What is Nocturia?
Nocturia is the medical term for excessive urination at night. If one needs to urinate two or more than two times during the night time, one probably has Nocturia.
Nocturia and Stroke
Nocturia is a very frequent issue with stroke patients. Indeed, a study has found almost 81 % of stroke patients suffer from it. Besides, people with high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity frequently suffer from it. As is well known, many of the stroke affected as well suffer from these comorbidities. Medications taken to alleviate them ( for instance, diuretics to alleviate high blood pressure ) increase incidence of this disease. Also, it can be the result of- Urinary Tract Infection ( UTI) or bladder infection. These complications are faced by many stroke patients as well.
Hence it is important to recognize the symptoms of Nocturia and take timely actions.
What are the symptoms?
If one needs to go to the bathroom two or three times each night, it’s a clear sign that the person has Nocturia. Waking to go to the bathroom obviously affects one’s quality of sleep, and the quality of life as well. Over time, poor sleep can become a severe problem for many of us.
Diagnosis of Nocturia
Diagnosing the cause of nocturia requires knowing the answer to questions such as :
- When did the nocturia start?
- How many times per night do you have to urinate?
- Are you producing less urine than you did before?
- Do you have accidents or have you wet the bed?
- Does anything make the problem worse?
- Do you have any other symptoms?
- What medications are you taking?
- Do you have a family history of bladder problems or diabetes?
One may need to undergo some testing such as:
- Blood sugar test
- other blood tests for blood counts and blood chemistry
- urinalysis
- Urine culture
- fluid deprivation test
- ultrasounds or CT scans
- Cystoscopy
How can Nocturia be treated?
Medications such as anticholinergic drugs, which help lessen the symptoms of an overactive bladder and desmopressin, which causes your kidneys to produce less urine at night are some of the medications used for the treatment of nocturia. All medications must be taken under medical supervision.
How can the impact of Nocturia be decreased?
In order to lessen the impact of nocturia on your life, you should:
- Reduce the amount of any form of liquid intake before 2- 4 hours of sleep.
- Avoid drinks that contain alcohol and caffeine
- Avoid intake of certain food items that can be bladder irritants like such as chocolate, spicy foods, acidic foods, and artificial sweeteners.
- Do kegel exercises and pelvic floor physical therapy which strengthens the pelvic muscles and improve bladder control.
Hope above is useful to any affected. Please comment in with your experiences. Or share them with any of our groups as under.
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