Keep Peeing at Night? When It’s Time to See Your Doctor
We’ve had a couple of readers reach out about their nocturnal bathroom visits. For anyone over a certain age, this is a condition most of us have experienced.
Their questions are about what causes it, how to cut it down, and most importantly, whether they should seek medical help.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, if you’re waking up more than once after bedtime to urinate, it’s called nocturia. It’s a very common condition, but one you shouldn’t shrug off.
We recommend tracking this in a diary, as you should be able to sleep six to eight hours without repeated bathroom trips.
The reality is that, as you age, broken sleep happens. The annoying part is nocturia isn’t always just your bladder, it can be your body showing signs of something else.
Therefore, if you’re going to the bathroom multiple times a night on a regular basis, see your doctor, as it may relate to other conditions. However, if it happened once or twice, there could be a number of causes. This is why it’s important to track your nighttime bathroom visits.
Causes of nighttime bathroom breaks
Here’s the catch, it can happen because alcohol and caffeine increase urine production. Northwestern Medicine HealthBeat reported that some foods and drinks can also irritate the bladder even when it isn’t full. All of this can increase the need to urinate at night and disrupt sleep.
Another potential reason in men is an enlarged prostate, also called BPH. According to the USA Prostate Centers, this is a very common reason nighttime urination starts to climb, especially around and after age 60.
There might not be an obvious reason for nighttime bathroom visits, too. For example, fluid can pool in your legs during the day. At night, when you lie down, that fluid shifts back into your bloodstream. Your kidneys then turn it into urine at the worst possible time.
This is why it’s essential to track whether your increased nighttime peeing is tied to what you’re consuming, long periods of sitting during the day, or a potential warning sign.
When to act?
The answer to this is always the same, immediately. Don’t put off seeing a doctor, especially if this is disrupting your sleep or may be linked to bigger health issues like diabetes, high blood pressure, or heart failure.
Additionally, if you have any of the following symptoms along with your nightly bathroom visits, see your doctor right away:
- Burning pain, fever, or cloudy urine
- Blood in the urine
- New swelling in your feet or legs, or shortness of breath
- Extreme thirst
- Unexplained weight loss
- Weak stream, straining, or feeling blocked
The Sleep Foundation adds that it’s especially important to get checked if nocturia suddenly gets more severe or is disrupting daytime functioning.
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