I suffer from a problem no-one talks about. This is my story.

Editor’s note: The author of this piece is known to Debrief Daily, but has chosen to post anonymously to protect her identity. Thank you for respecting her privacy.

It’s one of the last taboos…

I know it’s a bit of a cliché to go on a health kick ahead of a significant birthday.

I’ve just always wanted to be one of those really fit people you see running every morning, or the ones with gorgeously toned arms. I’ve always walked and swam and been active, but I’ve never been a runner or a gym goer. So at the start of this year I signed up to my local gym and walked into one of those cycling classes that looks fun in the movies.

It was NOT fun.

Yes it hurt. Yes it was hard. Yes I had trouble keeping up. But that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was when I got up for my first ‘hill climb’, requiring me to stand up and pedal slowly and with a lot of effort.

Have you ever heard of LBL? No, it’s not a muscle strain or a groin injury, although that all happened. It’s Light Bladder Leakage. I've battled it on and off over the past few years, after the birth of each of my three children. I'd just learned to live with it. Now that I was attempting to become a 'serious exerciser', it seemed I'd have to try and face it and the impact it was having on my life.

I suppose I’d subconsciously adjusted my activities to accommodate it. I’d been wearing everyday liners and just being really careful whenever I sneezed or coughed. Sometimes I’d need to deal with it after a particularly big sneeze or coughing fit. I’d stopped wearing really tight pants. Peasant pants were a godsend for me.

Related: The one thing you can do to make the exercise habit stick.

But after the ‘gym incident’, I wanted to deal with it once and for all. So I started looking into ways to minimise it. It’s not like I wanted to ask friends or family for advice. No way was I bringing that up…

I’d heard of pelvic floor exercises and I started doing them constantly, everywhere, at any time. I also started doing Pilates, especially the classes that just focused on strengthening your core. It all seemed to help and I now realise that my pelvic floor is a muscle that needs to strengthen - and it’s something I’m going to have to work on for the rest of my life to some degree.

I’ve also found it helps to have the right products. Instead of using normal panty liners, I needed the liners that were specifically designed for LBL. They work much better because they are so much more absorbent. Why was I so afraid to use the proper products to start with? They have made a huge difference to my comfort. I don’t have to walk out of work meetings or abandon my shopping trolley to find the nearest bathroom any more. I can take care of it later. I can sneeze and cough and get out of my chair too fast and not have it ruin my day. Yes, it used to happen when I got out of my chair too fast. I’ll admit it.

Related: “This is what happened when I tried a new exercise.”

Now that I have switched to proper products designed for LBL I don't have to feel jealous of the parents who get to jump at the trampoline centre with their kids, doing flips without a care in the world. I can do it too - and I’ve discovered it is fun and a good workout too. I'm doing it as often as possible.

The Continence Foundation of Australia stats are that 1 in 3 women have the same problem that I do and they need to know that it’s totally normal. It’s just one of those things that women have to take care of. It’s part of our upkeep. We shouldn’t have to worry about seeing a funny movie or doing an exercise class we want to do.

There’s a lot we can do to avoid embarrassment and discomfort - so I say do everything all at once. Something is bound to work for you.

How do you manage light bladder leakage?