It Could Be Affecting Your Physical And Mental Health
What’s a common sleep problem you may have? No, we’re not talking about snoring again. We’re talking about nocturia. Yes, the sleep-disrupting urge to pee multiple times a night. More than 50% of people age 60-70 have to run to the bathroom in the middle of the night. And that number jumps up to 80 or 90% when they get older.
Polyuria And Type 1 Diabetes
What causes frequent urination with diabetes? Polyuria occurs when your body urinates more frequentlyand often in larger amountsthan normal. Frequent urination is also a symptom of undiagnosed type 1 diabetes that can lead to extreme dehydration and eventually affect your kidney function. Polyuria in diabetes occurs when you have excess levels of sugar in the blood. Normally, when your kidneys create urine, they reabsorb all of the sugar and direct it back to the bloodstream. With type 1 diabetes, excess glucose ends up in the urine, where it pulls more water and results in more urine. What should I do if I think Im experiencing type 1 diabetes-related polyuria? If you find you are suddenly urinating more frequentlyespecially if its accompanied by other symptomsits important to see your doctor. As we mentioned above the dehydration that results from polyuria, or excessive urination, can lead to kidney problemsor even diabetic ketoacidosis, which can be life-threatening.Continue reading > >
Could My Age Make A Difference
The older you are, the more likely you are to need to pee at night.
As you age, your body produces less of a hormone that helps concentrate urine so that you can hold it until the morning.
When you’re older you’re also more likely to have other health problems that make you need to pee overnight. Your gender can play a role, too:
- Men: An enlarged prostate is common when you’re an older guy. It usually isnât serious, but it can keep you from emptying your bladder.
- Women: After menopause, you make less estrogen. That can cause changes in the urinary tract that make you have to go more often. If youâve had children, the muscles in your pelvis may be weaker, too.
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Other Reasons You Pee At Night
Diabetes is just one reason you might be waking often to use the bathroom. There are lots of others, including:
Age. As years pass, your body makes less of a hormone that limits the amount of urine you make at night. So there’s more in your bladder. Aging also affects how much urine your bladder can hold.
Drinking too much. Whether itâs water or drinks with caffeine or alcohol, too much before bedtime can fill your bladder and wake you up.
Diabetes insipidus. Unrelated to type 1 or 2 diabetes, this condition causes your kidneys to make too much urine.
Other things that could have you up often to pee include:
- Tingly or numb feeling in your hands or feet
- More infections and slower healing
See your doctor if you notice any of these.
How To Know For Sure
Itâs important to know for sure if you have diabetes. Itâs a serious condition that can lead to many other health problems. Your doctor can use several kinds of blood tests to diagnose diabetes or rule it out.
Tests include:
A1c. Also called a glycated hemoglobin test, this measures your average blood sugar level for the past 2 or 3 months. You donât need to fast or drink anything special for this test. An A1c level of 6.5 or higher shows you have diabetes. Below 5.7 is normal.
Fastingblood sugar. After you fast overnight, your blood is tested. A level higher than 126 mg/dL or higher on two tests shows diabetes. Below 100 mg/dL is normal.
Oral glucose tolerance. After you fast all night, you give a blood sample both before and 2 hours after you finish a sweet drink. Blood sugar levels of more than 200 mg/dL after 2 hours means you have diabetes. Less than 140 mg/dL is normal.
Random blood sugar. You give blood at a random time. A level of 200 mg/dL or higher shows diabetes.
You’ll need these done twice to make a firm diagnosis.
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Cause Of Nocturia: An Irritated Bladder Or An Infection
Similarly, irritants like spicy food, alcohol, and urinary tract infections can trick your bladder into thinking its full, says Dr. Phillips. Bladder problems will also likely show up as frequent urination throughout the day, not just at night.
Another challenge to your bladder can be bladder infections. Yes, men can get them, too, particularly if they have an enlarged prostate, kidney stones, or their urethra narrows in size due to sexually transmitted infections or injuries. Other signs of a bladder infection including burning or tingling, fever, and bloody or cloudy urine.
Incontinence Products Through Insurance
Urinary incontinence can steal sleep, cause stress, and keep you from living your fullest life. It may be common, but it does not have to be your normal. It may be embarrassing, at first, to discuss your incontinence issues with your doctor, but the reward of a diagnosis and treatment plan will be worth the few moments of embarrassment. We promise! The list of treatment options extends past the above list, and finding the right treatment option for you can significantly improve your quality of life. If you have diabetes and are dealing with incontinence, a simple trip to the urologist could give you your confidence back.
We also recognize that managing incontinence can be expensive, but with our help, you may be able to receive continence care products through insurance. Check your eligibility through our qualify form to get started, and we will take care of the rest. Its that easy!
*Information provided on the Aeroflow Urology blog is not intended as a substitute to medical advice or care from a healthcare professional. Aeroflow recommends consulting your healthcare provider if you are experiencing medical issues relating to incontinence.
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Does Frequent Urination Disrupt Sleep
Multiple research studies, including a Sleep in America Poll by the National Sleep Foundation, have consistently found that nocturia is one of the most commonly reported causes of sleep disruptions. Especially in older adults, it is frequently listed as a cause of poor sleep and insomnia.
Many people, perhaps over 40%, have trouble quickly getting back to bed, which can mean reduced sleep time and more fragmented, lower-quality sleep. Not surprisingly, nocturia is commonly associated with excessive daytime sleepiness which can translate to impaired physical and mention function, irritability, and a higher risk of accidents.
Urinating More At Night
Drinking too much fluid during the evening can cause you to urinate more often during the night. Caffeine and alcohol after dinner can also lead to this problem. Other common causes of urination at night include: Infection of the bladder or urinary tract Drinking a lot of alcohol, caffeine, or other fluids before bedtime Enlarged prostate gland Pregnancy Other conditions that can lead to the problem include: Chronic kidney failure Diabetes Heart failure High blood calcium level Certain medicines, including water pills Waking often during the night to urinate can also be linked to obstructive sleep apnea and other sleeping disorders. Nocturia may go away when the sleeping problem is under control.Continue reading > >
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Why Do We Urinate At Night
Enlarged prostate: Men with an enlarged prostate may have difficulty completely emptying their bladder, which leads to urinary retention. At night, any small increase in urine in the bladder may lead to a heightened sensation to use the bathroom. Your primary care physician or urologist can assess you for these symptoms.
Overactive bladder: This may be secondary to nerve problems, medications, or lifestyle behaviors that make the muscles in your bladder work overdrive. Your primary care physician or urologist can help assess for these symptoms.
Excess fluid intake: If you are drinking fluids right before bed, especially caffeinated or alcoholic beverages, you may wake up to urinate because your kidneys will filter this fluid out while you sleep. Limit your intake during the three hours before bedtime and your symptoms may decline.
: This is a serious sleep disorder where breathing starts and stops. 50 percent of people with this condition may experience increased nighttime urination. This may be due to waking up from difficulty with breathing or an alternation in your hormones from the abnormal sleep patterns that increase your urine production. Sleep apnea is a serious condition that can be treated easily if it is diagnosed early. If you have symptoms, please see your doctor as soon as possible.
Neurologic problems:Damage to nerves that supply the bladder can lead to problems with bladder function, including frequent and sudden urges to urinate.
What Are Other Health Risks Related To Nocturia
The consequences of frequent urination at night go beyond just poor sleep. For older adults, nocturia creates a higher risk of falls, especially if they are rushing to get to the bathroom. Studies indicate that fall and fracture risks increase by 50% or more for people with two or more nighttime bathroom trips.
Nocturia has been associated with reduced scores on quality of life measurements as well as negative health conditions including depression. Beyond specific negative impacts, nocturia has also been connected to higher overall mortality although further research is necessary to fully understand this correlation.
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Do I Need To See A Doctor
You should see a doctor if you have painful conditions that disrupt your sleep, and preventative measures and lifestyle changes fail to improve it.
Persistent nocturia could be the sign of a health condition such as urge incontinence, prostate problems or a low level of the anti-diuretic hormone .
If necessary there are medications your doctor can prescribe to help relieve your symptoms.
Silent Symptoms Of Diabetes
More than 30 million Americans have diabetes, including 7.2 million that are undiagnosed. Additionally, 1.5 million Americans are newly diagnosed each year. Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90 to 95 percent of all diabetes cases. Diabetes has plenty of early signs, but some symptoms are subtle. Here are 10 subtle signs of diabetes:
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Blurred Vision Could Be A Result Of Rapid Blood Sugar Changes
Blurred vision can occur when there are rapid changes in blood sugar from low to high or high to low and the eye muscles have not yet adapted to it, Dr. Einhorn says.
The lens of the eye is a flexible membrane suspended by muscles that change the shape of the lens to focus the eye. In a high-sugar environment, such as with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes, the lens loses some of its ability to bend, he explains, and the muscles of the eye have to work harder to focus.
The good news: Caught early, diabetes-related vision changes can return to normal after about six week of healthy blood sugar levels, Turner says. Caught in time, vision may take about six weeks to return to normal.
You Have Overactive Bladder Syndrome
This can be fairly common: People with overactive bladder syndrome might experience involuntary bladder contractions that lead to frequent and often urgent urination, meaning you get that urge even when your bladder is empty.
A frustrating situation, says Dr. Nandi, as it may also lead you to wake up once or more during the night to use the bathroom. The good news is that treatment for an overactive bladder can help. Try bladder retraining, says Nandi, which involves increasing the intervals between using the bathroom over the course of about 12 weeks. This helps retrain your bladder to hold urine longer and to urinate less frequently, he explains.
Some people find success with Botox, he notes. Botox can be injected into the bladder muscle, causing the bladder to relax, increasing its storage capacity, and reducing episodes of leakage, and several types of surgery are also available. The least invasive involve implanting small nerve stimulators just beneath the skin. The nerves they stimulate control the pelvic floor and the devices can manipulate contractions in the organs and muscles within the pelvic floor, he explains. Heres how to recognize 10 other signs you have an overactive bladder.
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What Causes Nighttime Urination
Aging is one of the biggest contributing factors to nighttime urination.
As we age, the body produces less of the antidiuretic hormone that helps us retain fluid. This results in increased urine production, especially at night. Muscles in the bladder can also become weak over time, making it more difficult to hold urine in the bladder.
Aging isnt the only contributing factor to nighttime urination. Other common causes include chronic urinary tract infections, drinking excess fluids before bed, bacterial infection in the bladder, and medications that encourage urination .
Women may experience frequent urination as a result of pregnancy and childbirth. These circumstances can weaken the bladder and pelvic floor muscles.
In some cases, nighttime urination is a symptom of an underlying medical condition. Disease and conditions associated with frequent urination include chronic kidney failure, congestive heart failure, diabetes, and enlarged prostate. It may also be a symptom of sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia, or restless leg syndrome.
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Heart disease can be another cause of nocturia as when your heart and circulation get weaker you will notice ankle swelling.
Whilst you are lying down or have your feet in the air, the fluid from this swelling is absorbed in the blood stream and then removed by the kidneys, which increases your need to urinate.
Another medical condition that can increase the chance of needing to pee during the night is diabetes.
This is because high blood sugar levels both increase your thirst so that you drink more, and irritate the bladder.
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You Have Prostate Problems
An enlarged prostate can press against the urethra and block the flow of urine, which can cause the bladder wall to become irritable, says Dr. Nandi. The bladder can begin to contract even when it contains small amounts of urine, and that can lead to more frequent urination, he explains.
If men suffer from benign prostatic hyperplasia, there is a need to urinate more frequently, especially at night. This condition is called nocturia, and it is defined as having to urinate eight or more times a night, he explains. Plus, when the prostate is enlarged, it puts added pressure on the urethra and bladder, which causes an inability to hold urine, but also difficulty with peeing at ease, he explains. Learn more about your prostate health.
Peeing Often Is A Condition Which Can Be Caused Due To Other Problems By Diabetes
There are many symptoms and signs of diabetes and frequent visits to the toilet is certainly one of them. But yes, just because you are peeing more frequently doesnt always mean you have got diabetes. We need to understand the relationship between urination and diabetes.
When a person suffers from diabetes the body produces less insulin, a vital hormone which converts sugar to energy. Less insulin means, the kidneys have to step in to process the sugar in the body. Having too much sugar in the body makes the kidneys flush out more liquid from the body which is the cause of the more than usual loo breaks.
Diabetic patients face the condition of hyperglycemia which can cause sweet smelling urine. The change in the smell of urine is one of the solid evidence indicating that the person has developed diabetes. In other cases, sweet smelling urine is the outcome of Diabetic Ketoacidosis, a life threatening condition. It is caused by type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
Cloudy urine can also be one of the symptoms of diabetes. Although cloudy urine can also be produced due to many other causes which have little or no relation with diabetes.
Peeing often is a condition which can be caused due to other problems by diabetes. Those problems include:
- Kidney infection
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How To Treat Frequent Urination Caused By Diabetes
Treating bladder problems stemming from diabetes is best approached by treating the disease as a whole.
Simply monitoring fluid intake or scheduling bathroom trips likely wont help much, as the major problem is excess blood sugar, not excess fluid.
If you do have diabetes, your doctor will come up with a treatment plan specifically for you. In general, common treatments for diabetes include:
Why Does Diabetes Cause Frequent Urination
Diabetes is a condition that, among other symptoms, causes your body to have trouble creating or using insulin.
Insulin is a hormone that draws glucose or sugar into the cells to use as energy. This can result in highly elevated blood sugar levels.
Too much sugar in your blood is extremely taxing on the kidneys, which work to process that sugar. When the kidneys arent up to the job, much of that glucose is eliminated from the body through your urine.
This process also flushes out valuable hydrating fluids from your body, often leaving people with diabetes peeing frequently as well as dehydrated.
Early on, you may not even notice that youre urinating more often than normal. One of the key warning signs, however, should be if frequent urination starts to wake you up from sleep and deplete your energy levels.
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