What causes frequent urination
Although frequent urination is classified as two or more visits to the toilet, some people describe as many as seven or eight visits per night.
Others report not always reaching the toilet in time, which can be embarrassing and distressing.
There are many possible causes for frequent urination including:
- Overactive bladder muscles
- Drinking too much fluid before bed
- Urinary tract infection
- Prostate problems in men
- Blockages/narrow urinary tubes
- Diabetes
- Heart failure/high blood pressure
- Bladder prolapse
- Side effects of certain medications
- Obstructive Sleep Apnoea.
Obstructive Sleep Apnoea and frequent urination
There are four main reasons why Obstructive Sleep Apnoea can cause frequent urination during sleep:
- During apnoeas a hormone is released by the heart. The hormone travels in the bloodstream to the kidneys and increases the production of urine. The bladder becomes full, signalling the need to urinate.
- Repeated activation of your body’s stress response leads to relaxation of your bladder muscles.
- During apnoeas the chest can push down on the abdomen, so all its contents are squeezed. This places pressure on the bladder and can give an artificial feeling of fullness and need to pass urine, even though the bladder may not be full.
- Obstructive Sleep Apnoea can cause high blood pressure and make diabetes and heart failure worse. These conditions lead to fluid accumulating in the body during the day, which is usually passed during sleep.
The arousals associated with sleep apnoea can cause panic and confusion, so you may not always realise in time that you need to go to the toilet.
Insomnia?
Once you have been fully awakened by a trip to the toilet, it may be hard to fall back to sleep afterwards. It may seem like you have insomnia, but you might actually have Obstructive Sleep Apnoea.
