Bedwetting 9 year old meds not working

[mickey54]

My 9 year old DS started bedwetting about aged 7 after being dry for years. We have tried everything possible but cant get to the bottom of what is causing him to wet the bed. We paid private for a consultant who has done ultrasound and urine test (waiting results)
but he has put him on 2 despompressin each night and 2xtolterine a day. I know these can take up to 2 weeks and he has been on them nearly a week, but the desmopressin I thought was meant to work straight away. he seems to be wetting as much as usual and last night was an awful lot. anyone ever used these meds and know how long they work? and do they don't work for everyone?
Its such a stressful situation for my son and the family.

despompressin never worked with me, it mad me retain water and my feet swell.

When is he taking them and when in the night is he wetting?

It's possible they are wearing off before the night is over.

The sudden onset of bedwetting is disturbing.. is he being abused ? Are there problems with his kidneys ? is it parasites ?

No he is Def not being abused, he’s v happy and doing well at school
Waiting still on ultrasound for bladder and kidney result. But did say didn’t look anything untoward.

He has to take one hour before bed !

Try having him take it a bit later.

If it doesn't work you can always set an alarm for 4 hours into the night to get her up.

My dd (6) had never been dry overnight and at her request we went to see a nurse about it last year, we were originally prescribed desmopressin which never worked, it did reduce the amount of urine but she was rarely dry overnight, she got pretty stressed about it all so we took a step back and stopped all medication for a while, over summer she asked again if we could do something so I went to see the same nurse & had a chat, she was then prescribed desmomelts - when she takes them she is dry totally, she has 2 nights a week where she can't take them due to swimming & another activity and both nights she is wet most times, nurse has said we stay on them for 3 months then have a week off and see what happens. Out of interest I have noticed that if she drinks fresh orange or orange cordial in the afternoons or evenings she always wees way more than if we stick to milk or water. She is not allowed any fluid for an hour before bedtime then she has her last wee after stories and takes the tablet then. Is your DS regularly going to wee? One thing the nurse said to me was that she should wee as much as possible so it stops the body storing it up and allows the bladder to stay emptier for longer, also the thing about drinking enough as well so the bladder can hold the proper capacity of fluid is something worth looking into if you haven't already.

Hi that’s really interesting thanks. Yes we are trying to make him go to toilet as much as possible in day. But he does have orange squash as steer clear of black currant so I may try changing this in the eveing for water or milk!

My DBro were the bed until he was about 12. He tried everything - the bed alarms woke up everyone else but not him!

It seemed it was due to how deep a sleeper he is. He would lie down for a bit then get up for a wee before going to sleep. He suddenly became dry after being went 99% of the nights. It may very well have just been that he grew out of it. He’s in his 20s now and his extensive partying hasn’t affected his night time continence.

I really feel your pain. DD started school and was dry and then at age 6 she started wetting the bed all the time. We took her to the clinics and tried alarms, desmopressin and even a type of hypnotherapy. As far as we knew there were no causes of stress. I was starting to feel at the end of my tether and then at these summer holidays she just started to have longer gaps between wetting the bed every night and now a few months later she's totally dry.

I wish I could tell you what made it stop but the Doctors did tell me that they do normally outgrow it. Good luck, I know how disheartening it is.

That’s good to hear I do think he will grow out of it eventually but with impending residentials it’s a worry !

You need to send him with goodnites pull-ups and let his teacher know so they can arrange a discrete way for him to put them on. They will have felt with it before on residentials.

My DBro had to miss all residentials. Even with pull ups he’d often flood beyond them. I don’t remember his friends ever questioning it but he wasn’t someone who was an “easy target” for bullies otherwise.

That's a point, op if your dad does usually wear them you'll need to try some before sending him off.

😩he refuses to wear them as doesn’t want to be a baby

My ds was on desmo from aged 7 to 15. He had to have the dosage adjusted from time to time.

He never missed out on residentials. The teacher said we would be surprised how many actually are on it. They let him have a glass of water by his bed. If he had an accident he would pretend to have spilled his water if noticed. If not noticed he was supposed to leave something on his pillow so they would know to change bed/was pjs etc. Pleaae don't let him miss out.

Definitely no squashes, fizzy drinks etc. Son is 17 and still really only drinks water (and beer!!)

It was a long old slog with him helping to change sheets, investment in White Company waterproof sheets (the best!!) and 6 monthly appointments with the enuresis clinic. Lots of trying to reduce dosage, sometimes too early and having to repeat process etc but we muddled on through.

My two take desmorpressin to some success. It doesn't work every night but it does reduce how much they wee - without my son can cover his double bed and still be soaked on the morning but with it the accident is small and usually dries up before morning (it's the smell that gives them away 🤢

I’ll keep persevering residential few months off yet so hopefully we may have a breakthrough at some point. Interesting to see it doesn’t work as much as I thought it would for people x

My dd was an incredibly deep sleeper and wet the bed several times a week. She was not "being abused" as a pp suggested to you, she was a perfectly happy girl just could not feel when she needed a wee.. probably because she slept like the dead! Things we did were up the amount of water during the day and restrict it just before bed. Also no fizzy drinks or fruit juice. Nothing really worked through and she eventually grew out of it at age 11. Think it's just a waiting game op although probably not what you want to hear. It's so hard but it will end one day.

Thank you yes it’s seems like a v common problem and I feel reassured and a little shocked to suggest it might be abuse 😪

It's very very common don't worry about it.

Umbrella sheets are v good!

My DD is 7.5 and still in pull ups at night, normally wet 50% of the time. I'm assuming (hoping) she will suddenly grow out of it, not putting her under pressure, she's fine wearing pull ups.

The reasons for secondary nocturnal enuresis (bedwetting coming after a period of night time continence) can be different to children who have never been dry at night (primary nocturnal enuresis). UTI, over active bladder, diabetes, constipation, sleep deprivation (which perversely causes periods of very deep sleep) and stress should all be investigated as possible underlying causes. The link to stress is related to the body’s production of vasopressin - the hormone that helps to regulate and reduce urine production overnight. The same hormone is also used by a body to fight stress, so essentially can be diverted from doing its job of reducing urine production overnight to fighting the stress symptoms. If all underlying physical causes have been innvestigated an alarm is another treatment worth trying if your child is motivated to use one.

@mickey54 Because it has come on suddenly, it seems that this a psychological issue , could it be that he is being bullied? Abuse can also cause a non -bedwetter to suddenly wet the bed , Sorry for the shock but it's true Normally , if a child wets the bed it is an issue that has always been there and doesn't suddenly show at such a late age .

www.livestrong.com/article/211763-bed-wetting-and-child-abuse/