Urine Retention (nocturia): Why am I producing so much urine at night?

Posted by terwifwoods @terwifwoods, Oct 30, 2021

Hello,

Per my doctor, I am an otherwise healthy 40 something year old male who was been diagnosed with urine retention and voiding dysfunction (approximately six weeks ago). I've had a cystoscopy, which confirmed I have a very tight external urethral sphincter muscle and a hypertrophic bladder. I was doing self-catherization for over a month and pelvic floor stretches. I opted to have a foley catheter for the next month to relax the sphincter and bladder. I am awaiting a urodynamic study for further details, but its over two months out.

I am drinking 100 ounces of water or more each day per my urologist. I drink over half of the total in the mornings, and taper off through the afternoon. I stop drinking fluids at 6pm.

However, I noticed I am producing more than half of my daily output of urine between 11PM - 5AM, even though I empty myself before bed. When I was self cathing, I would void 300-400 ml on my own and cath another 400-700ml at night! When I wake up with my foley cath, I consistently have over 1000ml in my nigh bag. I asked my urologist and doctor why my urine output is so high at night and they do not know.

WHY am I producing so much urine at night?

Prior to the urine retention problem, I would get up once at night to pee 2-4 times a week, and my prostate is fine. I occasionally snore and my wife has not noticed any issues with breathing during sleep. I was tested for sleep apnea three years ago and it was negative. I exercise at least five days a week and was in the best shape of my life prior to the retention issues.

Could this be hormonal or neurological? Does the fact I worked a swing shift for fourteen years (off at midnight-ish) influence this?

How can I get my urine production to increase during the day and decrease at night?

Please help! I'd like some type of guidance so I can get my life back on track...

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Kidney & Bladder Support Group.

@joko

Wonder how many men are in similar situations never having been told to take it at night. My prescription is twice a day and have had the same issue.

Jump to this post

That's a good question. I've got a feeling that most people never look at the instructions that come with almost every medication that have all that good information 🙃 I was one of them and my original prescribing doctor was long gone as I get a new resident PCP every two years or so. After the pharmacist told me I should be taking them at night, I confirmed it with my PCP and was happy that it improved my nightly wake up calls.

REPLY

Have you tried D-manoose? I think it is a miracle We like the NOW brand from amazon

REPLY

I have recently noticed that I have begun urinating 4-5 times st night. It is also interfering with my sleep. What could I do to reduce it as I will be sharing a room with another person on a Pilgrimage soon

REPLY
@mariserodriguez

I have recently noticed that I have begun urinating 4-5 times st night. It is also interfering with my sleep. What could I do to reduce it as I will be sharing a room with another person on a Pilgrimage soon

Jump to this post

@mariserodriguez, I moved your question about urinating often at night to this existing discussion:
- Urine Retention (nocturia): Why am I producing so much urine at night? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/urine-retention-high-night-time-urine-production/ -
I did this so you can read the previous post and connect with other members experiencing the same thing.

You might find this article from Mayo Clinic helpful:
- Frequent Urination - Causes: https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/frequent-urination/basics/causes/sym-20050712

REPLY

quite often i experience acid reflux before i urinate mostly at night when im in bed
I am 90 year old male. I might add the AR goes a way after i urinate

REPLY
@omta

quite often i experience acid reflux before i urinate mostly at night when im in bed
I am 90 year old male. I might add the AR goes a way after i urinate

Jump to this post

Hi @omta, I moved your discussion and combined it with an existing discussion titled: "Urine Retention (nocturia): Why am I producing so much urine at night?" - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/urine-retention-high-night-time-urine-production/

I did this so you could meet other members talking about nocturia like @rndexter, @terwifwoods, and @sbwitte have discussed nocturia.

@omta, have you discussed the onset of acid reflux with your nocturia with your provider and how it is relieved after you use the bathroom?

REPLY
@JustinMcClanahan

Hi @omta, I moved your discussion and combined it with an existing discussion titled: "Urine Retention (nocturia): Why am I producing so much urine at night?" - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/urine-retention-high-night-time-urine-production/

I did this so you could meet other members talking about nocturia like @rndexter, @terwifwoods, and @sbwitte have discussed nocturia.

@omta, have you discussed the onset of acid reflux with your nocturia with your provider and how it is relieved after you use the bathroom?

Jump to this post

No i guess i learned to live with it
i have a primary care appointment this Thursday and i will mention it

REPLY
@hjscheib

I am a 75-year-old male who is in good physical shape with some exceptions; I have Parkinsons (PD)
and must exercise (I'm involved in the Rock Steady boxing program for PD, I do weight training with light weight bar-bells, and lots of work with my treadmill (for balance, strength in the legs, breathing training, and more some weeks.

I have had all kinds of prostate difficulties since I was 40 and onward - constantly dashing off to locate bathrooms because, as others have said, if you have BPH (and I have a large prostate) you continually fail to empty your bladder to near completness I have had prostatitis on many occasions, probably 4 biopsies of my prostate, numerous MRIs and other scans for tumors that consistently proved completely or relatively negative and have had examinations of the bladder and prostate every couple of years to ensure there was no cancer (the disease my father died of). I've also been, lately, taking terazosin to control the bladder during the night & prevent waking up at night 1-3 times, which, at first worked wonderfully for a few months and then (i.e., now) I'm back to waking up once or twice for nocturnal peeing and wearing men's diapers. A couple of years ago I had what was called a urolift wherein two tiny stainless steal balls were placed in or near the bladder to stop urgent trips to eh bathroom to urinate. This new technology helped to eliminate jaunts to the bathroom to empty my blafdder for a couple of weeks, then things improved no more and I was back where I was before the urolift.

But two to three weeks ago I had bloody - completely bloody - urine and got very nervous and saw my urologist right away. He gave me an internal bladder exam - can't recall the name of the exam but it entails a complete examination of the bladder through the use of a rubber tube that is inserted what felt like a yard into my penis and up to and inside the the bladder and this is "televised" if you want to watch the inner search, which I did. It turned out that I had a huge stone sitting in (on) my bladder that was so large - 4 cm X 1.5 cm X .5 cm - he couldn't take it out in his office and I had to have the stone broken up by a laser and crushed into small pieces. I heal pretty quickly and a couple of days later there was no trace of the stone. The point is anything in or around your bladder or urinary tract (canal) can cause simple or severe blockage and finally cause some kind of damage to the bladder - and could prevent you from urinating, could scrape the bladder and cause excessive bleeding, and/or could release too much urine throughout the day and night that you can't (easily) control. I'm seeing my urologist on Wednesday and have a feeling that things in my bladder will gradually change for the better having had this huge stone excised from my body; perhaps now it has already begun to take off enough pressure on my bladder on a given day, or longer time frame, that can make my daily life less miserable.

Incidently, before I saw the stone sitting on, or partly in, my bladder, I never had any pain or discomfort. DIdn't even know it was there. But about five months ago my urologist suggested to me during a meeting I had with him that I could have a bladder stone or stone fragments that might soon become troublesome and will need to be eliminated.

- Howard J. Scheiber, PhD

Jump to this post

Hey, Howard. Are you still following this blog?
If so, how are things now around 2½ years on?

I had a stone surgically removed from my bladder, too, and expected my frequency -- especially overnight -- to end. But it didn't.

I also subsequently thought that ADT for my prostate cancer would shrink the prostate and alleviate the urinary problems. I don't know if it did shrink the prostate or not, but it certainly didn't alleviate the problems. (Though I do have fewer overnight urgencies, that may be due to more careful attention to avoiding late-in-the-day liquids consumption, and switching Flomax from at bedtime to around breakfast time.)

Has what you've done solved your urinary problems?

REPLY
@joecontheroad

Hey, Howard. Are you still following this blog?
If so, how are things now around 2½ years on?

I had a stone surgically removed from my bladder, too, and expected my frequency -- especially overnight -- to end. But it didn't.

I also subsequently thought that ADT for my prostate cancer would shrink the prostate and alleviate the urinary problems. I don't know if it did shrink the prostate or not, but it certainly didn't alleviate the problems. (Though I do have fewer overnight urgencies, that may be due to more careful attention to avoiding late-in-the-day liquids consumption, and switching Flomax from at bedtime to around breakfast time.)

Has what you've done solved your urinary problems?

Jump to this post

Joe:
I am 77 (now) and ve been fighting the bladder to "regulate" itself to the point of little water coming thru. I think that the only pill help you can get now is Gentesa. I have been taking Gentesa for about three months and it has prevented me (it took the whole 3 months to get to the point where it will work, but it seems to be working efficiently.
However, I use men's panties every night and other urine leakage prevention devices to aid me just in case. I want to have them ... to ensure the best possible overnight protection. I purchase the men's adult panties from a very reliable company - NorthShore - in the Chicago area (800-563-0161) or NorthShore.com/2140. They are a bit more expensive than the supermarket variety but their products work the way they say they should. I use their Medium, Go-Supreme Lite "scheduled" for keeping dry for 6 hours at nite, but I sometimes I need the same kind of panties for 8 hours and during the day, also. And I use their extra and complementary guard that you add to the mix at night, fitted easily at nite. The customer service department, if you haven't used these protective panties, blocks, and guards will give the help you might need.
Let me know if anyone out at the Mayo Clinic has found anything better for activities we do during the day - or evening, traveling on planes, trains, attending the theater, restaurants, etc. It's simply embarrassing to have to walk around or sit in a movie theater ... wet, as we all know.
Keep dry and keep me posted on something really essential that might surface in the Mayo Clinic discussion group.
H.J. Scheiber, PhDHoward69 Colton CircleWest Orange, NJ Tel. 973.219.7716

REPLY
@terwifwoods

Hello,

I am a forty year-old male who has been dealing with urinary retention and voiding dysfunction for over two months. I am currently utilizing self-catherization.

I have no trouble falling asleep but wake up at least a few times during the night to urinate. This was not the case before, and my prostate is fine. It is rare I sleep for more than four hours at a time. I have kept a voiding log and noticed I am producing 50% or more of my daily urine between midnight-7am, despite the fact I do not drink anything after 6pm. Once I get up around 3am to self-cath, it is difficult to fall back asleep. I have tried a foley cath for one month and still woke up a few times each night.

No doctors so far can explain why I am producing so much urine at night. I have tested negative for diabetes insipidus. I am not retaining water in my legs. I am not overweight and continue to exercise regularly. My kidney function is normal. I have an appointment with a sleep clinician to be re-tested for sleep apnea, which I have a mild case of when I end up sleeping on my back.

Does anyone have experience with sleep apnea causing high urine production at night? If so, did getting treated for sleep apnea treat the high urine production?

Jump to this post

I also self Catherine and empty my bladder right before bed time and still have to get up at least once per night and empty again. I think it is easier for your kidneys to function with your feet elevated at night as gravity tends to pool the blood in the lower extremities during the day, because your feet aren’t elevated! That’s my theory, as I am not a doctor!

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.