Waking up to pee in the middle of the night is a natural action, and it’s something that everyone does. However, there can be a point where you’re waking up to urinate several times, and where you have to pee so many times that it causes you to have sleepless nights.
Increased urination can be normal as you age, but peeing more can also be a potential sign of inflammation, diabetes, or a need to change your routine or habits at night.
How Can I Stop Waking Up to Pee at Night?
Here’s more about the potential causes of nighttime urination, and what you can do about it.
Test Your Blood Sugar
Blood sugar regulation is important, and requires the production of insulin. Diabetes and imbalanced blood sugar may cause frequent or increased urination, particularly at night. Combined with night sweats, imbalanced blood sugar is one potential cause for getting up more often to pee in the middle of the night.
Have a Prostate Exam
Prostate inflammation can be caused by age, medication, or certain cancerous conditions. If you combine increased or difficult urination with a feeling of pelvic discomfort, talk to your urologist and schedule a prostate exam.
Prostate exams are essential for adolescents and older males, especially when you begin to experience symptoms related to urinary or sexual health. Many conditions that trigger prostate difficulty are easier to treat when they are diagnosed in their earliest stages.
Test for a UTI (Or Other Infections)
A urinary tract infection (UTI) can cause changes in urination, which may happen in several different ways. Increased urination is possible, though sometimes this may also be combined with difficulty or pain when urinating.
If the bladder doesn’t fully empty, it can also point to the presence of an infection in the tract, bladder, or kidneys.
Untreated infections can lead to further health problems, though they are usually easy to treat with antibiotics.
Drink Less Alcohol
Alcohol is a common trigger for increased urination at night.
One reason for this is that alcohol is processed, in part, through the kidneys. When alcohol passes through, the body attempts to filter out toxins by urinating more.
Certain types of alcohol (like beer) are more likely to cause this.
If you are a habitual drinker, change your drink of choice, or adjust your habit to drink less in the evening to see if this makes a difference in how often you have to wake up at night to go to the bathroom.
Reduce Fluid Intake Before Bed
Drinking too much fluid directly before you go to sleep (or during the night) can cause you to get up more frequently to urinate. If you’re used to drinking water, juice, or anything else before bed then it might take a simple change to pee less at night.
Skip that last glass of your favorite drink, and see if your body allows you to sleep better.
If you experience increased thirst, it may be due to high salt intake or conditions like diabetes. Drinking more fluid before bed isn’t always the answer!
Discuss Your Current Medications
Medication could be the cause of frequent peeing at night, and this side-effect may happen at any point even if you have been taking the same medication for years.
Speak to your doctor and discuss any current drugs that could cause the problem. An added or altered prescription can be recommended by your medical professional.
Change Your Sleeping Time
If you’re tired of waking up to pee at the same time every night, then it may be your body’s natural clock keeping you awake. Change the time at which you choose to go to sleep, or set a night-time alarm so that your body knows it’s time to get up, pee, and go right back to sleep.
Tried everything else?
A change in routine could be what your body needs to get some sleep.
Limit Your Consumption of Diuretics
Berry-based fruit juices and drinks containing caffeine are both considered diuretics, or substances that will naturally increase urine production and the need to pee. Diuretics are great during a detox but may aggravate problems with how much you have to pee at night -- and for the most part, they’re not a great night-time drink for this reason.
Do not consume diuretics before bed, and your body will need to pee less, naturally.
Don't Let BPH Keep You Up At Night: Finding Relief
Looking for relief from your BPH symptoms? The approach to managing your symptoms varies depending on their severity. Let's explore different treatment possibilities and weigh their advantages and disadvantages.
Medications
Your doctor might prescribe medications to alleviate the symptoms linked to an enlarged prostate. This is a commonly chosen route—over 60 percent of men diagnosed with an enlarged prostate rely on medication to address their symptoms.
However, it's important to note that medications cannot provide a permanent cure for an enlarged prostate, and ongoing usage is necessary for symptom relief. Additionally, some medications may lead to side effects such as dizziness, fatigue, and sexual dysfunction.
Surgical Intervention
For moderate to severe symptoms, transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) surgery is an alternative. This surgical procedure entails the removal of a portion of the prostate tissue to restore proper urine flow through the urethra. While surgery effectively addresses an enlarged prostate, it is an invasive option, and it may take time for symptom relief to become noticeable.
Historically, TURP surgery has been recognized as a highly effective long-term treatment for an enlarged prostate. Following surgery, patients may require a temporary catheter inserted into the bladder for several days. Possible side effects include bleeding, infection, erectile dysfunction, and urinary incontinence. Furthermore, surgical procedures carry the risk of enduring complications like retrograde ejaculation or urinary leakage.
Minimally-Invasive Approaches
Minimally invasive procedures now offer early treatment alternatives that can help reduce reliance on BPH medications and avoid extensive surgery. One such example is the UroLift® System, which eliminates the need for continuous medication, tissue removal, or invasive procedures.
UroLift ensures a swift return to regular activities and boasts the lowest catheter usage rate among leading BPH procedures. Notably, the UroLift System stands out as the sole BPH procedure with evidence of not inducing persistent sexual dysfunction.
Learn more about BPH treatment - UroLift in Omaha, NE at Adult & Pediatric Urology.
Additional Information: New Data Suggest Men with Urinary Symptoms Often Anticipate Bathroom Needs and Avoid Events and Activities They Enjoy
ADULT PEDIATRIC UROLOGY & UROGYNECOLOGY
The attentive, compassionate physicians, providers, and staff at Adult Pediatric Urology & Urogynecology are committed to providing innovative, quality patient care in our state-of-the-art facility.
From screening and prevention to treatment and recovery, our health professionals will be there for you. Our team of dedicated physicians has been serving residents of Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota for more than 25 years.
