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How to stop pee-ing so often!

(113 Posts)
ftm420 Mon 21-Oct-24 15:30:45

I've been having various treatments over the last couple of years, as I get up 4 or 5 times a night to pee. I've tried 'jude' supplements and have had 2 rounds of bladder botox with increasing strengths, to no avail.

I'm now using amytriptiline and have been on it for months now with no effect.

As I'm recovering from hip replacement surgery, getting up so many times is painful and inconvenient. In addition, it seems like when I go to lie down for a rest, I can doze for an hour, then I need to pee!

Fed up of not drinking caffeine, no red wi e, no alcohol, but keep drinking lots of water which makes me pee anyway.

Does anyone know if I can sort this out? I'm 60 and in menopause.

TIA

grandtanteJE65 Mon 21-Oct-24 15:52:19

Menopause is probably one of the factors that are causing this, or making it worse. So you can look forward to an improvement, I hope, when you are through the menopause.

Talk to a nurse who specialises in urine incontinence. She will know what can and should be done.

Have you tried pelvic floor exercises? They should help bladder control, you know.

Buy a she-wee and place a bucket in a strategic position near your bed for weeing at night. This will give your hip a better chance of recovering soon.

And the fact that you know the inconvenience of getting out of bed ,to the bathroom, and back has been ruled out, you may actually find you don't need to wee so much.

I know that sounds daft, but the more you think you might need to wee, the more you will need to.

I assume you have tried drinking the bulk of your fluids during the forenoon and afternoon, and setting a cut-off time in the evening, as we did with bed-wetting bairns.

InnocentBystander Mon 21-Oct-24 16:00:21

Double or even triple voiding helps. Go to urinate at least twice in fairly quick succession before finally going to bed. It sounds daft but you might not be fully emptying your bladder first time. When you do get up try to do all the procedure in darkness or at least as near darkness as practicable. That way you will rouse yourself less and find going back to sleep easier.
As a male with a history of enlarged prostate symptoms I am well practised in nocturnal micturition! The advice apropos multiple voiding applies equally to both men and women.

Katyj Mon 21-Oct-24 16:05:41

Ask your GP about Solifencin it’s a tablet used for an overactive bladder. My DH takes it and my sister in law.

Jaxjacky Mon 21-Oct-24 16:17:12

Do you regularly do pelvic floor exercises? The Squeezy App is very helpful.

MayBee70 Mon 21-Oct-24 17:17:58

I can go for hours in the daytime without needing a wee and yet, when I lie down and sleep I wake up every two hours needing to go to the loo. It’s even crept into my dreams and I dream about urgently needing to wee just before I wake up. I bought a shee wee when I was needing to go to the loo all the time ( it was caused by vaginal atrophy) but couldn’t get the hang of it. I drink decaff tea and coffee, restrict my drinking at night and am taking soya and pumpkin capsules to see if that helps but, thus far it hasn’t. With the prospect of needing a TKR at some point I need to get this sorted.

petra Mon 21-Oct-24 17:45:20

InnocentBystander
Re the double voiding. I was told this years ago ( I’m 78) it works.
I was shown the easiest pelvic floor exercise by a midwife. I do it while cleaning my teeth. You just keep gong up and down on your toes. You feel the clenching of the muscles straight away.

nanaK54 Mon 21-Oct-24 17:52:32

What meds are you taking?
Amlodopine caused havoc with my bladder.

CariadAgain Mon 21-Oct-24 17:52:47

Shall be following this one with interest....

Sillymoo Mon 21-Oct-24 17:57:35

I have found Gina vaginal oestrogen has helped me.

Mt61 Mon 21-Oct-24 18:13:08

ftm420

I've been having various treatments over the last couple of years, as I get up 4 or 5 times a night to pee. I've tried 'jude' supplements and have had 2 rounds of bladder botox with increasing strengths, to no avail.

I'm now using amytriptiline and have been on it for months now with no effect.

As I'm recovering from hip replacement surgery, getting up so many times is painful and inconvenient. In addition, it seems like when I go to lie down for a rest, I can doze for an hour, then I need to pee!

Fed up of not drinking caffeine, no red wi e, no alcohol, but keep drinking lots of water which makes me pee anyway.

Does anyone know if I can sort this out? I'm 60 and in menopause.

TIA

That is me to a T been like that since I was in my 20s. Had 4 lots of Botox, I’ll give 6 out of 10- thought once I had that I wouldn’t feel the need to wee as often. Salford offered me interstim? wire that is implanted into the back, then they implant a battery into the buttock- was keeping this as a last resort.
Maybe you need a higher dose of the Botox.

Farmor15 Mon 21-Oct-24 18:36:04

ftm420 - you mentioned drinking lots of water - Is there a reason? There's lots of mis-information about the need to drink water. In this climate, you only need to drink enough to satisfy thirst. My fluid intake is: 2 mugs of coffee in the morning, sometimes another mid-morning. Cup of tea after lunch. Glass of wine with dinner. Sip of water with tablets at bed-time. Often that's the total fluid intake for the day. If the weather is water, I'll drink some water if I'm thirsty. My health is reasonably good and I don't have a problem with frequent urination- sometimes I wake at night, but not because I need to pee. I get up to pee anyway because it seems to help getting back to sleep.
I suspect your problem might be just drinking too much water!

Baggs Mon 21-Oct-24 18:38:21

This is not advice. If I were experiencing the same even when avoiding caffeinated drinks and so forth, I'd just drink what I liked on the principle of "if a thing doesn't work try something else."

Good luck anyway.

DH says dreaming about going to the loo and then waking up because you need to is called "lucid dreaming".

Farmor15 Mon 21-Oct-24 18:42:10

I did have an issue with stress incontinence- no problem at night but during the day, if I coughed, sneezed or lifted something heavy, I would leak. Tried pelvic floor exercises for years, but after assessment (urodynamic clinic) I was deemed a suitable candidate for the Bulkamid procedure. A bulking agent is injected into urethra (under anaesthetic) which narrows the opening from bladder. I was told it might not work, but was lucky to be one of the successful ones and my stress incontinence is 90% improved.

ftm420 Mon 21-Oct-24 19:03:45

I don't leak at all, just go go go! I've had various tests along with the botox. Kidney function is fine, I'm voiding completely, pelvic floor is strong. The only thing they've been able to pinpoint is that my bladder only holds 150ml. The idea of the botox was to reduce the need to go and allow my bladder to learn to expand to c450ml.

Maybe it really won't expand?

I do often wonder if I'm just drinking too much. One specialist nurse said I needed to drink c2l of water on top of everything else. I ignored that as I couldn't possibly drink that much.

Elusivebutterfly Mon 21-Oct-24 19:18:16

I was told by the hospital Incontinence Nurse not to drink more than 1.5 litres of liquid daily and the idea of 2 litres a day is wrong.
I have vaginal atrophy and Ovestin helps with urgency and leaking.

Farmor15 Mon 21-Oct-24 19:20:46

Sounds like the problem might be a combination of low bladder capacity and drinking too much water. When I went for urodynamic tests, nurse established my bladder capacity was about 350 ml. Average apparently is 300 to 700 ml so yours at 150 ml is very small.

Nurse told me that a lot of people make the mistake of going for a pee before they go out, whether the need to or not! She suggested it was better to put off going as long as possible to increase bladder capacity. If you don't have a leaking problem, you could try waiting longer before going, during the day, even if it's uncomfortable. Distract yourself but focusing on something else.
Then stop drinking anything after 6 in the evening as it seems like night-time is the most bothersome time.

Lisaangel10 Mon 21-Oct-24 19:33:29

So glad to read this thread. For the past approx year I wake up 2 or 3 times a night to go to the loo and it’s a BIG wee. Then the minute I wake up in the morning I need to go again. I am so tired that twice I have woken up with my legs out of the bed and am pulling my pants off! Can you imagine? 😱

I have been wearing Always Discreet pads and sometimes they are wet. I hate this.

I drink 1 cup of tea in morning, coffee mid morning, tea at lunch or soup, cold drink with evening meal and a coffee in the evening. I drink a lot more water in summer months. I never drink after about 8pm but have a sip of water every time I need the loo as my mouth is so dry.

Have not seen GP or nurse about this yet. I paid £22 for some pills called Bladder Less but they were no good at all. Took them religiously for 6 weeks with no change at all.

Sago Mon 21-Oct-24 19:37:39

I solved this problem, I am 61 and had been urinating excessively for about 4 years.

I cut out all caffeine, I now only drink decaf tea, strawberries, raw tomatoes, anything with lemon, tangerines, pineapple.
I can drink wine thankfully.

My life has changed immeasurably, long car journeys were a nightmare, I used to be up 5+ times a night.

Good luck.

Iam64 Mon 21-Oct-24 19:45:05

What a relief to realise we aren’t alone in trying to,, negotiate these things as we age.

Farmor15 Mon 21-Oct-24 21:20:44

There is an issue that can cause excessive urine production - atrial fibrillation (AF), the paroxysmal sort that come and goes.
"AF in general occurs at night, often ending in the morning following rest. Frequent urination (every 20 minutes or so) often occurs during the early phase of an episode and is due to the release of atrial natriuretic peptide from the fibrillating atria" (quote from research paper).
I have this type of AF- only get episodes about once a month, but when I do, I wake in the night with a full bladder, the only indication I'm having an episode. I can confirm I'm in AF by taking my pulse. However, it's fairly unlikely that this is the cause of regular waking up to pee.

Whiff Mon 21-Oct-24 21:36:03

ftm Amitriptyline in low dose is used for nerve pain . I have been using it since 1992 upped my dosage and on 3 10mg tablets a day which has stopped my pain flares. In a higher dose it's an antidepressant. Did they tell you why they have put you on it?

Amlodipine is to treat high blood pressure but it causes water retention and swelling of lower legs and ankles. I was on it for a few years and the first thing they did at the AF clinic was taken it off me for those reasons.

Since a teenager always got up in the night to wee. And have been going twice a night for decades . At the moment having problems with water retention and on the waiting list to see my cardiologist as my GP said they don't prescribe water tablets without further investigation. But I already know what's wrong with my heart it has a small hole in the side of it between my heart and lungs. The flaps round your heart are supposed to close before birth but that one of mine didn't. On Flecainide and Apixaban for my heart . Ramipril for blood pressure.

Plus I was born disabled and my bladder and bowel can go into spasm and no matter how urgently I need the loo I have to sit before I can go and once started my bladder and bowel can spasm so sit longer before it relaxes.

Few years ago had series of UTI's and kidney infections and ended up taking 16 courses of antibiotics. When I saw the urologist he reckons I had a bad infection. Ultrasound on my bladder and kidney when my bladder was full them empty showed nothing wrong.

A nurse gave me a brilliant tip. When sitting on the loo make sure you hips and knees are in line . That way you empty your bladder and bowel completely. I have an ease toilet which is higher than a normal loo so put my feet on toddler step and only had I UTI since doing that . But I need a 7 day course of antibiotics.

Needing the loo so often may be caused by your bladder retaining some urine . Perhaps if you try what the nurse told me it might help and always sit bit longer to make sure you bladder is empty.

Mt61 Mon 21-Oct-24 21:59:47

Farmor15

I did have an issue with stress incontinence- no problem at night but during the day, if I coughed, sneezed or lifted something heavy, I would leak. Tried pelvic floor exercises for years, but after assessment (urodynamic clinic) I was deemed a suitable candidate for the Bulkamid procedure. A bulking agent is injected into urethra (under anaesthetic) which narrows the opening from bladder. I was told it might not work, but was lucky to be one of the successful ones and my stress incontinence is 90% improved.

👍🏻👏👏👏

Mt61 Mon 21-Oct-24 22:09:14

Farmor15

There is an issue that can cause excessive urine production - atrial fibrillation (AF), the paroxysmal sort that come and goes.
"AF in general occurs at night, often ending in the morning following rest. Frequent urination (every 20 minutes or so) often occurs during the early phase of an episode and is due to the release of atrial natriuretic peptide from the fibrillating atria" (quote from research paper).
I have this type of AF- only get episodes about once a month, but when I do, I wake in the night with a full bladder, the only indication I'm having an episode. I can confirm I'm in AF by taking my pulse. However, it's fairly unlikely that this is the cause of regular waking up to pee.

Golly that is scary 😩

Mt61 Mon 21-Oct-24 22:27:02

I put mine more down to extreme bullying by one of the matrons I used to work with- nasty piece of work. I started where couldn’t breathe, I suppose panic attacks really, then the constant needing a wee 😩my bladder is the same as ops- only holds a small amount before it becomes agony to hold any more. I suppose the bladder becomes accustomed to holding only a small volume.
I’ve tried nearly all the bladder drugs, one gave me HBP, they also gave me very dry eyes, headaches, also I have read they can contribute to dementia.
Five Bladder stretches (surprised I can’t hold a keg of beer in there) ha.
Surgery was suggested, where they could sew part of my bowel to the bladder, to make it larger- no thanks!
Hopefully someone will come up with a cure one day