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Insomnia Worsened by Increased Nighttime Toilet Visits

A Danish study team found that sleep-deprivation might lead to increased urinary output and more salt in the urine. Normally, the body follows a circadian rhythm, producing greater amounts of urine during the day, and lessened production at night, enabling uninterrupted sleep.

Sleep deprivation, however, was found to change the body’s blood flow, leading to:

    • More frequent bathroom breaks in the middle of the night
    • A reduced fall in nighttime blood pressure
    • Higher salt content in the urine 

The researchers speculate the reduced dip in nighttime blood pressure affects blood-pressure related substances, which in turn may keep the kidneys on a daytime schedule, hence the need to go to the bathroom during the night.

The American Physiological Society Press Release August 8, 2007

Reuters August 8, 2007

Science Daily August 8, 2007 



Dr. Mercola''s Comments Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Many problems can arise when your circadian rhythm is thrown out of whack by not getting enough sleep, and not sleeping well is clearly one of them. A vicious cycle develops as, the worse your insomnia is, the more it appears you may be waking up to urinate in the middle of the night. Not only will this make you feel immediately miserable, but it can also have very serious long-term implications for your health.

Previous research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Schools of Nursing and Medicine found a similar link. It suggested that sleep apnea, which can keep people from getting a good night's sleep, can increase nighttime voiding. Another study also found strong associations between sleep apnea symptoms and nighttime urination, and that sleep apnea often goes undiagnosed -- perhaps as much as 60 percent of the time. 

In addition, many of the subjects appeared to be somewhat dehydrated on arising. Several of our readers have reported that drinking more water, rather than less, prior to going to bed has in fact helped them with their nocturnal bathroom breaks. This is an interesting tie-in to the finding that many of the subjects with sleep apnea were dehydrated in the morning.

Of course, sleep apnea is only one cause of insomnia.

There are countless others, from stress to overactive adrenals to eye problems. Close to 40 percent of the U.S. population over the age of 15 reports they’ve experienced insomnia at least occasionally.

One of the most important things you can do for your health is to make sure you’re able to get a good night’s sleep. If you have trouble sleeping -- whether it’s accompanied by frequent bathroom stops or not -- I’d recommend you take a look at my 33 Secrets to a Good Night’s Sleep for all-natural, drug-free options.

As an aside, if you DO get up to use the bathroom during the night, please whatever you do, keep the light off. Even the tiniest bit of light in the room can disrupt your circadian rhythm and your pineal gland's production of melatonin and seratonin. As soon as you turn on that light in the bathroom, you will, for that night, immediately cease all production of the important sleep aid melatonin and this has been clearly shown to dramatically increase your risk of most cancers, but especially breast and prostate cancers.




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Comment on This Article Community Comments (36)
 
 
Posted On Aug 10, 2007
So the take away message is GO, before your slumber?

 
Russ Bianchi
Savvy User Savvy User, Joined On 9/2006
Russ Bianchi  
Replied

Laserman
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 6/2006
Laserman  
 
Posted On Aug 11, 2007

And what to do, Russ, if you GO before you slumber, and you still find yourself having to go 2 or 3 times during the night? I try to drink sufficient water for hydration, and I try not to drink after 5 p.m., but I still rarely make it through the night without getting up. I wish this article had suggested ways of curing this, although it probably would have recommended a pill.


Phantom O Banjo
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 9/2006
Phantom O Banjo  
 
Posted On Aug 11, 2007
I would say that you have a situation going on with your kidneys or a weakness in your bladder muscle.  I have heard that you can train your to bladder to go back to sleep by ignoring it and going back to sleep.  This is something that you do over time so you have to work your way up to it.  Dr. Chris Gussa has some herbs that maybe helpful look on his sight or contact him.  Some medication may contribute to it as well.


A.M.E.
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 6/2006
A.M.E.  
 
Posted On Aug 11, 2007
I have trained my bladder and never had an issue until recently.  I had a hysterectomy at the beginning of the year and I think my bladder has tried to relocate.  Needless to say, if I wait until I wake up it feels like I'm turning my insides out when I go.  Much worse than just the empty stretched bladder feeling that I would have before when I would just sleep in too long.  The couple times that I've had to get up these past few weeks I find that I have not had any issues with the fallen bladder pain when going upon awakening.  You have to do what your body will allow.  Hopefully when I'm completely healed I won't have either issue any longer.


Bridestein
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 12/2006
Bridestein  
 
Posted On Aug 13, 2007
Laserman - For years I have gotten up once or twice a night too, even though I would not drink any liquid past late afternoon and would make sure to 'go' before bed.
I recently intuited that what my body really needed was more, not less water at night and so I started drinking about 6 ounces immediately before bed. Now I rarely get up, and if I do, it's only once. It's worth a shot. Hope this helps.


Franken_Stein53
Novice User Novice User Joined On 1/2007
Franken_Stein53  
 
Posted On Aug 13, 2007
I agree with the point that Bridestein made about drinking a small glass of water a short time before retiring for the night, but it's important to make sure that the liquid is water and nothing else.

I have a deviated septum which causes me to breathe through my mouth throughout the night, which results in a very dry throat and mouth.  But instead of water, I used to have a glass of diet soda nearby on the nightstand to drink from when I awoke with a dry mouth.  This caused me to wake up numerous times during the night to not only take a sip of the soda, but to also go to the bathroom.  I was also very tired during the afternoon and would feel like taking a nap while never thinking that waking up numerous times during the night had anything to do with it.

One day I finally got smart (or was it because I didn't have any soda lying around the house?) and drank some water before going to bed.  Voila....I didn't wake up once to drink or even to go to the bathroom!  So, I continued to drink water as opposed to soda, and now I find myself very rarely if ever getting up to get a drink or go to the bathroom during the night.  I also found that as a result I'm much less tired during the day and the urge to take a nap has also disappeared.  Unbelievable!


 
 
 
Posted On Aug 30, 2007

I don't get up in the night because I always take a full beaker of water (hot or cold) before retiring at night, on the understanding that the water will dilute my uric acid, because strong uric acid can irritate the urinary tract causing the urge to urinate during the night.  Why not try one week with water and one week without and then report back.  Gill


 
Gill2345
Novice User Novice User, Joined On 6/2006
Gill2345  
Replied

Greyshore
Novice User Novice User Joined On 2/2007
Greyshore  
 
Posted On Aug 30, 2007

Doesn’t drink water immediately before bedtime make your body bloating the next morning?


 
 
 
Posted On Aug 13, 2007
I noticed several years ago that some of my "senior" patients would be mentally very clear some days, and quite demented onothers. Exploring this, I fourd the common denominator was continuity of sleep. On those nights that they awoke several times (most of the time for bathroom trips) these patients were not only less mentally sharp the next day, they were also very sleepy and would spend much of the time napping.  Sounds familiar, doesn't it.   Sure enough, as I looked into the effects of sleep deprivation as the result of multiple awakenings,(most data from sleep apnea studies) no matter what caused it, nor, how brief, I found that disrupted sleep architechture would provoke the intermittant symptoms I was observing. Regards, docw

 
docw
Novice User Novice User, Joined On 8/2007
docw  
 
 
 
Posted On Aug 30, 2007

I live in Northern Sweden and during the summer months you'd have to sleep in a photographers darkroom to really get it dark. Does this mean that we are doomed to prostrate cancer etc.? Any statistics on Eskimos?


 
JeffJeff
Novice User Novice User, Joined On 6/2006
JeffJeff  
 
 
 
Posted On Aug 30, 2007

Gill -

what's a "beaker"????

Laura


 
SavedbyHisGrace
Apprentice User Apprentice User, Joined On 2/2007
SavedbyHisGrace  
Replied

bagarino
Novice User Novice User Joined On 1/2007
bagarino  
 
Posted On Aug 30, 2007

a drinking vessel (often plastic) in English English.

This might make you laugh:

entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/.../article2341766.ece



y.l.th
Novice User Novice User Joined On 8/2007
y.l.th  
 
Posted On Aug 31, 2007

I understand a beaker to be a glass or cup,which holds around 200-500ml.

Unless Gill thinks of a different meaning?


 
 
 
 
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