ANCSLEEP BLOG

Sleep is one of the body’s most essential restorative processes—but for people living with overactive bladder (OAB), restful sleep can feel frustratingly out of reach. Waking up multiple times a night with the sudden urge to urinate interrupts sleep cycles, increases daytime fatigue, and contributes to stress and reduced quality of life. What’s often underestimated is how deeply OAB affects not only nighttime comfort but also overall physical and mental health.

If you find yourself waking up repeatedly to go to the bathroom or lying awake worried you might need to get up soon, you’re not alone. Overactive bladder affects millions of adults of all ages, and nighttime symptoms—known as nocturia—are among the most disruptive.

This article explores how OAB interferes with sleep, why it happens, and evidence-based ways to improve nighttime rest.

Waking up multiple times a night to use the bathroom—known as nocturia—can seriously disrupt your sleep and leave you feeling tired, irritable, and foggy the next day. While nighttime urination can sometimes be caused by medical conditions that require evaluation, in many cases, behavioral and lifestyle adjustments can make a significant difference.

Bedwetting, or nocturnal enuresis, is a common yet often perplexing phenomenon that can affect individuals of all ages. While it's a well-known occurrence in children, bedwetting can also persist into adulthood, leading to frustration and embarrassment. In this blog post, we'll delve into the underlying causes of bedwetting in both children and adults, shedding light on the various factors that contribute to this often misunderstood condition.

Bedwetting is an occasional accident where one pees in the bed. This can be a common occurrence in children, but when it starts to happen in adulthood, it can be concerning. Most adults who are developmentally competent should not experience nocturnal enuresis, or peeing at night time.

It can be confusing, distressing, and embarrassing to experience this as an adult. It's also potentially the signal that something else more severe is going on underneath the surface. If you experience multiple episodes of waking up with the sheets wet, then it's important to speak with your urologist or primary care physician as soon as possible to determine the cause. Continue reading to learn more about what may be causing bedwetting in adults. 

Nocturia is a term for a condition in which you take multiple trips to the bathroom at night. These constant disruptions cause you to constantly wake up to take a trip to the bathroom, which interrupts your attempt at a good night's sleep. You may awaken in the morning and find yourself feeling drowsy or extremely tired throughout the day. If this happens more often than not, and you are not proceeding bedtime with a large intake of water, then there may be some underlying diseases or disorders that you need to address. Please continue reading to find out more about what may be causing your multiple bathroom stops. 

There is a Condition for Frequent Nighttime Urination: Nocturia

Are you waking up several times or more throughout the night to go pee? Is it causing you to feel tired in the morning and sleep deprived throughout the day? This phenomenon is known as nocturia, or nighttime urination.

Nocturia is a nuisance that leads to sleep deprivation and should be taken seriously. Because of this, it's important to recognize the signs that one may be experiencing sleep deprivation versus the occasional instance of needing to urinate at night. 

Someone without nocturia will usually go the whole night without having to wake and urinate. At most, if too much alcohol or water was consumed before bed, such people will wake up once and go back to sleep after relieving themselves. With nocturia, an individual may wake up anywhere from three times or more a night.

This has the potential of causing wakefulness nearly every hour. A few consequences of the resulting sleep deprivation are: 

• Daytime sleepiness if waking three times a night
• Significant sleep deprivation if waking five times a night
• Severe sleep deprivation if waking more than five times a night

Frequent Urination: What is Nocturia?

Do you get up frequently during the night to urinate? The term for this is nocturia, of frequent urination throughout the night that requires you to wake up. This is a problem because the frequent rousing can interfere with your sleep cycle and lead to sleep deprivation.

Nocturia is a common cause of sleep loss. People without nocturia can usually go 6 to 8 hours of sleeping without having to urinate. Getting up once per night is likely not going to cause problems. Getting up 2-3 times per night is likely to cause daytime sleepiness. Nocturia may require one to get up 4-6 times or more, potentially leading to severe sleep deprivation [Sleep Foundation].

Frequently Waking Up to Urinate is a Condition

The term for frequently waking up at night to urinate is nocturia. Nocturia is more than an irritating nuisance, it causes sleep deprivation and should be taken seriously.

Whereas someone without nocturia can sleep 6-8 hours at night without having to urinate, people with nocturia may get up 3-6 times per night or more. Getting up once, or perhaps even twice, per night is likely not going to cause problems, but 3 times per night is likely to cause daytime sleepiness and 5 or more times per night is likely to cause severe sleep deprivation.

Nocturia should not be confused with bed-wetting, which does not involve rousing from sleep. Nocturia can be caused by a multitude of factors, or a combination of factors, such as:

• Lifestyle habits
• Medical conditions
• Naturally occurring life circumstances
• Sleeping disorders