OSA & Frequent urination during the night

[hbakar]

Before I was diagnosed with OSA, I noticed that I woke up frequently with an urge to use the bathroom several times a night, sometimes 6-7 times a night. It was about two years of misery! I had seen several doctors and even had procedures done by a urologist. He insisted that I had a tight urethra! I was so miserable, I was ready to do anything, but nothing had worked... I have been on CPAP for 3 months and I have been %100 compliant and no more night time bathroom trips. Sometimes once a night, but other nights none....

So I made a research online to find out why people with OSA wake up frequently to use the bathroom and here is why:

So why are middle-aged women at a much higher risk of dying, if they have to urinate in the middle of the night? To summarize, most of these people probably have undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea. With sleep apnea, every time you stop breathing, the vacuum pressures in your chest prevents blood from reaching your heart. Once you start breathing again, blood rushes back into your heart, causing your heart chambers to dilate. Your body thinks you’re fluid overloaded, and produces a hormone called atrial natriuretic peptide, which makes your kidneys make more urine.

Another past study showed that people who wake up to go to the bathroom do so not because they make too much urine, but because they stopped breathing, and think they have to go. Typically, people don’t usually have a full bladder. They also tend to wake up every 90 to 120 minutes, which is one sleep cycle. So every time you go into deeper levels of sleep when your muscles relax, you’ll stop breathing and wake up. http://doctorstevenpark.com/why-sleep-a ... -for-women

I feel very frustrated with all the doctors I had seen...None of them suggested that I could have OSA....even after everything they'd done failed....They even tried to get me to let them insert a pacemaker under my skin for muscle control , so I would stop pee so often....Thank God, I didn't agree that one.
I know there are really nice, considerate doctors out there who actually care about their patients, but I have hard time trusting any right now.

I just wanted to share what I had to go through...

I'd like to address people who are new to CPAP....PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP! I know, it is not comfortable to sleep with things attached to your face, but believe me, a lot of unexplained things that you have been dealing with with will magically disappear with CPAP. Benefits of the therapy definitely beat the uncomfort!

[ThomasMcKean]

Did yew pee a lot every time yew got up or did yew yew just tinkle a bit and go back to bed? I should think it would be terribly annoying to get up just to do a few drops several times a night.

[Paula J]

I had the same thing happen to me. In my whole life (and I'm a senior citizen) I never had to get up and go tinkle at night til about a year ago. I was also diagnosed with diebetes about that time, so I thought that that was causing it. Since I've been on Cpap (one month), I have not had to get up at all to go to the bathroom at night. So apnea evidently affects a lot of things that we sure don't know about. Thanks for posting this.

[sleepyb]

Great Post!
Yes, I thought it was the usual male issue that was causing me to go all night long but once I got on xPAP it is now rare that I have to get up at night to go. Too bad more Dr's don't know about this. I was lucky, a female Dr. suggested that I do a sleep study and they found Severe OSA 90AHI/hr. But I had been to a bunch of Dr's before that didn't put the puzzle together.

[Pugsy]

It is common in males and females. My first sign of improvement was the cessation of nocturia. I was having a pretty full bladder about every hour or so. That quit just as soon as I got my therapy dialed in.

I am so sorry that you had to go through all that other stuff. The medical profession often has tunnel vision. In my case I got the post menopausal anxiety/depression diagnosis as a cause of headaches and fatigue run around till I moved and went to a new doctor whose first question when I said I was tired all the time was "do you snore or stop breathing when you sleep".

[ThomasMcKean]

Great Post!
Yes, I thought it was the usual male issue that was causing me to go all night long but once I got on xPAP it is now rare that I have to get up at night to go. Too bad more Dr's don't know about this. I was lucky, a female Dr. suggested that I do a sleep study and they found Severe OSA 90AHI/hr. But I had been to a bunch of Dr's before that didn't put the puzzle together.

Great day! 90??? And I thought my 52 was bad!

[sleepyb]

Yep, after the Dr. saw my stats for the sleep study she said "I am suprised you are still alive".

[ThomasMcKean]

Yep, after the Dr. saw my stats for the sleep study she said "I am suprised you are still alive".

I was just thinking the same thing!

[Mimmie]

Glad you found your problem! I was doing the same thing. Up all night to go to the bathroom. No more problems since I started my machine. Once I go to sleep, I stay that way.

[Jeffster]

Congrats on finding your "cure" hbakar! It was good of you to share it here.

[hosehead_dolphy]

I have had the same problem. I used to get up to go to the bathroom 2 to 3 times a night. After I started the CPAP in May, I was shocked I did not get up to run to the bathroom during the night anymore! Told myself, CPAP isnt so bad if it stopped the trips to the bathroom! I didnt realize also that I have stopped dreaming during the night. Now I am having dreams everynight! What a difference CPAP has made for me.

[ems]

Hbakar... Your post could have been mine! Thank you for posting this. I've been on the mask for about 3 weeks... so still new... but already noticing I get up to go much less. No, this mask is not fun... but if I pee less during the nite and have more energy during the day, it will be well worth it!,

[ozze_dollar]

Sounds like we all had the same problem.Why is it no one thinks you have sleep apnia. My wife is a nurse and she knew that I would stop breathing at night but it never occurred to her I had sleep apnia.
I think it is becoming more known now.

[Bright Choice]

I had the same problem. My husband had a prostate problem and was complaining about getting up to the bathroom 2 or 3 times a night. I thought, what's he complaining about - I get up 4-6 times a night!

I had no idea that it related to SDB and never thought to mention it to my md - I don't think he would have had much of a reaction.

Enter SDB diagnosis and a physician who actually asked about nocturia. I no longer have a problem being on xpap.

For anyone who might be interested in learning more - here's a video by Dr. Barry Krakow on Nocturia and SDB: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQmyP0eMH5k

It's not just getting up to the bathroom to "pee a little bit", but the body is actually trying to dump what it perceives to be a fluid overload. In response to untreated SDB, the body actually creates a diuretic hormone causing your bladder to fill and thus the need to get up to pee frequently at night.

[DaveL]

Thanks for your post!

Before diagnosis I would get up 5 times a night. Now, when cpap works? Once. When it is more, I check to see what has changed.

Your post helps me understand.

DaveL