Bed Wetting - after Desmopressin

[79abbot]

DS is almost 12 and suffers from Nocturnal Enuresis (bed wetting). He has been seen by an Enuresis Clinic and one assumes that the cause of his problem is a combination of deep sleep and excessive urine production at night. He is currently taking Desmo Melts for 3 months, which are helping and he has notably fewer accidents. Has anyone else had DC on Desmopressin and if so, for how long and what happened when they stopped the medication? Was there an immediate relapse?

Desmopressin really isn't the answer. It suppresses the urge to urinate but builds up urine in the body overnight - not great for kidneys. It was always seen as a one-off measure by our GP - for DS to use at camp or on sleepovers.

The best advice we got was to get him to drink a lot during the day. Sometimes the issue is that their bladder control is too good. They hold it in all day and only in deep sleep at night do the muscles relax enough. Plenty of liquid at breakfast and lunchtime so they need to wee during the day, then nothing after about 5pm can help. Absolutely no blackcurrant drinks - apparently they are very diuretic.

For boys who still wet the bed at this age, it's often simply that the right hormones haven;t kicked in and they will in adolescence. This happened for DS, so you don't have long to wait now - a year or so at most. Keep the desmopressin for social sleepovers. (Just one opinion, but I was nervous of putting DS on it long term and it only masks the problem - does nothing to cure it.)

woodcutbirds - thank you so much for taking the time to reply. Your post gives me immense hope - I am glad your DS has managed to grow out of bedwetting. Light at the end of the tunnel is what I need! Fingers crossed puberty will help my DS too. He is consciously drinking more water during the day. He has his last glass of water at 7pm (5pm is too early for him). His bladder capacity has been tested and it is in the large normal range.
As I mentioned above, I have taken him to an Enuresis clinic and we have been told that there seems to be some promising evidence from trials that there is a longer term training effect from taking regular Desmopressin. Woodcutbirds, I am just like you - I don't like the idea of regular medication but if indeed there are trials indicating that
Desmo Melts can be used as a cure, then I am willing to give it a go.
Bedwetting alarms did not work for DS. The only thing that worked most of the time (other than Desmo Melts) is waking DS at night and asking him to go to the loo. Thank you again, woodcutbirds, for your helpful reply.