Nocturia | Excessive Urination at Night

Nocturia or frequent urination at night is a condition in which a person needs to urinate frequently during the night. The patient feels the fullness of the urinary bladder and wakes up for going to the washroom. It may happen due to different medical or psychological reasons. The frequent changes in between the duration of urination gaps with the weather change cannot be labeled as Nocturia. Usually, the urine output increases during the winter season because of less sweating. Excessive urination due to decreased sweating is not a sign of Nocturia.

Causes of Nocturia or Excessive urination at night

There may be different causes of excessive urination at night. Some of the known causes are given in the subsequent bullet points; however, the right reason can be sought out with proper evaluation and laboratory investigation. A scan of the urinary and genital system can also be advised by the physician. A physician is a person who can give a better opinion about Nocturia.

·                     The enlargement of prostate glands is one of the common causes of excessive urination during the night.   

·                     Excessive caffeine intake also increases the urine output and causes frequent urination at night.

·                     Diabetic patients also feel the fullness of the bladder while asleep.

·                     Drinking plenty of fluids before sleeping also increases urine output but this condition is not included in Nocturia.

Complications caused by Nocturia

Nocturia is also a cause of sleep apnea. The numbers of cases with frequent urination at night have been reported between the ages of 55 to 84 years. In this age group, enlargement of prostate glands and diabetes suffer Nocturia. The symptoms also exist during the daytime but the sufferer may no notice. However, frequent awakening during the night makes the individual realize about abnormal urge to urinate. The major complication of Nocturia is sleep deprivation followed by other symptoms of sleep disorders. Disturbance in the sleep pattern affects different body systems causing sleep disorders related systems like anxiety and hypertension etc.

Treatment of Nocturia

The treatment is based on the cause of frequent urination at night. The concerned doctor must be consulted on immediate after developing the symptoms. In some cases, surgical intervention may be recommended for the diagnosed cases of enlarged prostate glands. Diabetic patients are treated with medications to control blood sugar levels. The controlled sugar level is helpful to minimize the effects of Nocturia. The treatment of other causes of Nocturia is symptomatic. Changing habits is helpful to overcome this problem.

Remedial measures to accommodate and live with Nocturia

Sleep deprivation is a very serious drawback of excessive urination at night. Some measures can reduce the effects of this health issue until proper diagnosis and treatment. The following remedial measures can be helpful to decrease the excessive urination at night.

·                     Avoid taking too much coffee or tea in the evening and night.

·                     Water is very important for good health and the basic need of life. The patients with frequent nocturnal urination should take more fluids in the early hours. Possibly stop drinking fluids two hours before going to bed.

Excessive sleeping | Is it Bad or good for health?

What is excessive sleeping or oversleeping?

The normal nighttime sleep from 7-9 hours cannot be considered as excessive sleeping for adults. Similarly, the children sleep hours change with their age and growth. However, in some cases we see the people sleeping beyond the normal sleep hours. Even some people cannot control their sleep while on work. After sufficient sleep during the night, they seem to be feeling sleepy during the daytime. You may have noticed people sleeping while traveling on a bus, train or airplane. Let us differentiate the condition of excessive sleeping from usual sleep.

5 Probable causes of excessive sleeping

There are different causes of excessive sleepiness during the daytime. However, the main reason behind the prolonged daytime sleep is deprivation during the night. The night is best for sleep. 6-8 hours quiet night sleep refreshes the body systems. The daytime or extended sleep is mostly due to lack of sleep during the night. The probable causes of excessive sleep are as under:-

1. Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is one of the major causes of sleep deprivation which results in excessive sleepiness during daytime. Obstructive sleep apnea causes a disturbance in sleep but the individual does not know about the condition. However, a roommate or spouse sleeping next to the bed can notice the condition. We will discuss sleep apnea in another post.

2. Sleep deprivation

Sleep deprivations may also lead to excessive sleeping. However, the individual can recover with rest. The repeated exposure to sleep deprivation can aggravate the condition followed by other symptoms like headache, nausea, lethargy, apathy, and fatigue.

3. Sedating medicines

Uses of sedating medicines also cause an increase in sleep. Even the patient sleeps more during the daytime. The sedative medicines prescribed by a doctor are given for a specific period. Continuous use of sedating drugs can cause other complications. So, it is recommended that the use of sedating medicines beyond medical advice should be avoided.

4. Certain medical and psychiatric conditions

Some particular medical and psychiatric conditions also cause excessive sleep. The patient sustaining concussion feels drowsiness during the daytime. Some of the Neurological conditions like Parkinsonism also lead to excessive daytime sleepiness. Psychiatric illness like depression and anxiety may lead to daytime sleep. The patients suffering from depression/anxiety either sleep too much or feel sleeplessness.

5. Unbalanced lifestyle

The smartphone has brought a change in the lifestyle of a common person. This change also affected the natural sleep of the people. The easy, uninterrupted and portable access to social media and other platforms has made the people too busy that they don’t care about the sleep and rest hours. Especially, the young generation has become the target of this access. Connecting with the mobile phone keeps the user awake unnecessarily during the night. This irregular sleep also causes excessive sleep during the daytime.

How to control excessive sleeping?

Once you know about the cause of excessive sleep during the daytime, you can easily manage it except medical and psychiatric conditions. The individual or his roommate/partner can understand the reason for excessive sleepiness. For any medical and psychiatric cause immediately consult the physician. However, for self-imposed causes like voluntary awaking during the night and use of sedative drugs can be controlled with motivation.