Warning Signs of Anemia
Feeling tired, weak, or short of breath? You could be dealing with low healthy red blood cells or anemia. Find out more about anemia and the tell-tale warning signs you could suffer from.
Nocturia: Possible Causes of Frequent Urination at Night
We've all drank too much water before bed and had to get up overnight to pee—but this shouldn't happen every night. If you're getting up at night and urinating more than once, there could be more to the story.
Nocturia is a condition where you have to wake up to pee more than once during the night. Although it's more common as you age, it shouldn't interfere with your sleep or daily activities.
Knowing the cause of nocturia is the best way to troubleshoot how to get a full night's rest. If you need to figure out the culprit, the Metro Renal Associates team has the tools to resolve the problem.
Our three expert nephrologists in Washington, D.C., and Capitol Heights, Maryland, offer various diagnostic tools and treatments for the root cause of frequent night urination.
What is nocturia?
Nocturia is simply a condition where you need to get up and pee more than one time throughout the night. It's more familiar with age but is a nuisance no matter when it happens.
Sometimes, nocturia isn't anything to worry about, especially if you drink a lot of liquids close to your bedtime. However, frequent urination that requires you to get up several times throughout the night may be something more.
The most significant downside to nocturia is lack of sleep. When it happens only once in a while, it may not impact your sleep cycle. But when it's frequent, your body and mind suffer from lack of sleep.
Symptoms of nocturia are limited and usually include getting up more than once per night to urinate and peeing more volume than average overnight. You may also have daytime fatigue and drowsiness from lack of sleep.
You can make treatments and lifestyle changes to decrease nocturia and improve your sleep. Treatments depend on the underlying cause of the problem.
Causes of frequent urination at night
Many things cause nocturia, some of which are worrisome, and some are simply bad lifestyle choices. For example, a non-threatening cause of peeing too much at night is drinking a lot of fluid in the evening before bed.
Liquids containing alcohol or caffeine often have a diuretic effect, meaning they make you pee more. Drinking alcohol or caffeine before bed is a common cause of nocturia that you can easily change.
There are, however, other issues that lead to frequent urination at night. Other prevalent causes of nocturia include:
- Diuretic medications
- Bladder obstructions
- Urinary tract infections
- Diabetes
- Benign prostate hyperplasia
- High blood pressure
- Congestive heart failure
- Chronic kidney disease
- Pregnancy
Obstructive sleep apnea is another cause of frequent nighttime urination, along with habit. You may get up in the middle of the night and go straight to the bathroom, even if that's not why you woke up in the first place.
Medical conditions that cause nocturia are a cause for concern, especially if you don't know you have them. Sometimes, nocturia is the first symptom that alerts you to a health problem.
Treating nocturia with lifestyle changes
There's good news when it comes to nocturia. Simple lifestyle changes and professional treatments are available to help you overcome getting up at night to pee.
Lifestyle changes are often the first route of treatment for nocturia, despite the underlying cause. Taking simple steps to perform these changes can help reduce nightly urination, even with medical conditions.
Our team offers several tips and tricks to reduce nocturia, and they include the following:
- Restrict fluids in the afternoon and evening
- Take afternoon naps
- Take diuretic medications in the morning
- Strengthen pelvic floor muscles
- Elevate your legs while sitting
- Wear compression stockings
- Cut back on caffeine and alcohol
If lifestyle changes alone don't stop nocturia, our team dives further into the root cause of the problem. We may also prescribe medications to help control urination at night, including anticholinergics and desmopressin.
The goal is to treat the underlying cause of nocturia for optimal results. We use imaging studies and lab work to examine how your kidneys, bladder, and urinary system are working. Treating the cause of nocturia often yields the best results, along with lifestyle changes.
Don't keep living with nighttime urination – don't hesitate to call Metro Renal Associates today for an appointment or request a consultation using the online booking tool.
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