Nocturia was gone, now back

[Route67]

Nocturia was what lead me to a sleep clinic; I was getting up every 1-2 hours to urinate and it was driving me insane.

I thought I had urology problems but after 3 or 4 months of working with Docs they diagnosed the real problem; Apnea.

I have been on a ResMed 9 CPAP for 2 full months now, set by a DME and it was working GREAT until these past 3 nights; now once again, even with the mask on, I am getting up every 2 hours to urinate. It's absolutely making me nuts as it's impossible to ever get to stage 4 or even stage 3 sleep when you can only lie down for 2 hours max.

No, I am not drinking liquid at night; I never drink coffee, tea or alcohol, and my soda intake has been cut back to maybe 2 cans per day and even my water intake is limited, maybe 30 or 40 ounces a day. I have absolutely no idea where all this urine is coming from and even a nephrologist [kidney specialist] couldn't figure it out.

Any idea's from people with the same problem? Thank You!

[GreginColo]

Hi Route67; I am a 60 y/o male with similar problem, as far as need to urinate during the night, usually 3 to 4 times, although some nights only once, and I can't figure out what the difference is, as I try not to drink much liquid in the evenings. The only thing I can think of is maybe its related to the water content of the food I have eaten that evening. I also expereinced some improvement after staring CPAP and actually slept though a couple of nights, but ended up averaging out at once a night which was good for me. Like you, however, the more I have been on CPAP therapy, I am returning to old patterns of being wakened by the need to urinate. I actually keep a bottle, like they use in hospitals, by the bed and use that so I don't have to unmask, etc. That seems to keep the disruption as limited as possible and helps me ease back into sleep, although like you, if I wake up in the 4-5 am range then I'm done for the night so just lay there in a relaxed mode until my normal get up time of 6 am. I usually unmask during that lasty hour or so. Sorry I don't have a any answers as to cause but at least wanted to let you know my situation is similar. Regards, Greg.

[zonk]

I have been on a ResMed 9 CPAP for 2 full months now, set by a DME and it was working GREAT until these past 3 nights; now once again, even with the mask on, I am getting up every 2 hours to urinate.

have you had a followup with the sleep doc?
are you checking the machine data (pressure and leak) or using Resscan software so you can see if anything is different than before

you need to drink at least twice as much water during the day to keep you well hydrated and for the kidneys to works efficiently
(darkish urine is a sign of dehydration .. clear is good)

[Sleepster]

You say no one can figure out where "all the urine is coming from". How do you know there's a larger volume? You could be urinating frequently, but in small amounts. This can be due to something simple like an infection or nervousness.

It could very well be that you are not drinking enough water. Like zonk said, your urine should be clear. If it's not, that's a sign that you're not getting enough water, which could lead to an infection, which causes you to fixate on it, which makes you nervous which leads to frequent urination.

[Route67]

Yes, I am definitely focusing on it, because it's driving me nuts!

My urine seems to be a good color, sometimes light yellow but usually clear. When I say no one can tell me why I am peeing so much, it means I have been seeing doctors since November 2011 and have tried various remedies, from prostate meds to not drinking anything after 6pm, etc...... when I was diagnosed with Apnea in summer I thought I had found my answer, because once I started using the mask it mostly went away. Like any normal 50-year old male I had to get up to pee at 4am or so, and then when I woke at 7 or 8 and I was really happy about that. But now I am back to every 2 hours and it's making me crazy.....as I say, you can never get into a deep sleep if you have to keep waking up to go to the rest room.

I will see my sleep DR again soon, my follow-up with him isn't until January but I can't wait that long.

Greg, sorry to hear you have the same problem, but good to know I am not the only one. Thanks all, I am just really annoyed and unhappy right now because I thought the CPAP [which is set properly and by a DME based on my prescription] was taking care of my problems and I was looking forward to future good nights filled with deep sleep but if I keep having to wake up to urinate I am right back to square one

[Sleepster]

But now I am back to every 2 hours and it's making me crazy.....as I say, you can never get into a deep sleep if you have to keep waking up to go to the rest room.

Yes you can. I think you run through an entire sleep cycle in only 90 minutes or so. In two hours you will have descended through every level of sleep and ascended again to the lowest level before awakening.

It's perfectly natural. It's just that most people don't have a memory of having awakened so they think they slept through the night.

Have you actually checked the volume of urine? I know that sounds weird but there's a difference between too much and too frequently. When we are anxious we feel a need to urinate even though our bladder is not full.

[JudgeMental]

For my 2 cents worth. You should not try to control or try to train your body into doing certain physiological actions. However thats not to say that you can,t help mother nature by assisting these actions.

I'm sure my list here is reduntant to things that you have already thought of that might bring on frequent urination. :
:: such as:: subconscious anxiety, blood pressure meds containing a diuratic, late hours intake of water or other fluids, eating jello, salads (lettuce is full of water), or ice cream.

Personsally, I don;t think that the use of a XPAP plays that big of a role in nocturia.

[zardOz]

What kind of (if any) medications are you taking? Did you recently change meds? You may want to look in that direction... Calcium Channel Blockers can make one retain fluids that have to leave at some time... That was my fix for urinating every 2 hours at night (along with the APAP).

[zimlich]

The same thing happened to me- it eventually resolved. Then I started back on Lithium and it was terrible.
Good luck.