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If you frequently wake up to go to the bathroom during the night, you may have nocturia. Nocturia refers to having an overactive bladder at night, and can be frustrating and difficult to live with – particularly if it’s affecting your sleep.
However, while having a weak bladder is often seen as a normal part of ageing, this doesn’t mean it has to be permanent.
With this in mind, we’ve partnered with healthcare company Jude, to explore nine ways to manage nocturia. Jude’s mission is to break bladder taboos and open up conversations about incontinence to help people improve their quality of life.
Rest Less members can enjoy an exclusive 22% off Jude’s Bladder Strength Supplement and save up to £15 on their first order using code LESS22. This offer is a single-use discount for new Jude customers only, valid until 31st December 2024.
What is nocturia?
Nocturia is the medical term used to describe an overactive bladder during the night. Usually, as we sleep, our urine production decreases and our bladders can easily hold the urine we produce overnight.
However, this isn’t the case for people with nocturia who may find they need to get up once, twice, or several times a night to use the toilet. According to Jude, if you frequently wake up one or more times during the night to pee, it’s likely that you have nocturia.
Nocturia can be incredibly frustrating to live with. It’s often linked with disrupted sleep, low mood and, in some cases, depression.
What can cause nocturia?
Nocturia can affect anyone, but it’s most common in mature adults. Research shows that around 42% of women and 59% of men over 60 wake up once or twice a night to pee, and the condition is believed to affect one-third of people at retirement age.
One reason for this is that, as we age, our bodies produce less antidiuretic hormone (ADH), which controls how much fluid is produced by the kidneys. Having lower levels of ADH means that your kidneys produce more urine, even while you sleep.
Nocturia is often a symptom of another health condition – diabetes, overactive bladder, incontinence, prostate problems, and urinary tract infections are some of the most common.
However, nocturia can also be caused (and worsened) by lifestyle factors; such as drinking lots before bed and having bladder irritants in your diet.
9 ways to manage an overactive bladder at night
Nocturia can be uncomfortable to live with, but the good news is that simple changes can make all the difference. We’ll cover some of these below…
You might also be interested in downloading Jude’s free bladder care handbook, which, written by doctors, includes everything from practical tips to treatment breakdowns.
1. Limit fluid intake before bed
Limiting your fluid intake before bed might seem obvious, but it’s one of the most simple and effective ways to manage an overactive bladder at night.
Jude advises limiting your fluid intake for one or two hours before going to bed. However, it’s still important to make sure you’re staying well-hydrated throughout the day.
2. Cut out bladder irritants from your diet
What we eat and drink can impact our bladder health.
Research shows that caffeine and alcohol can have a major impact on bladder health and increase both the frequency and urgency of our peeing habits. As a result, some people find that removing or reducing their intake of alcoholic and high-caffeine products can help. For example, you could make simple swaps, like having a ginger or peppermint tea in the morning instead of a coffee.
There’s also evidence to suggest that artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes can irritate your bladder. Fizzy drinks (even non-caffeinated ones) are packed with artificial sweeteners, so it’s best to avoid drinking too many of these where possible.
Health experts also suggest that tomatoes, spicy foods, and citrus fruits like oranges and grapefruits may act as irritants – particularly for those with sensitive bladders.
However, it’s important to note that, while many foods and drinks are common culprits for irritating the urinary tract, it can be different for everyone. For this reason, you might find it useful to keep a food diary to see if you can identify any patterns.
3. Consider adding bladder strengthening supplements to your diet
Just as there are bladder irritants, bladder strengthening superfoods exist too.
Jude’s bladder strength supplements contain two of these powerful ingredients – soy isoflavones and pumpkin seeds – which are clinically proven to naturally and effectively improve bladder control, strengthen the pelvic floor, and calm the bladder at night. Unlike many medications, these natural ingredients have no side effects, are gentle on the body, and are safe to take long-term.
In this clinical trial, nine out of 10 participants reported improvements in their quality of life after taking Jude’s Bladder Strength supplements for six weeks, and 70% reported having fewer nighttime trips to the bathroom.
One Jude customer says, “Dry nights! Jude supplements have made a big difference – I no longer have to get up several times in the night.”
To browse Jude’s Bladder Strength supplements and find out more, head over to Jude’s website.
Rest Less members can enjoy an exclusive 22% off Jude’s Bladder Strength Supplement and save up to £15 on their first order using code LESS22. This offer is a single-use discount for new Jude customers only, valid until 31st December 2024.
If you’re unsure whether Jude’s bladder health supplements are right for you, you might find it helpful to complete their online assessment. Jude’s team will recommend a personalised plan based on your symptoms.
4. Check your peeing posture
It might sound strange, but there’s actually a correct way to pee that allows you to empty your bladder fully.
According to Jude, sitting upright is great for your general posture, but it’s not the ideal position to be in when going to the toilet because it doesn’t allow your bladder to empty fully.
Instead, a healthy peeing posture involves leaning forward with your elbows on your knees. This position allows the pelvic floor muscles to relax and encourages the bladder to empty fully.
5. Raise your legs
It may sound strange, but some people find that raising their legs can reduce the need to pee.
This is because research shows that when fluid builds up in the legs, elevating them helps to send fluid back into the bloodstream – reducing the need to pee.
Wearing elastic compression socks can also help by placing pressure on the legs and preventing fluid buildup.
6. Maintain a healthy weight
Maintaining a healthy weight is important for overall health – and experts say this includes your bladder.
This is because being overweight adds pressure to your bladder, so much so that reaching a healthy weight can reduce abdominal pressure and incontinence by up to 30%.
For healthy lifestyle tips that can help with weight maintenance, head over to the fitness and exercise and diet and nutrition sections of our website.
7. Avoid going for ‘just in case’ pees
Many of us go to the toilet ‘just in case’ – for example, if we’ve got a long journey ahead of us or we’re about to go into a meeting. But this is another habit that can lead to confusion for your bladder.
When peeing just in case becomes a daily habit, it can train your bladder to empty at lower volumes and reduce its capacity. With time, this can cause your bladder to become overactive and not function properly. So, it’s important to only go to the toilet when you need to.
8. But equally, try not to hold it in
While holding in a pee from time to time won’t cause any issues, it’s important not to make resisting the urge to pee a habit. Not only can this feel uncomfortable, but holding in your pee too often can also weaken your bladder and pelvic floor over time.
Holding in your pee can make you more susceptible to urinary tract infections because, when you don’t empty your bladder frequently enough, bacteria in the urinary tract are more likely to grow and cause infection. This can also happen if you don’t drink enough water, so it’s important to stay hydrated.
Note: The process of holding in your pee is sometimes used to retrain the bladder if you have incontinence, but this should only be done under the supervision of a doctor or pelvic floor specialist. Otherwise, it’s important to listen to the urge to pee and not hold it in for too long.
9. Practise pelvic floor exercises
The strength of our pelvic floor muscles is intrinsically linked with bladder health. The pelvic floor is like a hammock made up of muscles, ligaments, and other tissues that sits below the bowels, uterus, and bladder, and helps to support them.
It’s common for pelvic floor muscles to weaken or become damaged over time – for example, as a result of pregnancy, childbirth, menopause, or injury. And because the pelvic floor muscles play such a key role in bladder control, this can often lead to urinary incontinence.
However, there are things you can do to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, including targeted exercises.
To find out more, you might want to read Jude’s beginner’s guide to strengthening your pelvic floor, which includes step-by-step exercise instructions.
Final thoughts…
Having an overactive bladder at night can be incredibly frustrating to live with. But the good news is that nocturia doesn’t have to be an inevitable part of ageing. There are plenty of things you can do to take hold of your symptoms, improve your quality of life, and enjoy longer, undisrupted sleep.
For more help and support on your journey with nocturia, Jude sells a range of products to help manage symptoms, including specialised underwear, pads, and liners.
Rest Less members can enjoy an exclusive 22% off Jude’s Bladder Strength Supplement and save up to £15 on their first order using code LESS22. This offer is a single-use discount for new Jude customers only, valid until 31st December 2024.
Have you had experience of nocturia? Do you have any additional tips that you’d like to share? We’d be interested to hear from you in the comments below.
