Do you find yourself waking up more than once a night to use the bathroom? If you do, you may have something called nocturia, which is a condition that causes you to have to get out of bed to pee two or more times a night. Sure, there are worse things than a couple extra trips to the bathroom, but it’s more than just an annoyance. Frequent nighttime urination can lead to fragmented, disrupted sleep, leaving you tired and cranky the next day. Plus, fumbling around at night is a leading cause of dangerous slips and falls.
Speaking of falls, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that peeing a lot at night is just something that happens as you get older, either. It’s not, and the good news is that there are things you can try to get your nighttime bathroom visits under control.
The first thing you should give a try is keeping a bladder diary. It may sound funny to track your bathroom visits, but a bladder diary is a great tool for identifying the culprits that may be causing you to use the bathroom more often at night. A bladder diary will track what you drink and how much, how often you use the bathroom during the day, how often you get up to use the bathroom at night, and whether or not that’s accompanied by any bladder leakage. You don’t have to do it for an eternity, either – just try tracking things for four to seven days and there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to start spotting trends. A bladder diary is also useful for your doctor, so make sure to bring it with you to your next visit.
To make things even easier for you, the NAFC has created a free, downloadable bladder diary that you can print out and begin using immediately. We’ll leave a link it in the show notes, but you can also find it by visiting us online at NAFC dot org.
The next thing you’ll want to do is try to minimize urine production at night. Sure, that sounds like a no-brainer – after all, if you’re not producing much urine at night, you’re not going to have to go to the bathroom – but it’s the ‘how to do it’ part that can be a little tricky.
Keep in mind that as we age, we tend to not be able to hold as much liquid in our bladder as we used to, which can make us have to go to the bathroom more, even if we’re drinking the same amount that we always have. Simply cutting down on how much you drink isn’t the whole answer, though – there are a few additional things to consider. Here are a few general tips that most people find useful:
Avoid excessive fluid intake from both food and drinks four to six hours before bedtime.
Avoid caffeine in the morning and limit or eliminate alcohol at night. Both of these can make urine more acidic, which can irritate the lining of the bladder and cause you to go more frequently.
Make sure to empty your bladder before bed.
And if you’re taking any medications that may be diuretic, make sure to take them earlier in the day if possible. Definitely check with your doctor on this first, though – you’ll want to make sure you don’t alter your medication schedule without making sure that it’s not going to have unexpected consequences.
Next on the list to a long night’s sleep is to think about how your body processes the fluids that you do take in. If your legs or ankles swell during the day, the fluid that builds up will get sent back into the bloodstream when you lie down to go to sleep. This can increase your blood pressure and prompt your kidneys to start working overtime. They’ll be trying to create more urine so you body can flush out all that excess fluid, and you know what that means.
So what can you do if your legs and ankles happen to swell? There are a couple of things worth trying:
First, try elevating your legs periodically to help reduce the accumulation of fluids in your lower extremities. Next, use compression socks. They put pressure against your legs and feet, which allows fluid to be redistributed and reabsorbed in the bloodstream.
Another good strategy is to practice healthy sleep hygiene. Setting yourself up for a good night’s sleep can help fight off insomnia, and that could be part of the reason why you’re up and thinking about going to the bathroom in the first place.
You see, for some people, the urge to pee is the trigger that awakens them – and keeps them awake long after. But for others who are already lying awake at night, small sensations that they never would have even noticed if they were sleeping wind up taking on greater urgency. Did you ever find yourself thinking, “Boy, I really gotta go,” but then you only produce a trickle? It could be that you didn’t actually have to go that bad in the first place; it only felt that way because you’re up staring at the ceiling at 3 a.m.
If that sounds like you, there’s a good chance that it’s not nocturia that’s your problem – it’s insomnia. Now, treating insomnia is a whole other can of worms, but there are definitely things you can try that have made a real difference for many others. We recommend you check out the National Sleep Foundation at sleep foundation dot org – they have a great article about sleep hygiene that we’re going to link to in the show notes, but for a quick overview, here are a few suggestions:
- Limit daytime naps to 30 minutes
- Avoid stimulants like caffeine and nicotine close to bedtime
- Set a consistent sleep and wake time
- Exercise regularly - but not right before bed!
- Avoid foods that might disrupt your sleep, like spicy, rich or heavy foods
- Reserve the bed for sleep and sex
- Establish a regular, relaxing bedtime routine
- And keep your bedroom quiet, comfortable and dark.
Now, even if all these tips may help ease your nocturia a bit, it’s still probably a good idea to see a professional about your symptoms. That’s because behavioral changes don’t always address the root causes of nocturia – there are a number of physiological issues that could be going on behind the scenes, and you’re going to want the insight of a physician to help you get on a path to dryer days – and nights – ahead.