Do you know you bladder capacity? Wait till you are quite desperate then piss into a measuring jug. Most people feel the need to piss at about 250ml, a normal bladder can hold about 500ml but that would be very uncomfortable.
Most people will produce about 250ml of urine during the night so getting up for a piss once a night is fairly common. If you measure you bladder capacity at for example 60ml, I think four visits a night is probably inevitable.
I found myself in a similar position to you a few years ago. Intermittent self catheterization just before bed could ensure your bladder is totally empty, giving you the longest time to fill up. This would only help if you weren't fully emptying your bladder.
Not drinking 4 or 5 hours before bed might work, but that would be verging on dehydration.
A medicine to reduce urine production overnight may help. I'm sure you have checked the NHS page https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/urinary-incontinence/treatment/
|
User
You are going to need to see a urologist (or a very knowledgeable GP) to diagnose the cause (there are many possibilities). However, they'll need to understand your fluid intake and output in much more detail, so I would start by doing a 3-day fluid intake/output diary. There are lots of them on the web - here's one:
https://www.enhertsccg.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/pathways/Three-day%20bladder%20diary.pdf
Weigh pads before and after to work out what's lost into the pads.
From what little info you've given, it sounds like your sphincter muscles are working as you don't leak during the day (although it may be you don't allow your bladder to fill much during the day if you pee frequently). How often do you pee during the day? It may be you have an unstable bladder which is getting irritated at night for some reason, causing bladder contractions, or maybe getting full. Do you do shift work or anything else which might be messing with your body clock?
User
Thanks for the useful suggestions, I think I'm probably a lost cause. I have Telangiaestasia in my bladder from Radiotherapy and have been told if I strain my bladder it may bleed plus my capacity is only 258ml. I do get blood from time to time, not sure if it's the prostate or the Telangia.I was ok before my TURPS op in 2021. I will be having a bladder check up in the not too distant but they dont really want to discuss prostate issues.
User
As already said you need to see your urologist before embarking on a possible solution. My Salvage RT reduced my bladder capacity to almost nothing, I can't even fill a urine sample bottle in one go. I now have a permanent suprapubic catheter, overnight I produce anything from 200ml to 1200 ml. I do have CKD3.
Other less drastic measures could be the external sheaths, they can be a bit of a faff and of course once on that route you are going to lose the natural cycle of your bladder, you can have a flip flo valve with a bag in an attempt to keep the bladder working something like normal.
Thanks Chris
Edited by member 06 Mar 2023 at 12:39
| Reason: Not specified
User
Having seen so many posts about bladder capacity in recent months and being shocked at how low reported capacity often is on here, I thought I would test myself - my bladder capacity averages at around 1.3l! So I wondered whether women's bladders are bigger than men's or whether I am just weird. It turns out I am weird!
Blummy, the fact that you are dry during the day suggests that there is no major mechanical problem so two possibilities - you have got into poor sleep patterns and would find bladder re-training helpful and / or you are sleeping too deeply ... potentially both are coming into play. I think you should ask for a referral to the local incontinence clinic (if one exists in your area) or to urology for further tests including urodynamics. Do you have any symptoms of sleep apnoea?
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
|