Nocturia is a condition where you wake up during the night with the need to urinate. There can be several causes of nocturia, including sleep disorders, obstruction of the bladder, high fluid intake, and in some cases urinary incontinence. Nocturia can be treated with a range of activities and medications, helping to reduce the symptoms of an overactive bladder. If you are worried that you are suffering with incontinence during sleep, and not nocturia, you should seek medical assistance to help manage incontinence during the night.
What is nocturia?
Nocturia is a condition that does seem to generally happen more frequently to people as they get older, but can happen to any person. It is where a person wakes up regularly during the night with the need to urinate. It happens to both men and women, with different reasons behind it. It is considered ‘normal’ for a person to wake up once in the night to urinate, but if you are waking up more often this could be a sign that there is something else happening.
It is also important to distinguish the difference between nocturia, where a person needs to urinate frequently, and polyuria, where a person urinates too high a volume.
Polyuria
If you are suffering with polyuria, you will be urinating a greater volume than 3,000ml within a 24-hour period. This can be caused by too much water being filtered by the kidneys but can also be caused by glucose pulling extra water out. Polyuria can be caused by untreated diabetes, gestational diabetes, diabetes insipidus, and a high intake of fluid. Polyuria can occur throughout the day.
Nocturnal polyuria
Those people suffering with nocturnal polyuria will find that they only experience a high volume of urine during the night. During the day, their urine volume is either normal or at a reduced level. This can be down to fluid retention during the day, which can often accumulate in the legs and only become a problem once you lie down and gravity no longer holds the fluids in the legs and the feet. Nocturnal polyuria can be caused by a swelling of the legs, sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, congestive heart failure, a diet that is high in sodium, drinking too much fluid just before bed, and some types of medication.
The symptoms of nocturia
You should be able to sleep for up to eight hours during the night without the need to get out of bed to go to the toilet. Those suffering with nocturia will find that they are getting up more than once during the night to urinate. This causes disruption to your sleep cycle which can have a long-term impact on your overall health if left unmanaged. Another symptom of nocturia is that you feel fatigue even after you wake up, this is due to the disruption to your sleep during the night.
Treatment for nocturia
Maintain a diary of your fluid intake before speaking to a medical professional, including the frequency and times of urination. A two-day record should be enough to give a good indication to a doctor. A urologist may be able to help you find an underlying cause to your nocturia, or you may be referred to a sleep specialist. Restricting fluids at night, napping in the afternoons to make up for lost sleep, and keeping your legs elevated could all be options to help. If an enlarged prostate is a concern, some medication can be given to help reduce the symptoms of an overactive bladder.
An overactive bladder doesn’t necessarily mean that you are suffering with incontinence, but it can be a sign that you need to seek medical help. If you are suffering with nocturia or incontinence, there are some things you can do to help alleviate the situation. Incontinence care comes in many forms and could provide you with the perfect solutions to keep your nights clean and dry. Incontinence pants, pads, and incontinence bedsheets provide that extra level of safety that put your mind at ease, should you worry about leaking urine during your sleep.
