Nocturia No More – How to Stop Peeing in the Night

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Final call for my “lecture with funny bits” about mining this Thursday. Hope to see you there.

Here it is, finally, the follow-up to How to Sleep Well, in which we address something that can be the bane of those who would sleep well: peeing in the night.

Did you know one in three adults over 30 and more that half of adults over 50 wake up to pee at least once a night? The interruption damages the precious rhythm of sleep, especially later in the night when getting back to sleep again is harder.

The problem plagued my dad for decades, and it was bladder issues that eventually took him. His peeing was a major source of misery, especially in his later years, and my eyes still well up now when I think how much pain and discomfort he was in.

Unfortunately, like father like son and all that, I have my father’s bladder.

I’m only 55. I’ve been having to get up in the night for at least 25 years now. It is not uncommon for me to have to get up as many as five times. On a really bad night, it can get to ten.

For years, I accepted this as my genetic destiny. But with this sudden turnaround in my health and fitness—in which I have rid myself of many things I thought I was stuck with—and not wanting to follow in Dad’s footsteps, I’ve put some considerable effort to this issue in the last few months.

I’m delighted to report that I have made real progress.

Twice this week, I have got through the night without having to pee at all. It’s been 25 years since that happened for me, and the exhilaration I felt the following morning was quite something. I even got 100% sleep scores on my Whoop.

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Five things I did which made a difference

The condition of having to pee in the night is called nocturia.

I started by going to the doctor, where I had all sorts of tests: blood tests, urine tests, and the infamous finger up the bum. Everything came back fine. No prostate or bladder issues. The only thing they found was that my kidney function was sub-optimal.

There are five stages of kidney function, with stage 1 being optimal and stage 5 being failure. I’m stage 2, “mildly reduced function,” which is not ideal, but it’s also not abnormal for someone my age. In any case, it’s often asymptomatic.

So if everything is mostly working down there, why all the peeing?

I have a theory which I’ll come back to in a moment.

By the way, while I remember: fasting does not help. When fasting, if you’re like me, you will consume loads of liquid—soup, herbal tea—to fool your body into thinking you’re full. All that liquid means a lot of peeing.

Also, fasting puts your body into a state of ketosis, which makes your kidneys work harder. Ergo more peeing.

However, the health benefits of fasting, especially weight loss, are so great that, in my view, they outweigh the increased peeing.

1. Supplements

I tried a million different supplements:

* Pumpkin seeds

* Linseed / Flaxseed

* Walnuts (also good for Omega 3)

* Zinc

* Selenium

* Pygeum Africanum

* Magnesium

* Vitamin D (though I also read that it makes you pee more—you can’t win)

* Quercetin

I’m not convinced any of them made a significant difference, but I mention them because they were part of the process.

2. Booze

Sorry, but it’s a killer. Especially, beer. Lots of liquid plus the diuretic effects of alcohol. Try not drink as much, try and drink your booze earlier in the day, away from bedtime. Best of all, don’t drink at all.

If you need help cutting down on booze, get a Whoop. I explain how they help here.

3. Fluid Management

Consume your fluids earlier in the day. Avoid drinking anything for at least three hours before bed, even if it means going to bed a bit thirsty (though that might not be great for your kidneys).

This makes a huge difference - it will reduce your peeing by as much as 40% I’d say.

At the same time as making sure I didn’t drink three hours before bed, I started doing two other things. I think it these three things in tandem that made the difference.

4. Getting your body out of the habit

Often I’d wake up in the night with the feeling that I needed to pee, when I didn’t even need to.

I began to suspect that my body had simply got into the habit of waking up. I needed to break the cycle. How to do that?