If you suffer from an overactive bladder, you already know how it can impact the quality of your life, forcing you to plan trips and activities around bathroom breaks. One consequence that you may not realize is the impact it can have on your overall health and well-being by disrupting your sleep patterns. How many times do you wake up during the night to urinate? If you get up more than once per night (or even once per night, every night), then your overactive bladder is ruining your sleep. There are a number of actions you can take that can minimize this problem.
Watch Your Fluid Intake
Try to stop drinking any type of beverage at least two hours before retiring for the night. The less you drink, the less there will be in your bladder to cause nighttime pressure. Certain types of beverages are particularly irritating to the bladder. It is best to avoid drinking any type of caffeinated or alcoholic beverage after the early part of the afternoon, so have that glass of wine with lunch, not dinner. Other potential irritants you should avoid include drinks flavored with artificial sweeteners, carbonated beverages or anything particularly salty.
Urinate Before You Go to Bed
Be sure to empty your bladder right before getting into bed and try to empty it completely. You may wish to try the double-voiding technique, meaning you go and then wait a few minutes and go again. One way to do this is to urinate, then attend to any other pre-bedtime matters (like brushing hair or teeth and taking out contact lenses), and then urinate one last time.
Protect Yourself from Accidents
If you fear that your bladder may act up before you can wake up, protect your bedding by taking a few simple precautions. Adult incontinence undergarments are available in a wide variety of sizes and styles, as are protective waterproof pads for mattresses.
Try a Natural Remedy
A variety of herbal remedies claim to relieve overactive bladder symptoms. One standout is pumpkin seed oil, which in several clinical trials in Japan was shown to reduce incidents of nighttime incontinence by 68 percent. Other herbal remedies that have proven effective to a certain degree include saw palmetto (primarily for prostate-related bladder trouble), cornsilk, buchu and the pineapple-derived bromelain.
Consult a Doctor
If your overactive bladder is seriously impacting your life, at night or during the day, see a doctor. There may be an underlying cause such as an enlarged prostate or prolapsed vaginal wall that can easily be cured with minimally invasive surgery. You may also be a candidate for treatment with one of the various prescription drugs that treat overactive bladder symptoms, such as Tolterodine (available as Detrol), Trospium (sold under the name Santura), Darifenicin (sold as Enablex) and Oxybutynin (available in a patch as Oxytrol).
