If you’ve ever fallen asleep after a long, tiring day, only to have your bladder wake you up a few hours later, you know exactly how frustrating it is to have a good night’s sleep disturbed by something as irritating as needing to use the bathroom. While waking up to urinate is tolerable if it happens occasionally, it becomes a real nuisance when you expect to be woken up night after night—or even multiple times while you’re trying to sleep.
If you find yourself waking up with the need to run to the bathroom frequently enough that it’s disrupting your day to day life and making you dread going to bed, you may suffer from nocturia. Nocturia has a simple definition: it is a condition that causes people to wake up in the night to urinate. Nocturia is a broad category, but there are many different causes of the condition that could be affecting you.
What Causes It?
In some cases, nocturia can be triggered by things as innocuous as drinking too much liquid before bed, especially alcohol or caffeinated drinks. Before you do anything else, check to make sure your evening habits don’t include drinking too much, as this could be contributing to your nocturia. Some medications and supplements can also increase your odds of needing to urinate in the night, including lithium, too much vitamin D, diuretics, and others. If you only started experiencing nocturia after starting a new medication, talk to your doctor about managing these unwanted side effects.
Nocturia can also be caused by more serious issues, like untreated diabetes, bladder inflammation, urinary tract infections, and more. If your nocturia is making life difficult and you can’t determine a specific cause for it, it’s a good idea to meet with your doctor to make sure you aren’t experiencing a more serious health problem. Understanding what’s going on in your body is a crucial part of healthy, happy living!
We Can Help!
If you need help with bladder control while you’re in between meetings with your doctor, or would just like extra security while you sleep, Medical Supply Depot offers several different discrete solutions to urinary incontinence, including underpads, specialized adult briefs, and even alarms that are designed to alert you if an accident has occurred. With reliable, high-quality incontinence products and the help of your doctor, it’s possible to have a good, full night’s sleep again!
