Nocturia: The Reason Why We Get Up To Wee A Lot At Night

Have you ever experienced that moment when you are cozy and warm in bed, ready to drift off to sleep and then…you have to get up to pee?

And then you find yourself getting up again a few hours later to hit the porcelain, disrupting that awesome dream you were having about Bradley Cooper? What is the deal with that?!

Well, it turns out this annoying issue has a name – it’s called nocturia. And bad news, ladies, it happens more and more the older you get. It’s thought to affect one third of all adults over the age of 30, but is most common for people aged over 60.

“But I’m not aged over 60!” you say. Read on to find out why your pee is plaguing you.

Its causes…

For women, nocturia can occur because of women’s business, but not always. For example, when you are pregnant, you find you need to pee all the time during the night. It can also occur after childbirth, during menopause or other hormonal imbalances such as lack of oestrogen, or after a pelvic prolapse.

There are other causes too, such as consumption of too much alcohol and caffeine, using diuretics and drinking excessive fluids prior to bedtime.

Nocturia can also be an indicator of serious illnesses including diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, heart failure, kidney problems or vascular disease.

Another reason for nocturia can be bladder storage problems – when your bladder either can’t store enough urine or isn’t emptying completely when you go to the loo. This results on more trips to the toilet, but you pass only a little but of urine each time.

Why does it happen?

While nocturia can indicate that you have a medical problem, it can also cause other problems because of broken sleep – it might affect how you function during the day if you aren’t getting a good night’s sleep. This can affect the way you function during the day, leading to tiredness, irritability or lack of concentration.

Sometimes, other sleep issues like sleep apnoea and insomnia can trigger nocturia – basically because waking up prompts you to go to the toilet. If this is the case, treating the sleep disturbance problem usually fixes the nocturia issue.

If you find you’re getting up to wee too much during the night, try cutting your fluid intake before bed.

If you’re still having trouble, get in touch with a doctor and discuss it to make sure it isn’t a symptom of something serious.

If you become concerned about any symptoms, please seek immediate medical attention we have some hotlines and suggested websites for further information and advice https://www.stayathomemum.com.au/my-kids/babies/important-hotlines-websites/

SAHM takes no responsibility for any illness, injury or death caused by misuse of this information. All information provided is correct at time of publication.