Do you experience this annoying nag from your bladder every night as you sleep? If you are forced to go to the restroom more than two times within your 6-8 hours of night’s sleep then you are likely to be experiencing Nocturia. This is a medical term for excessive urination. This maybe as a result of your bladder being unable to hold too much urine or your body making too much urine.
Enuresis (bed-wetting) is another condition where you are unable to control your urination at night. This might happen unconsciously without one having to wake up and go to the washroom. However, it is different from frequent urination because in the latter case, one is not able to sleep because of the urge to urinate.
Frequent urination at night can be as a result of many factors where some of them need medical attention while others can be managed by the individual. After realizing the need in creating awareness of frequent urination at night, I combined information on the possible causes, preventive and treatment measures for this condition.
Check on What You Are Drinking
High consumption of alcohol and caffeinated drinks risks your body to frequent urination. This is because the two drinks are diuretics meaning when taken in excess, the body is forced to produce a lot of urine. To avoid this, avoid taking the drinks and if that is not possible, don’t take the drinks later in the day and ensure you use the bathroom before retiring to bed. Also avoid taking any drinks just before going to bed.
Old age
Age is a major factor in this condition. As we get older, the anti-diuretic produced in the body gets less weakening the body’s ability to retain urine especially at night and it also causes increased urine production. In older age, the bladder is also weakened making it very hard to retain the urine in the bladder. Health problems associated with old age also play a big role in frequent urination at night for older people.
Older men are prone to getting an enlarged prostate which really keeps them on their feet to empty the bladder. For women, Estrogen secretion becomes limited as they grow older. This may cause changes in the urinary tract and may make them pee often. For women who have given birth, the pelvic muscles also get weaker as they grow old and risk them to frequent urination.
Read more: Causes of Sleep Problems in Elderly
Medications
When under a doctor’s prescription, the kind of pills you take may influence your rate of urination. Some medicines have a tendency of pulling fluid out of your system and may make you to pee more. This mostly happens for water pills which are used to treat high blood pressure. If you notice this side-effect in your medication, take your medicine earlier in the day or consult your doctor to change your medication.
Sleep Problem
Sometimes it’s not the urge to pee that keeps you awake. You may just be experiencing sleepless nights and you need to keep moving therefore you prefer visiting the restroom. This sleeping problem may be as a result of depression, chronic pain, hot flashes, or restless leg syndrome. Getting a treatment for sleeping disorder may be able to solve your peeing at night problem.
Pregnancy
For expectant mothers, frequent peeing may happen in the early stages when he womb presses against the bladder. However, this may also be experienced in later days in pregnancy. This condition may act as an indicator of pregnancy.
Heart Problem
When the heart doesn’t pump blood around the body the way it is supposed to pump, fluids build up and it is noticeable at the ankles as they may swell. The moment you lie down to sleep, your body is forced to flush out the extra fluids forcing you to wake up out of the urge from your bladder to pee.to prevent the swelling, the best way is to rest while your feet are elevated especially during the day or wear compression socks. This way, chances of your body wanting to flush out extra fluids are minimal and you can be able to enjoy your sleep.
Medical Conditions
A wide variety of medical infections can cause frequent urination at night. The most common infection which causes urination is Urinary Tract Infection(UTI) as well as infection in the bladder. These infections are accompanied by a burning sensation during urination and increased frequency in urination both day and night.
Tumor of the bladder, pelvic area or the prostate may also cause frequent urination at night because they cause the urinary tract to malfunction and the most probable result is that the bladder may not be able to contain much urine and always force you to visit the restroom frequently.
Organ failures like liver, kidney, and the heart often lead to malfunctioning of the urinary tract and this may result to frequent urination during both day and night.
These medical conditions are threat to your health and your sleep. Some of them might be treated using antibiotics while some of them require you to seek medical attention as soon as you spot the symptoms.
Anxiety And Stress
When experiencing stress and anxiety, frequent urination at night may come up as a result. This is because when the body behaves in a apprehensive manner, the stress response is activated. The stress response causes secretion of hormones into the bloodstream which travel to different parts of the body and cause physical, emotional and psychological changes which help the body fight or flee away from the threat. One of the major changes stress response makes is to make the body to eliminate waste immediately. That is why many people always visit the washroom when they are anxious or stressed up. It is a common reaction to anxiety and stress.
Frequent urination at night is a very uncomfortable experience. It makes you lack enough sleep during the night hence it might lower your activity levels during the day. It often leads to drowsiness, fatigue and mood changes. It also puts your health at stake. Your concentration during the day is also affected and may result to adverse effects in your school work if you are a student or poor performance at your workplace.
Everyone always longs for night to fall so that they can relax their bodies but if one knows that they will not be able to rest well because of having to wake and visit the bathroom, then it becomes a nightmare and it becomes disturbing. To get rid of this annoying feeling, follow some of the guidelines i stated above to overcome the causes of frequent urination. Always remember to see a doctor if the situation becomes severe and get advised accordingly on the right steps to take.
If this article helped you, then share it with others so that they can also get knowledgeable on this topic and help someone get a good night’s sleep. Don’t forget to give your feedback in the comments section below.
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