How To Stop A Full Bladder From Disturbing Your Sleep Every Night And Foods To Avoid
Whether it is during the day or night, frequent urination is not something to take lightly as it can be indicative of a serious underlying health issue.
Waking up several times to urinate during the night is particularly frustrating for many people who are often faced with that problem. Such people are said to suffer from a urinary condition known as nocturia or nocturnal polyuria, with the major symptom of the problem being the need to wake up more than two times to urinate while sleeping. This can affect the quality of sleep and can make the body vulnerable to ailments.
While frequent urination at night may be caused by pregnancy and can also be age-induced i.e it occurs due to ageing, it is recommended that you visit your doctor so that its real cause can be ascertained and a course of treatment established. But be that as it may, if you often wake up at night due to a full bladder, there are certain small, but effective changes that can help reduce the disturbance made to your sleep.
Making these changes can help ensure you sleep better and reduce the severity of the condition. A few of the tips you can follow are examined below:
1. Limit your intake of fluids two hours before bedtime
Drinking too close to bedtime can lead to urinating at night. Also limit alcohol and caffeine, which are bladder stimulants, throughout the day. If you’re struggling with nighttime urination, cut back to just one alcoholic beverage, or none at all, and decrease your current caffeine intake.
2. Check for sleep apnea
The human body, during deep sleep, often produces antidiuretic hormones which help the body retain more fluid, and thus reduce the need for urination. However, this is not so in people with sleep apnea as such people don’t get into the deep stages of sleep, with their bodies unable to make enough of the hormones as a result. A drop in oxygen during sleep apnea also triggers the excretion of more water by the kidney, leading to increased urination overnight.
3. If you have swellings in your feet or legs, always exercise and elevate your legs
In the late afternoon and evening, if you prop up your legs for an hour at the level of your heart, this can help you urinate during the day (rather than at night).
4. Take your diuretics in the afternoon
If you take a diuretic or “water pill,” sometimes used for high blood pressure, leg swelling or congestive heart disease, it might be helpful to take this in the afternoon. That way, the medication will cause your body to make more urine in the afternoon and evening, possibly resulting in less urine production overnight. Ask your doctor if it’s okay to take this medication at a different time of day.
Foods To Avoid
Food undoubtedly plays a crucial role in many aspects of human health. Certain foods are known as bladder irritants or stimulants, and according to the Mayo Clinic, such foods can easily make your bladder increase its activities, leading to increased urine output. It is recommended that you watch your intake of such foods and avoid them especially close to bedtime.
Some of the known foods and beverages that might irritate your bladder include coffee, tea and carbonated drinks (even without caffeine), alcohol, certain acidic fruits such as oranges, grapefruits, lemons, limes and fruit juices, spicy foods, tomato-based products, and carbonated drinks. Others include raw onions, processed foods, cranberries, and sweeteners.
Source:
ng.opera.news, health.clevelandclinic.org
