Parents of older bed wetters - how long does desmopressin usually take to start working??

[alwayslookingforanswers]

DS1 has just turned 9 and is still wet every single night. We tried an alarm (through the bed wetting clinic) a year or so ago and that didn't work. and after many delays with the Drs losing the letter from the clinic we've finally got the desmopressin melts. He's been having them for 2 weeks now and is still wet every night.

Is this normal? Does it usually take so long to "kick in".......or does it just not work for some people. I'm used to the sheet washing now, but I think he's starting to get upset about it now, he'll have his YR4 residentail at the end of this school year and we got a letter home about it yesterday and I could see the look on his face - he's worried he's still going to be wet by then.

[BoysAreLikeDogs]

desmo worked straight away for us

can you speak to your enuresis nurse asap, see if the dose can be altered

are you doing the other stuff:

more water during the day
no brown or red drinks
wee/teeth/wee before bed

poor lad, it's no fun is it

[alwayslookingforanswers]

yes he's (finally) drinking more in the day. He's not keen on blackcurrant squash anymore (thankfully) - just Orange squash - obviously that's not ideal - but as previously he was drinking no more than half a glass of fluid a day enuresis nurse said that orange squash was a massive improvement. Wee/teeth/wee routine in place for both DS1 and 2 (even though he's been dry for 2 1/2yrs now) as well.

May have to ring her and speak to her. While we were waiting for thd desmo to get sorted we had gone back into pull-ups (she agreed) at night to give us both a break.

[BoysAreLikeDogs]

what is the current dosage?

[alwayslookingforanswers]

sorry - went and had a shower.

Just checked the box - 120mg

[BoysAreLikeDogs]

I am sure that you can double the dosage to 240 with supervision

give the nurse a ring today, see if you can do this

good luck

[lucygreen]

the only thing is that when they come off the meds the problem can come back , we have had good results with the washable trainer pants/nappies arizona healthcare do for older kids. it gives them a dry sleep,but helps the brain link the wetness as it happens with the getting up to use the toilet. start charts and treats/consequences seem to work well at any age if done in the right way. hope that helps. my dd also had a potty under the bed for a couple of years so if she did wake as her trainer pants started to get wet she could jump up and keep going.