to ask if anyone knows how I can stop needing to get up at 4am for a wee

[ArabellaWhittaker]

I'm in my 50s, fit and in good health. But my sleep is disturbed every night by needing to get up for a wee. I don't drink alcohol or loads of caffeine.

AIBU to ask if anyone knows how I can stop this?

*I meant drinking water mostly during first half of the day.
I also stopped drinking coffee and tea over month ago - so that might have had impact as well....

I also second the 'just before I go to sleep wee'. I do one after I brush my teeth but will then get into bed to read or MN and then just before I go to sleep will go for the second wee! Gives me 5/6 hours compared to when I used to get 2/3 :)

It might be worth visiting your GP just to rule out medical conditions. I was going four or five times a night and thought it was just my age. In fact when I went to see my GP about a chronic cough, it was discovered that I have pulmonary oedema. Now that I take diuretics to keep the fluid out of my lungs I never have to go during the night.

I'm not saying you have a medical problem - but better being sure!

Menopause?

My sleep was dreadful, and I was up piddling at least twice a night - until I started HRT. The difference it made - wow! I had no idea that it was anything to do with menopause. Hadn't even mentioned it to the GP, just said that I was sleeping badly.

See. 3.30. Here I go again.

I'm a similar age, I do it too. I'm not diabetic, I've had routine bloods done recently which has ruled that out. I'm on certain meds though and a side effect is dry mouth so I do tend to drink a lot of water.

Sigh. I'm here too!

Me an' all. Been up since 4am.

I'm pregnant at the moment so I get up about 3-4 times but get easily back to sleep but even when I'm not pregnant I get up 2-3 times.
I had some sort of test on my bladder which showed that it was half the size of a normal bladder so no wonder I can't last as long.

I also have only one kidney so not sure how that would affect it.

I find wearing an eye mask helps me get straight off to sleep.

Two of my four brothers are just the same for getting up for the loo a lot so I wonder if it's an inherited thing.

I do this too and I'm 33. It drives me mad because dd is often up fifteen minutes later so am sure I disturb her...

I'm 43. Get up for a wee every single night without fail regardless of how much I drink. Have been like this since having kids over 10 years ago. If I get to 5.30 am ish I rarely get back to sleep either. It's almost a relief to have to go about 2 or 3 am cus I know I'll drop off again.

Go to the docs people! Could be a range of things.

This is me too, for as long as I can remember. I'm 41 and don't have children, so I always get a bit when I read on here people who assume that if you don't have young DCs you get 8 hours of blissful uninterrupted sleep every night.

My normal pattern is last wee before I go to bed, need to get up once or usually twice during the night and then wake up busting to go again about 6 am and I usually get up then. I only drink alcohol a few times a month and don't see any difference if I don't drink anything in the evening. I'm thirsty in the night as we'll. I've been tested for diabetes and I don't have it.

I will try drinking more in the day, but that just usually makes me go more in the daytime.

So do most people not wee at night then? If I ask the doctor will they think imam wasting their time? Is it an actual condition, or just 'a thing' that I have to live with?

What prevents people needing to wee at night is the production of a hormone called vasopressin, which is secreted while you sleep and shuts the kidneys down. Babies and young children do not produce it, and sometimes elderly people stop producing it. But if you have never slept through the night without needing to wee, it's possible - I imagine - that you have never produced it, or not in enough quantity, or your lidneys don't respond to it. And if you are getting rid of fluid through seeing, then naturally you will be thirsty. You can get a medication called Desmopressin, which is an artificial form of vasopressin, and take it at bedtime, but it does not work on everybody.

Don't wear underwear, the knicker elastic puts pressure right on your bladder.
I bought some cheap baggy pj bottoms, cut them off mid thigh (cos girls pjs are either hot pants or full lenght), and wear those instead.
Hey presto... Full nights sleep.
Disclaimer: I'm only mid forties.

Habit for me for sure. I have just come out of 8yrs of night wakings thanks to dc and would always go for a wee when they woke me. Since November they have all finally been sleeping through and for a few weeks i continued to wake in the night needing to go, but eventually I forced myself to ignore it and go back to sleep, and now I rarely wake in the night.

We do eat dinner early though (6pm) and I rarely have anything to drink after this. Not that that made any difference when I was waking for wees.

If i have an evening cup of tea, I am always up needing the toilet. And I could never drink 2 litres of water a day or whatever the recommended amount as I would be up half the night. If I don't drink in the evening I'm fine.

I can't remember ever not waking up for a wee! Part of it is I drink loads of water and also I am partial to a bit of insomnia so often I wake up then I try and go back to sleep, wonder if I need a wee and end up just going anyway as I'm wide awake and just incase............

I'm 31 and have got up to pee on the night at least once probably the last 10 years, if not longer. Actually doesn't seem to be any worse since having DD 6 months ago thankfully. However, I do sometimes find if we are away from home, then I don't do it. So I dunno if maybe it's habit, or poor sleep. Hmmm.

I started hrt last week. No 4am wakings for a wee since day 3 and better sleep than I can remember for years.

Once a night is what I get up, since I was about forty, seems normal to me, not sure the doctor would be interested in a once nightly habit (4/5 times for sure you should mention this to them).

I think childbirth and age has taken its toll, I go more in the day than I used to. It's not an over-active bladder and I don't go everytime I have the urge, but at night, when I do go I needed to go if you see what I mean, so I think it's just one of those things.

I've seen the doctor more than once about my several times a night habit. They are not interested. So people who have to get up once a night definitely shouldn't be making appointments with their doctor!

I am 51 and I was up several times a night for this reason. I am up even more frequently the week before my period. I have had several UTIs and kidney infections and am now under the care of a consultant who prescribed Betnuga for this problem. I am now only up once or twice a night.

Getting up 4 or 5 times a night is not right - I probably wouldn't go that many times during the day! You'll get more help from the internet about this than from an overworked GP though. I can't stand the "oh it's just your age" nonsense which seems to kick in at 50. It's actually more likely to be something underlying - diabetes, over active bladder, etc as people have mentioned. First action should be cutting down caffeine, fizzy drinks etc and then keeping a bladder diary (fluid intake and outputs). Then take that to the GP.

Have a sample of urine tested at your GP

Assuming all well then make sure you're drinking enough through the day (so wee hardly has any colour in it, apart from the first wee of the day which is always more concentrated)

Some foods & drinks irritate the bladder such as alcohol, caffeine, anything fizzy, citrus fruits/flavours, blackcurrant

Could you have a prolapse?

Are you constipated?