5 Tips to Stop Nighttime Bathroom Breaks From Ruining Your Sleep

If you get up during the night to urinate and go back to sleep after going to the bathroom, you have a common condition called nocturia. How common? One in three people over age 30 make at least two trips to the bathroom at night. And half of all men and women older than 60 are diagnosed with nocturia.

Beyond the frustration of having your sleep disrupted, nocturia causes daytime sleepiness and affects your overall health. In older adults, nighttime trips to the bathroom significantly increase the risk of serious falls.

Our team at Gulf Coast Urology in Houston and Nassau Bay, Texas, helps patients struggling with nocturia, whether it’s caused by urinary incontinence or another issue. We get to the source of the problem, provide personalized treatment, and restore the restful, uninterrupted sleep they need to energize their brain and body.

Here, we list out the top five tips for eliminating nighttime bathroom breaks:

1. Limit fluids at night

If you have to get up during the night to urinate, the first step toward solving the problem is limiting the amount of fluids you drink at night, especially two to four hours before bedtime. It’s also important to limit alcohol and caffeine in the afternoon and evening. Just be sure to drink plenty of fluids during the day.

2. Elevate your legs or wear compression socks

This tip helps people who have a buildup of fluid in their legs (peripheral edema), a problem that often occurs if you have vascular disease in your leg or congestive heart failure.

If you go to bed with excess fluid in your legs, it drains while you sleep, increasing urine volume, and leading to nighttime urination. Elevating your legs during the day drains the fluids so they don’t contribute to nocturia.

3. Take afternoon naps

A short nap has two benefits. For starters, it refreshes your energy when disrupted sleep makes you tired during the day. Laying down also allows excess fluids in your legs and body to be absorbed into the bloodstream. As a result, the fluids don’t contribute to nighttime urination.

4. Manage medications

Some medications affect the bladder’s storage capacity, increasing your chances of urinating during the night. A few examples include:

• Diuretics (water pills)
• Mood stabilizers (lithium)
• Beta-blockers
• Anticholinergics
• Cholinesterase inhibitors

If you need to take diuretics, try taking your last dose at least six hours before your usual bedtime. While it’s important to take your medications according to their instructions, talk with your prescribing physician to learn if you can adjust the timing of your dose to limit its impact on nocturia.

5. Seek treatment

Eliminating the condition responsible for your nocturia is the best way to stop nighttime trips to the bathroom. We successfully treat the most common causes of nocturia, including:

• Overactive bladder (a type of urinary incontinence)
• Enlarged prostate
• Reduced bladder capacity
• Neurogenic bladder
• Bladder obstruction
• Urinary tract infections
• Interstitial cystitis
• Chronic kidney disease
• Overproduction of urine at night (nocturnal polyuria)

Other health conditions can also contribute to nighttime urination. The top culprits include diabetes, congestive heart failure, and leg swelling (fluid buildup).

Whether you need to get up once or several times during the night, don’t let nocturia ruin your sleep and affect your health. Call the caring team at Gulf Coast Urology or request an appointment online today.