his PhD in counseling. He is a professional counselor. Other companies do not offer this expertise. When enrolled in our program, the parent will send a report to the Center for analysis. Then personal instructions will be sent to the family to follow. This is the instructional process. When difficulties arise, or questions come up, the parent is advises to either e-mail the Center or call. this counseling takes place usually via phone, unless in a foreign country, then e-mail makes the most sense and works the best.

Will prescribed drugs, such as DDAVP, end the bedwetting?   These meds can cause many side effects. They are usually recommended by physicians because they have been advised by the pharmaceutical companies that these drugs work. However, we have found they do not work to correct the real problem which is the deep sleep. They may cause some metabolism changes, which may cause the body not to produce as much waste, but when the drugs are taken away, the body goes back to what it used to be. So they just do not correct anything.

 Is bedwetting caused by emotional or psychological problems?   Bedwetting causes emotional difficulties for the child, but the bedwetting is not caused by emotional or psychological problems.

 Is bedwetting caused by an immature bladder?   One of the things that the parent will be told is that the child has a small bladder, or immature bladder. This may be true, because the bladder grows proportionally with the body by the holding that takes place during the sleep when the bladder begins to send signals. This holding stretches the bladder, and cause growth or more capacity. The problem is that the deep sleeper does not hold during sleep. So the bladder can actually be undersized. But this is not the cause of bedwetting. If the bladder were small or immature, the child would just have to get up to use the toilet more often. But the problem is the deep sleeper just sleeps through the whole ordeal and empties the bladder without knowing it.

Does this program treat adults as well as children?   We treat children as young as 4 years of age, through young adults. One thing we have found is that the adult or the teen just does not want a sensing pad placed in their underwear. This is a very intrusive device for the older children and adults. Our equipment does not connect to the person at all. They sleep on a matt that is placed on the bed, and this matt connects to the alarm system on the night stand. Yes we correct teens and adults, but we have found the little alarms will not work for these people in any way.

How long will successful treatment take?   The actual correction process takes about 3 to 5 months to complete. Each case is treated on an individual basis, so every case will not experience the exact same results. We will stay with the client until they are dry no matter how long it takes. Once enrolled in our program we are committed to get that person dry. After the correction is  complete we begin our 2 year coverage against any possible relapse. So the client is actually a client of ours for well over 2 years.

How to get more information, a free evaluation, or talk with Dr. Goupil, just fill in the lines and send in. Dr. Goupil will get back with you soon. 

The graphs pictured below will illustrate the difference between the normal sleep cycle and the deep sleepers sleep cycle.

The blue line represents the normal sleepers sleep cycle, and the red line represents the deep sleepers sleep cycle. Each sleep cycle is about 90 minutes long, so a normal sleeper goes through 4 or 5 cycles a night. The deepest level of sleep would be stage 4. This is what we call the energy building stage of sleep. This is where the body rebuilds its energy. This stage lasts about 20 minutes in the middle of each cycle. The REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement) or what we call the dream stage of sleep happens somewhere between stage 2 and stage 1. The dreams are how we vent the stresses of the day, and through the dreams we prepare ourselves for the normal stresses of the next day. That is why we would refer to this as the emotional level of sleep.

The red line shows how the deep sleep goes to sleep. This person will get into stage 4 very quickly, and stay there for a long period of time. Sometime during the night the bladder will begin to fill and send signals. However, because the deep sleeper is in stage 4 there is no response to these signals. The bladder fills and empties itself without the deep sleeper even knowing it. Remember this stage 4 of sleep is the energy building stage, and the deep sleeper will get 2 or 3 nights energy every night by staying in this stage of sleep. That is why the daytime energy levels are usually quite high for the deep sleeper. The deep sleeper often will grind their teeth during sleep, perspire during sleep, sometimes sleep walk or cry out in sleep. These are because of energy levels building. The most common of these symptoms would be the deep sleeper is a very warm sleeper. That is also the reason for the very close similarities between the symptoms of ADD and the deep sleeper. Then there is the fact that this person also misses out on the emotional level of sleep. That will exhibit itself during the daytime by the deep sleeper having a difficult time handling normal stress of the day. 

There are many names for different sleep disorders. Sleep apnea, which is stopping breathing during sleep (being in deep too long can be part of this problem), narcolepsy, which would be uncontrolled falling asleep during the daytime, which also may be tied to the deep sleep cycle. One more thing should be mentioned, and that is about the respiratory system. The oxygen exchange rate in the respiratory system does not work well while in deep sleep. The body does not get rid of the carbon monoxide well during the deep sleep part of sleep. That is why it is not a healthy thing to stay in this deep sleep level of sleep for long periods of time. This can show up in the morning when trying to get the child up and going. Often it difficult getting the deep sleeper up, they are groggy etc. However after awake for 15 minutes or so, they are usually quite energized for the day. 

What we do is correct bedwetting. That is what we promise to do. But because we are correcting a deep sleep disorder, there are many good side effects to this. We see children who have been given medicines for ADD get better and no longer need these meds. We see tooth grinding stop, which can save thousands of dollars later, we see children do better with study habits and in school, they feel so much better about themselves, etc.

Sometimes Dr. Goupil and Maggie get to meet and spend time with children they have helped overcome this problem. This is a picture of a young boy who was helped overcome this problem. A wonderful thing to see children become sure of themselves and happy.