Frequent urination at night, otherwise known as nocturia, could be indicative of a clutch of urological issues, some among them might be serious. Whether it’s caused by lifestyle factors like excessive fluid intake before bed, or any underlying medical condition, it can make you feel tired by disrupting your regular sleep cycle.

Symptoms of nocturia could include:

Waking up twice or more to urinate at night.
Passing large volumes of urine if polyuria is present.
Feeling tired and sleepy during daytime, since your sleep cycle is disturbed.

Frequent urination can be caused by:

Drinking too much fluid before going to bed, particularly those with alcohol and caffeine.
Medications that contain a diuretic or water pill.
Reduced bladder capacity when the bladder doesn’t fill or empty properly.
Habit or routine, when you might have unintentionally trained yourself to wake up at night and go to the washroom, even if you don’t need to.

Nocturia can be caused by certain health conditions like:

Polyuria (where the body produces too much urine for the bladder to hold).
Diabetes.
Hypertension.
Prostate obstruction.
Cardiac problems or congestive heart failure.
Obstructive sleep apnoea or other sleep problems.
Pelvic organ prolapse.
Childbirth, pregnancy or menopause.
Restless legs syndrome.
Oedema.

Nocturia can be diagnosed by:

Patient history and symptoms.
Urinalysis to look for infection, proteins and other elements.
Blood tests to check kidney function.
Imaging tests on bladder to see how it fills and empties.
Cystoscopy to check for tumour or other causes, through a narrow tube with a tiny lens.

Lifestyle changes that can help with nocturia:

Limiting fluid intake in the evening.
Taking diuretic medication in the morning or 6 hours before going to bed.
Taking naps in the afternoon.
Elevating your legs while sitting at home.
Strengthening pelvic floor muscles through physiotherapy.
Wearing compression stockings.

Medications for nocturia:

Anticholinergics: These drugs alleviate the symptoms of overactive bladder.
Diuretics: Help regulate the amount of urine one produces.
Desmopressin: Helps the kidneys produce less urine.

While nocturia in itself is not life-threatening, the conditions causing it could be serious. For instance, some conditions that affect your bladder or prostate can trigger frequent urination at night. Ignoring these underlying conditions will not help with your nocturia and might actually make it worse. So, it is advisable to seek medical opinion and if required, see a urologist.

For instance, it is imperative to treat diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure, obstructive sleep apnoea or enlarged prostate. Sometimes, changing the dose or timing of prescribed medication can also help. It is important to remember that nocturia is the signal that something is going on with your body. It is not a disease in itself.

The other significant complication of nocturia could be loss of quality of sleep since the sleep cycle often gets disturbed when you need to wake up multiple times. When we don’t sleep well, it makes us moody and less productive during the day. Over a period of time, this can become a serious problem.