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Why do I wake up in the middle of the night to urinate?
Usually around 4-5AM I wake up to have to pee.
Should I go to the doctor about it? Is this normal?
This happens to me too. I told my doctor about this, but she said it is just a part of getting older.
If you are not old, then it is not really normal, although it could be you just have a small bladder and you should not drink in the two hours before going to bed.
Could also be a kidney infection, which may be easily treated by antibiotics.
If you are old, it can be one of the signs of type 2 diabetes. It also could be the sign of an enlarged prostate (Benign prostatic hyperplasia).
Perhaps you should go to your doctor, she will probably ask you to hand in a urine sample to be checked for any infection.
Diabetes could cause frequent urination.
Also some people have to take water pills as they age to keep extra fluid off of their legs. That also causes the urgency to go more often.
I, myself, wake up to go to the bathroom and for me it is time to get up. It doesn’t matter if it is 3, 4, or 7. My body tells me it is time to get up and stay up. I rarely drink anything after 8 o’clock at night, and make sure that I have used the bathroom at least twice during this time. My bed time is about 11 give or take. I also don’t go back to sleep unless I am usually tired.
Everyone I know that is my age, 70, gets up to urinate several times a night. We think of that as normal.
About 15 years ago, an enlarged prostrate was discovered in a routine flight physical. Not surprising since most nights were 2-3 bathroom trips.
I started taking one 200mcg SELENIUM pill daily to reduce the size of the prostrate and possibly the risk of cancer.
In three years the size of my prostrate was back to normal. At age 72 I’m at one trip per night (acceptable). Every other year I have the PSA number checked and it is good, much better than normal.
Uncoated selenium pills have a very distinctive foul odor. The best ones are found at Kmart. An acceptable one is Rite Aids brand. The odor is worth the benefit.
First, you should hydrate your body before going to bed. Sometimes your body need some water before, during and after you are up. Also if you are a diabetic you will need to flush your kidneys of the medicine you take. The water before bed also helps your heart function properly your sleep time.
Women have these problems much more often at an older age, and it is NOT a minor problem, most of the time needing a surgery.
Women often have stenosed urethras, even though ours is shorter. Also, the more serious one (I think) is cystocele, chich is a “dropped bladder”, even coming to the outside of the body, pushing the tough vaginal skin downward. This is one horrible problem for women who have had traumatic/natural childbirths over and over, and which no doctor did anything about right after the birth of the child.
Only correctable by a “bladder lift” surgery. Otherwise, a woman will begin to go over and over and over again, sometimes as often as every 15 minutes or so.
Unless you know how to handle this with some “education” on the subject, it can be quite frightening to a woman. The surgery always needs to be done asap, so that she is not constantly losing sleep, getting up and going as often as 4 to 4 times a night. These people aren’t even mentioning the female problem here, which is much more severe, when it has been there for a long time, and surgery costs a bunch of money.
I’m 68, never did anything spectacular to take care of myself. I drink a large glass of water before bed every night. I sleep 7 to 8 hours without getting up.
My doc says it’s all in the genes, my Dad lived to 94 and my Mom to 102. I figure I got a while to go. Maybe when I’m in my 90’s I’ll have to get up at night.
I have actually had to pee so bad on some nights that I dreamed I was going and actually woke up when I realized I started to pee in my sleep! Thankfully it doesn’t happen often and I usually go all night without having to get up as long as I don’t drink a lot before bed or eat something like watermelon.
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