Need To Urinate Preventing Deep Sleep

Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Messages
10,501
UPDATE:

I think I may have psychogenic urinary retention. It comes closest to describing my case: "unable to pass urine voluntarily, however without any discomfort and no urge to pass urine". I mean, that's me to a T, at least some of the time: obviously I am typically passing urine normally at certain times of the day.

When urinary retention is caused by an enlarged prostate - which it almost always is - the experience is very different. You don't lose the urge to urinate, but when you try to pee, you can only dribble because of the obstruction. If the prostate is really badly enlarged you'll be dying to pee but nothing will come out. Then you need a catheter, as a matter of emergency.

I have developed a lot of anxiety about urination, particularly about the possibility of acute retention requiring hospitalisation. I notice that when I go to pee there is often a lot of tension around my abdomen: it's like I'm willing myself on to urinate, which just creates more pressure around it.

Prostate enlargement just seems unlikely now. I'm only 32, after all, and there is no pain whatsoever. Psychogenic bladder is rare, but when I started reading about it, it ticked all the boxes in terms of describing what's going on with me.

On this basis, all I can do is try to accept this and relax, not putting too much pressure on myself. The very best I could do would be to find a distraction. I'm going to take a Diazepam today to calm the nerves a bit. Will report back if this suspicion can be confirmed.

try metergoline. I think it will work great.
 
OP
M

metabolizm

Guest
UPDATE:

Okay, this is clearly a physical issue. I'm 100% sure now, no doubts.

It's an obstruction of some kind, but I don't think my prostate is enlarged. Rather, I have an unbelievably tense pelvic floor with muscles contracting and spasming all the time. It's particularly bad after a bowel movement or after orgasm - the perineum often goes into spasms for way longer than they're supposed to. I think the muscles in that region are so inflamed and tensed that it's causing obstruction or congestion at certain times of the day. (Lately, this has been occurring at different times - not just the evening window anymore). This explains why I urinate freely during the night - my muscles are optimally relaxed during sleep.

As such, I need to find a way to relax those muscles deeply. Reverse kegel exercises should help to some extent, and stretches. Occasionally I'll take 5mg Diazepam when things get really bad, and I think it works because it promotes pretty serious muscle relaxation. I should probably try to get a prescription muscle relaxant, but I don't know much about them.

This pelvic tension is probably causing my varicocele to get worse too. It's all related. I've heard reports of people whose varicocele basically disappeared after physical therapy which targeted pelvic floor dysfunction.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
OP
M

metabolizm

Guest
I'm still suffering from this, but I've noticed that when I pass large stools the problem seems to improve. Constipation may be the cause, so I'm trying to improve my transit time and bulk. Carrot salad may be helping. Sleep still affected, but improving a little.
 
OP
M

metabolizm

Guest
Well, things seem to be improving a bit. Or at least I'm gaining a better undsrstanding of what is influencing this issue. What has helped:

1) allowing my bladder to get full before attempting to urinate. Never going unless I have a strong urge. Sometimes I'll have to wait several hours - 5 or 6 - in the evening but it is worth the wait. I try to wait until just before bed

2) NOT BEING SEDENTARY! Regular hiking improves everything. A shame it's not always convenient.

3) Not drinking too much, trying to drink only when thirsty, except one or two coffees during the day which helps to eliminate excess water.

4) Avoiding wheat improves everything.

I'm still getting up during the night, but not as often. I think if I can keep working on each of these elements, as well as making sure I am relaxed when going to bed, I'll be able to get to the point where I'm urinating no more than once during the night.
 
OP
M

metabolizm

Guest
UPDATE

I'm no longer suffering from this bizarre problem, and some nights I am sleeping all the way through, which is wonderful.

I can't be sure, but I think the problem was related to pelvic floor tension, which I have better control of now. It's also worth noting that I have been supplementing vitamin D for a while, and my D test came back normal (45 ng/ml). That may have helped.
 

FitnessMike

Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2020
Messages
1,647
I use to wake up 3-4 times a night to pee, I've been taking tamulosin and alpha blocker for two months now and I only wake up 1 time a night now occasionally two times, nothing else helped apart from this.
were you peeing little or a lot when wake up 3-4 times a night?

I wake up and pee very little....
 

FitnessMike

Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2020
Messages
1,647
Does it get worse when you experience something stressful?
not really mate, I don't get stressed really.

I got rid of the constant urge during the day a long time ago, but the nighttime urge is still persistent. Stopping my one coffee a day seems to help a little, so that would indicate that there is still some stress response.

No salt with my potatoes before bed seems to be helping, when j was doing evening flushes with baking soda 2 teaspoons, my urination got so much worse, i woke up so many times because of bladder can't stand little urine, which is weird cuz its alkaline.

I will retest with no salt tonight and ill add 2 aspirins and little pregnenolone.
 

Malris

Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2017
Messages
32
not really mate, I don't get stressed really.

I got rid of the constant urge during the day a long time ago, but the nighttime urge is still persistent. Stopping my one coffee a day seems to help a little, so that would indicate that there is still some stress response.

No salt with my potatoes before bed seems to be helping, when j was doing evening flushes with baking soda 2 teaspoons, my urination got so much worse, i woke up so many times because of bladder can't stand little urine, which is weird cuz its alkaline.

I will retest with no salt tonight and ill add 2 aspirins and little pregnenolone.
You didn’t say much about what’s going on, or what you’ve tried to do to make it better. For me, it appeared to be serotonin affecting my system, not cortisol. Check out Ray’s original article: Serotonin: Effects in disease, aging and inflammation

So serotonin appears to negatively affect the smooth muscles like the bladder. I can’t find it, but Ray talks in one of his articles about increased frequency of urination, but decreased amount of urine. I tried some cyproheptadine and was immediately better. Eventually, though, (~1yr later) the cyproheptadine was giving me serotonin symptoms and I had to quit. The restless nights & peeing came back, but only lasted for a few days. I’ve been sleeping pretty good since then, though I do use nasal dilators at night (just silicone sleeves I put in my nose to help me breathe through my nose and not through my mouth.)
 

FitnessMike

Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2020
Messages
1,647
You didn’t say much about what’s going on, or what you’ve tried to do to make it better. For me, it appeared to be serotonin affecting my system, not cortisol. Check out Ray’s original article: Serotonin: Effects in disease, aging and inflammation

So serotonin appears to negatively affect the smooth muscles like the bladder. I can’t find it, but Ray talks in one of his articles about increased frequency of urination, but decreased amount of urine. I tried some cyproheptadine and was immediately better. Eventually, though, (~1yr later) the cyproheptadine was giving me serotonin symptoms and I had to quit. The restless nights & peeing came back, but only lasted for a few days. I’ve been sleeping pretty good since then, though I do use nasal dilators at night (just silicone sleeves I put in my nose to help me breathe through my nose and not through my mouth.)
I use cypro at night, it does not help with that, I fall back asleep quicker? yes, but it won't fix the weak bladder ting
 

mamakitty

Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2021
Messages
516
Location
canada
Vitamin C may help make more ADH and prevent urinating in the middle of the night.

Also, extra weight in the gut and food bulk will just increase how much pressure there is and this can push the bladder more than usual. Possible it depends on if you are overweight and bloated in the belly. I would have to get up and urinate in the middle of the night when I ate too much food before bed because the increased pressure in the abdomen from the food. Still vitamin C should help.
I have the opposite problem. When I don’t eat enough, I have to pee so much and so so frequently. What can I do?
 

mamakitty

Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2021
Messages
516
Location
canada
I tried 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda before bed. The first night it worked ok, I still got up 2x. The second night it worked really well, I slept from 11pm-5am. I can’t remember the last time I slept that long without waking up to pee.
HOW did you take it?
 

BearWithMe

Member
Joined
May 19, 2017
Messages
2,020
Yes! What do?
Adrenaline could be very diuretic. The best thing to do would be to reduce your perceived stress levels. You can do this both by reducing the actual stress, and also by increasing your resiliency to stress. There are substances that are supposed to block the stress response (inosine) but that never woked for me personally

I have the opposite problem. When I don’t eat enough, I have to pee so much and so so frequently. What can I do?
Could be hypoglycemia
 

mamakitty

Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2021
Messages
516
Location
canada
Adrenaline could be very diuretic. The best thing to do would be to reduce your perceived stress levels. You can do this both by reducing the actual stress, and also by increasing your resiliency to stress. There are substances that are supposed to block the stress response (inosine) but that never woked for me personally


Could be hypoglycemia
Thanks for responding to me. I actually incorporated a couple advices from this thread. Two nights ago, I ate more calories, as well as taking 1/4th tsp of baking soda before bed. It worked like magic, I slept through the night and got up to pee just twice. I also took melatonin that I do use occasionally. But I think the baking soda worked because melatonin doesn’t stop my bladder from being overactive.

However, the next day (yesterday) i had an extremely dark urine that I have never had in my life. At about 5 pm. It freaked me out so badly. I had a lot of water to dilute it but I was peeing way way less than usual. It got better by midnight. But I had a very bad sleep because of the stress.
Anyway, I’m wondering if baking soda could cause urine retention in the bladder?
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom