As people get older, getting up in the night to go to the toilet more often is an annoying fact of life.
Of course, leaving the cosy sheets to pad off to the loo is a nuisance when you live in a house; a bit more so when you’re manoeuvring to the ensuite in a cramped RV; and it’s a total horror show when you’re camping in the bush and you haven’t got a toilet in the van!
Apart from the hassles of physically getting up and going, frequent night-time trips to the loo also stop you getting a good night’s sleep and potentially leave you feeling cranky in the morning.
The experts say that if you find yourself waking up to urinate more than twice each night, you may have a condition called nocturia, which is most common in people over the age of 60.
As we age, the body produces less of the antidiuretic hormone that helps us retain fluid. Muscles in the bladder can also become weak over time, making it more difficult to hold urine in the bladder.
There are a couple of things that people can try to perhaps reduce the night-time urination urge. An obvious one is to watch what you’re eating and drinking in the few hours before bed to ensure you’re not falling asleep with an already too-full bladder. It is clearly very important though not to limit your fluids too much.
It’s also worth trying to avoid caffeine after the morning, and to limit alcohol at night. Both can make urine more acidic which can irritate the lining of the bladder, causing you to need the bathroom more frequently.
For people who find their ankles or legs swell up during the day, the fluid that builds up will then get sent back into the bloodstream when you lie down to sleep, which increases your blood pressure. This can make the kidneys work harder to create more urine so your body can flush the excess fluid out of your system … and thus make you wake up to empty your bladder. It can help to elevate the legs periodically to avoid any fluid build-up in the ankles and calves, and to use compression socks.
Sometimes, of course, getting up to go the toilet is simply a habit that people get into when they can’t sleep. If you are just ‘trickling’ when you get up, insomnia may be the major problem rather than nocturia and adopting some techniques to get a deeper sleep is the best starting point.
Nocturia does sometimes have underlying causes so it’s important to get a thorough check-up done by your doctor to rule out any other conditions.
