Having an urge to pee frequently at night? It can be nocturia!
Nocturia is a term that refers to having frequent feeling to urinate at night. It mostly happens after you fall asleep and thus it disturbs your sleep. A person with nocturia may find it difficult to sleep peacefully and this in turn may affect the quality of his/her life.
When you urinate at night twice or more than twice, you may be having this condition called nocturia. While you may not have frequent urge to pee during day time, your often wake up more than once or twice to empty your bladder.
How can we know if you have nocturia?
You might have a problem of nocturia if:
- you wake up to pee at night more than once/twice.
- the pattern gets repeated every night.
- the daytime urination is normal/same or not frequent as compared to the nighttime.
What are the symptoms of nocturia?
Nocturia can cause these symptoms:
Frequent urination at night.
Regular wakign up at night for peeing.
sleep disturbances
Feeling very tired or fatigued in the morning due to less sleep.
Less productivity related to sleep deprivation.
What is the difference between nocturia and enuresis?
Nocturia is the night time urge to pee. The person wakes up several times at night.
Enuresis is the strong urge to pee and it is not under the control of the person.
Are nocturia and bedwetting the same condition?
No. They are totally different. the only thing that is common is peeing happens at night. Bedwetting in older kids may happen sometimes during the day also.
In nocturia the person wakes up to urinate frequently.
In bedwetting the person has no voluntary control and pees in the bed at night thus the term bedwetting. It can be called enuresis because the person is not able to hold the pee.
What are the causes of nocturia?
Nocturia may be caused by:
- Polyuria; Polyuria and nocturia are not same.In polyuria, the person urinates a large volume of urine, almost 3 litres a day. This may cause him to wake up at night to urine as their kidney excretes more urine overall. It can cause a person to urinate at night too.
- Nocturnal or night time polyuria: This may be due to the fluid retention in your body during the daytime. When a person has swelling or edema in the legs or feet, he does not have frequent urination but on lying down for sleep the veins do not hold the fluid and this enters the veins and gets processed as urine by the kidneys. It can be one cause of nocturia.
- Medications: Diuretics medications as well as some medications given to the heart patients also tend to release excess water as urine and this leads to frequent urination.
- Medical conditions such as diabetes type 2, gestational diabetes
- Pregnant women may also experience nocturia.
- Having excess fluid in or after the evening.
- Consumption of alcohol and caffeinated beverages may make you pee more.
- Family history. A person with a family history of nocturia tend to have this condition more than others.
- People who have sleep apnea may have nocturia problem.
- History of type 2 diabetes mellitus. In diabetes,a person has polyuria, polydypsia and polyphagia. It means excessive urination, excessive thirst and excessive hunger. People living with diabetes tend to have nocturia.
- Men having prostate enlargement may also have a complain of nocturia.
- Men and women above 50 years start having this problem as a result of the ageing process. Women may have starting episodes when they turn 30 or more. It is less common in women below 30 years.
What are the issues related to nocturia?
- Nocturia can be troublesome and annoying.
- It affects the sleep pattern of the sleep pattern of the person.
- It can cause sleep deprivation, risk of fall or injuries due to getting up from bed several times, especially the elder persons are at risk.
- Insomnia, many people complain of sleeplessness as they have to wake up to pee many times, they are unable to sleep again even on trying to sleep.
- Sleep disturbances may disturb the next day routine of the person and this may lead to decreased quality of life.
- Potential risk of urinary tract infections due to the constant moist perineal area at night.
How can nocturia be diagnosed?
Nocturia can be diagnosed by:
- Thorough history taking. Your doctor may ask you questions regarding your current symptoms and the frequency or times you have to go for peeing at night, associated pain or discomfort while urinating
- The history of present illness
- Past history of illness
- Family history of diabetes, nocturia, etc.
- Current medication history, etc helps your urologist or physician make the diagnosis of nocturia.
- History of alcohol or smoking, habit of having caffeinated beverages at night before bed.
What is the treatment of nocturia?
Your urologist may help you get rid of this problem of nocturia by treating the underlying cause. If the cause is enlarged prostate, you may be recommended a surgery. The diabetic persons are given diuretics to regulate the urine production and excretion. Anticholinergic medications may be prescribed to lower the bladder response or reduce the over-activity of bladdder at night.
What measures or home remedies help to get rid of or control nocturia?
Following interventions may help you get relief from nocturia:
- Limit your fluid intake in the evening. If possible restrict taking fluids after evening.
- Avoid any fluid or juice or anything more liquid-like at night.
- Take you diuretic medication as ordered by your urologist so that it facilitated bladder emptying before night.
- Take your sleep apnea medications as ordered by your pulmonologist.
- Avoid alcohol or smoking at night.
- Limit or if possible avoid caffeinated drinks at night.
- Ensure double voiding before you sleep. This is an essential tip for children experiencing bed-wetting at night. Double voiding means emptying your bladder twice before getting to sleep. You may pee one hour before bed and again just before going to bed even when you do not feel the urgency to pee. This helps in proper bladder emptying of urine.
- If you have swelling in your legs, elevate your extremities at night using pillows underneath your heels.
- Use compression stockings to help reduce the swelling of your extremities and prevent fluid retention during the day.
Talk to your doctor if you feel you have symptoms of nocturia.
NOTE: This post is for educational and informational purpose only. It is not a substitute for any medical advice or consultation. Seek your doctor's advice in any case.
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