Limit Caffeine And Alcohol
Caffeine and alcohol have a diuretic effect on your body. That means they increase the amount of urine you produce. If youre having trouble controlling your bladder, consuming caffeinated beverages may be contributing to the problem.
To help manage your symptoms, consider limiting caffeine and alcohol, or avoiding them altogether. Coffee, tea, soda, chocolate, and certain medications are common sources of caffeine.
With An Overactive Bladder You May:
- Feel a sudden urge to urinate that is difficult to control.
- Experience incontinence, which is the involuntary loss of urine, as soon as you feel the need to urinate.
- Urinate frequently up to eight or more times per day.
- Wake up two or more times in the night to urinate.
Its important to understand that urge incontinence and overactive bladder are not caused by physical activity or movement, such as when you cough, exercise or sneeze. That type of incontinence would be classified as stress incontinence. Its possible to have stress and urge incontinence at the same time.
A urologist can inject Botox into your bladder to treat urge incontinence or overactive bladder. This helps the muscles relax, which will give you more time to get to the bathroom when you feel the need to urinate. The injections are done in the clinic, and most patients tolerate the injections well. They do not hurt as you may expect, but you may have some short-term discomfort. Many patients have compared it to a period cramp.
The good news is that most people get symptom relief quickly, in as short as a few days. The treatment results last about six months, and you can have additional injections. One possible side effect is urine retention, and it is not recommended for males with a risk or history of enlarged prostate.
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Alternative Treatments For Nocturia
Many people turn to complementary and alternative medicine before seeking medical help. You may also be interested in alternative medications or treatments for nocturia, but there are few studies to support their use. These treatments may work for nocturia, but only if OAB is the cause.
For example, research has found that:
- herbal medications have a positive impact on symptoms of OAB and quality of life
- acupuncture provides short-term relief for OAB symptoms
- homeopathic remedies may have benefits, but need more studies
- alternative treatments have fewer side effects than medications
- saw palmetto berry extract has no benefit for nocturia
But more research is needed to confirm if CAM works for OAB.
Always talk to your doctor before trying a supplement or alternative treatment. Certain CAM treatments can cause unintended side effects, especially if youre already taking medication.
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Consider Daytime Body Positioning
It may seem counterintuitive, but making some adjustments to your body positioning during the day may lend you a hand at night.
Lying down can actually contribute to increased urination. Research from 2009 on people with nocturia found that fluid accumulation in the legs during the day is associated with increased urine volume at night.
This is because the fluid thats built up in your legs while youre upright is better distributed into your bloodstream when you lie down. Since your kidneys filter excess fluids from the bloodstream, this can contribute to urine production.
Elevating your legs throughout the day and wearing compression socks may help to redistribute fluids back into your bloodstream during this time instead of letting them accumulate. This may help prevent multiple bathroom trips in the middle of the night.
This may be particularly helpful if you have OAB and another health condition that causes fluid buildup in the legs and ankles. A few examples include:
suggests that a medium-firm mattress is best for sleep quality, comfort, and spinal support. However, youll need to take your specific needs into account as well, such as:
- the position that you sleep in
- whether you share your bed with a partner
- if you have preexisting neck or back pain
- your price range
Some people with OAB may also experience something called urge incontinence. This is when a strong urge to urinate comes on and urine leaks out before you can get to the bathroom.
Symptoms Of Urinary Incontinence
Having urinary incontinence means you pass urine unintentionally.
When and how this happens varies depending on the type of urinary incontinence you have.
Although you may feel embarrassed about seeking help, its a good idea to see your GP if you have any type of urinary incontinence.
Urinary incontinence is a common problem and seeing your GP can be the first step towards finding a way to effectively manage the problem.
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Behavioral And Lifestyle Changes
Changing your lifestyle may help with bladder problems. Losing weight, quitting smoking, saying no to alcohol, choosing water instead of other drinks, and limiting drinks before bedtime can help with some bladder problems. Preventing constipation and avoiding lifting heavy objects may also help with incontinence. Even after treatment, some people still leak urine from time to time. There are bladder control products and other solutions, including disposable briefs or underwear, furniture pads, and urine deodorizing pills that may help.
Visit the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for more information on urinary incontinence in men and urinary incontinence in women.
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According to the Urology Care Foundation, women are at greater risk for UI than men because they have a shorter urethra than men. As a result, any weakness or damage to the urethra in a woman is more likely to cause urinary incontinence. This is because there is less muscle keeping the urine in your bladder until you are ready to urinate.
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How Do Bladder Botox Injections Work
Topics in this Post
Botox injections are not just for wrinkles on your face. They also can be used to help if you have ongoing bladder continence issues. Botox is one option to treat urge incontinence or overactive bladder in people who have not had success with other treatment options.
Urinary incontinence is common and can impair your social, physical or mental well-being. Approximately 17% of women and 3% to 11% of men suffer from urge incontinence at some point in their lives.
Urge incontinence is the unintentional loss of urine caused by your bladder contracting.
How Is Nocturia Diagnosed
The key diagnostic tool for nocturia is the frequency-volume chart , a simple test that can effectively guide diagnosis and treatment. This is a 24-hour record of the time of urination and volume of urination, requiring a clock, pencil, paper and measuring cup. Typical bladder capacity is 1012 ounces with 46 urinations per day.
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Take Charge: Seek Your Doctors Advice
Approximately 80% of those affected by urinary incontinence can be cured or improved, yet only one in 12 people with incontinence issues seek help. Talk to your doctor about your bladder control as it can dramatically improve your lifestyle.
Your doctor can investigate and establish a cause for your overactive bladder. Treatment can then be tailored to this cause and may involve medications, bladder retraining, pelvic floor exercises, absorbent products, surgery, or combinations of these options.
Plus, consider joining the Drugs.com Overactive Bladder Support Group. Here, you can connect with people with similar questions and concerns, share your experiences, and keep up with the latest new drug approvals, ongoing research, and medical news.
Why You May Have Bladder Leaks At Night
Often times, bladder leakage at night is a form of overflow incontinence. If you experience overflow incontinence, the involuntary release of urine from an overly full bladder, you likely experience urine leaks â a lot! Even at night. You naturally have to use the bathroom less while youâre sleeping than when youâre awake. This is because your body produces a hormone called ADH â anti diuretic hormone â that signals to your kidneys to produce less urine. However, some people donât produce the appropriate amount of ADH at night, leading to too much urine production.
Alternatively, even if your body produces enough ADH, your kidneys may not respond to the hormone. This means that your body will still produce too much urine, leading to maximum bladder capacity and leakage at night.
Often times, bedwetting in adults is genetic. If one of your parents wets the bed, you have a 40 percent chance of wetting the bed at some point in your adult life as well.
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How Is Nighttime Urination Diagnosed
Your doctor will diagnose nighttime urination by evaluating your symptoms and performing a physical examination. They may ask certain questions to determine potential causes for the condition.
Questions may include how many times you get up to urinate at night, how long youve been experiencing nighttime urination, and questions about your regular activities before bed.
For example, if you drink lots of fluids or take diuretics before bedtime, these can lead to nighttime urination.
Your doctor may order tests to determine the cause of frequent urination. Urinalysis looks at the chemical compounds present in urine. Urine concentration determines if your kidneys properly excrete water and waste products.
Other tests include a urine culture and post-void residual urine measurements. This test takes an ultrasound of the pelvic area to see how much urine remains in the bladder after urination.
Your doctor may order further tests if they suspect you have an underlying medical condition. They may order further tests to make a diagnosis. These tests include blood sugar, blood urea nitrogen, blood osmolality, creatinine clearance, and serum electrolytes.
These tests can determine how well the kidneys function. They also measure the concentration of certain chemical compounds in your blood. These tests can determine if nighttime urination is a side effect of kidney disease, dehydration, or diabetes.
How Is Nocturia Treated
Nocturia is treated on a case-by-case basis under the direction of a physician. This treatment may contain lifestyle modifications, medication, or both.
Lifestyle modifications to improve nocturia include:
Nocturia Medication
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Tips For Sleeping Well
Many doctors and urologists will recommend that people restrict the amount of alcohol and caffeine they drink throughout the day.
Even if these substances are not the cause of the disorder, both are diuretics and may make symptoms worse. Doctors may also suggest that people with nocturia drink fewer liquids during the evening and before bed.
Foods that are rich in liquids and foods that act as diuretics can be avoided as well. Examples include:
- artificial sweeteners
Keeping a food diary is a helpful tool for many people. Writing down what is eaten every day can help identify a link between symptoms and problematic foods.
Some people also benefit from training their bladder to help regain control of its contractions. If the bladder is used to contracting every hour to tell the body it is time to urinate, it will often continue this habit.
Over time, it may be possible to train the bladder to pass urine every 2-4 hours instead, or to hold it in overnight. This is best done under the guidance of a doctor.
OAB is caused by early and uncontrolled spasms of the bladder muscle, which makes a person have to urinate when their bladder is not actually full. This means regular urination throughout the day, and often during the night.
While people with OAB may experience frequent urination at night, people with nocturia tend to only experience frequent urination at night.
Many people with nocturia produce a normal amount of urine overall, but simply produce much more urine at night.
What Medications Can I Use For Overactive Bladder
Your doctor may suggest trying behavioral techniques before having you use a medication to treat overactive bladder. However, medications can work very well to return normal function to the bladder. Ask your doctor about the risks and benefits of using the following commonly prescribed medications:
Anticholinergic medications
These medications control muscle spasms in the bladder:
- Oxybutynin , oxybutynin XL , oxybutynin TDDS .
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Types Of Urinary Incontinence
There are different types of incontinence:
- Stress incontinence occurs when urine leaks as pressure is put on the bladder, such as during exercise, coughing, sneezing, laughing, or lifting heavy objects. Its the most common type of bladder control problem in younger and middle-aged women. It also may begin later, around the time of menopause.
- Urge incontinence happens when people have a sudden need to urinate and cannot hold their urine long enough to get to the toilet. It may be a problem for people who have diabetes, Alzheimers disease, Parkinsons disease, multiple sclerosis, or stroke.
- Overflow incontinence happens when small amounts of urine leak from a bladder that is always full. A man can have trouble emptying his bladder if an enlarged prostate is blocking the urethra. Diabetes and spinal cord injuries can also cause this type of incontinence.
- Functional incontinence occurs in many older people who have normal bladder control. They just have a problem getting to the toilet because of arthritis or other disorders that make it hard to move quickly.
Do The Right Exercises
High-impact exercise and sit-ups put pressure on your pelvic floor muscles and can increase leaks.
To strengthen your pelvic floor to relieve symptoms, replace high-impact exercise, such as jogging and aerobics, with strengthening exercise, such as pilates.
Pilates strengthens your core muscles, which is beneficial for stress incontinence.
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Limit Common Bladder Irritants
Some fluids are more difficult for your bladder to process than others. We call these bladder irritants. Caffeine, alcohol and high-citrus content can make symptoms worse. Many people can reduce or even eliminate symptoms by avoiding common irritants most days. Tobacco is also very irritating to the bladder lining, in addition to increasing bladder cancer risk.
Tips For Getting Your Groove Back
There are some things you can do to ward off discomfort or embarrassment during sex.
Talk about it. First, know that your partner will probably be a lot more understanding than you expect. Then bring it up before you have intercourse. âDonât wait until it happens and say, âOh, guess what?ââ Denson says. âItâs better to be upfront and honest ahead of time.â
Plan. Prepare for sex, just as you do for bedtime. Double-void, cut back on fluids, and avoid foods and beverages that are likely to irritate your bladder.
Keep up the Kegels. Doing these several times a day — and even during intercourse — will help prevent urine leakage during sex.
All of these approaches can help you manage your overactive bladder at night, letting you get a better nightâs sleep and have a more active and satisfying sex life. But Sanz adds that if your overactive bladder is really causing you problems, thereâs no reason you need to live with it.
âThere is hope. There is treatment,â he says. You need to be evaluated by a urogynecologist, who will talk to you about three types of treatment: behavioral modification, medication, and surgical procedures are available, he says. âYou donât have to let an overactive bladder interfere with your life.â
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Alcohol Consumption Before Bed
Many people experience bedwetting only after they have consumed alcoholin the hours before bedtime. Alcohol suppresses ADH production and irritates the detrusor muscle, which signals to your brain that its time to urinate.
Treating alcohol-related incontinence: Reducing your alcohol intake can make a big difference in your life, especially if it is causing uncomfortable side effects like bedwetting.
Risk Factors For Bedwetting
Gender and genetics are among the main risk factors for developing bedwetting in childhood. Both boys and girls may experience episodes of nocturnal enuresis during early childhood, usually between ages 3 and 5. But boys are more likely to continue to wet the bed as they get older.
70 percent if both parents had bedwetting as children.
Bedwetting is also more common among children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder . Researchers dont yet fully understand the relationship between bedwetting and ADHD.
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