Night-only urination problem.

[Themis]

I'm new to this site and this is my first posting. Thanks in advance for asnyone who can be bothered to help me.
My problem is that I have to get up about four times a night to urinate and, when I do so it's just a dribble. If I don't urinate there's no danger of wetting the bed but the urge to urinate stops me sleeping.
Daytime urination is no problem. The stream is strong, there is no pain and I don't think i urinate any more frequently than others.
I have visited several doctors who have done different tests and found nothing abnormal. So far there's been no convincing diagnosis. But tiredness from my interrupted sleep is adversely affecting my life and work.
Anyone had experience of anything like this? I'd really like to know.
Yours
Themis

[Unregistered]

Hello,

I have definetly experienced nocturia (3-5 times per night) but I have found nothing that works either.

[Unregistered]

Nocturia is not uncommon for those with sleep apnea.

Some doctors assume that you must be overweight to have sleep apnea.

To me: "You are not overweight, you don't smoke and you don't drink. You can't have sleep apnea."

[Unregistered]

Well, I've had this problem for years, done every possible test (every one!) and never been diagnosed for anything. The only thing that helps is deep relaxation exercises of the meditation variety. Absolutely nothing else has ever had any effect on me. The problem varies in intensity. Definitely worse in winter...

[Unregistered]

I don't know what this has to do with sleep apnea. I'm wondering about a prostate problem though. Although if you went to your doctor and they couldn't find anything thats good news.

[Unregistered]

Themis, I have experienced this sometimes, and yes, it's very tiring having to get up several times in the middle of the night. In my case it's usually related to drinking herbal tea for my digestion before going to bed. Do you drink anything before going to sleep? If so, cut it out and see how it goes.
I have also heard that diabetics have to get up several times in the night to do a pee. Have you have this checked out by your doctor?

[pet rock]

I am new to this site. I am a 60 y o female with a 15 year history of nighttime urination (every two-3 hours) No problem during the day. I have no trouble going to sleep, and usually not much trouble going back to sleep after getting up. I have gone months without onsuming any caffeine, I stop drinking hours before bedtime, I've tried eating a bigger lunch and light supper, I'm rarely eat chocolate, I don't have reflux, and now the sleep doc tells me I can't have sleep apnea (although I snore I don't get sleepy during the day if I get a total of at least 7 hours of actual sleep). I am not diabetic, overweight, nor do I have kidney disease.
I am wondering if a lack of vasopressin is the culprit. Anybody have any experience with taking vasopressin? This problem seemed to start at about the same time as perimenopause.

[Unregistered]

Dear: Themis
In reference to your night-only urination problem. This is a common problem in older men. I just developed the problem at age 55. You should get a complete physical exam done by your family Doctor. In older men starting around midle age the PROSTRATE GLAND can give problems by either ( Enlarging Only) giving you the symtoms you describe. This is called BHP. However, in some cases the enlarging of the Prostrate Gland may be due to more serious causes such as Cancer. You really need to have your doctor do the proper tests so as to confirm your personal situation. The good news in all this, is that there are very successfull treatments that work for this type of problem. If you are like me and ask " What did I do or not do to bring this on me" the answer I have recieved is that, this is biological function of age. In other words it's in your GENE's or DNA that you inherited from your family background. Some people simply do better or worse then others in this whole area. I hope I have been of some help to you with my comments. Good-Luck and long life to you!!

[AmateurHistorian]

I don't know what this has to do with sleep apnea.

I have sleep apnea, and until I got effective treatment for it, I also had nocturia. Because my sleep was so poor, I would wake up every 1-1/2 to 2 hours, every night. And every time I woke up, I felt that I had to urinate. Sometimes I really did, but more often I only produced a few drops.

When I went to a clinic to get help for my chronic fatigue of 15+ years, I described the nocturia, thinking that that might be a cause of my sleep problems. But as it turned out, my sleep problems were due to apnea and also a low degree of anxiety. The nocturia was just a side effect of my disrupted sleep. As soon as I got effective treatment for the apnea and anxiety, the nocturia immediately stopped.

So I'm not saying that nocturia means that you have sleep apnea or anxiety. I'm just saying that it may be a side effect of some other sleep problem rather than its cause.

[Unregistered]

You are not the only one who has this problem. I have something similar to this. I am female and 25 and have had this problem for 4 years.
During the day I am completely fine when having to use the bathroom, however as soon as I lay down to sleep my body tells me I need to urinate and I get up and barely anything comes out. As soon as I get back into bed, my body tells me again that I have to urinate. I cannot fall asleep until about an hour and a half to 3 hours of getting up to urinate. (usually between 10 and 20 times before falling asleep) It is not fun. I have been on numerous medications (Detrol LA, Ditropan) and none of them have helped. I finally got fed up and went to a urologist and they did a urine test and found blood in my urine, then checked the bladder with a scope, filled up the bladder and then emptied it, still with no answer. They decided I needed to do something called Biofeedback, which is where you insert a tampon looking device and see how strong your bladder muscles are. They said everything is normal. I still have this problem and don't have any other place to figure this out.
I don't drink or eat anything after 8:00 and do not drink caffeine usually after 2:00pm.

I'm tired of going to doctors that don't know what they are doing and just prescribe something to get you out of their exam room.

If anyone has any answers or any other way to help me figure this out. Please e-mail me at dedesellman@yahoo.com