Written by Marisa Taylor Karas | Reviewed by Mera Goodman, MD, FAAP Updated on April 13, 2021
If you have overactive bladder, you may experience the sudden urge to urinate, or you may find yourself needing to go to the bathroom many times each day or night. It’s inconvenient, but it’s very common: As many as 30 percent of men and 40 percent of women in the United States live with these symptoms at some point in their lives.
The need to wake up at night to go to the bathroom is called nocturia. Nocturia, and frequent urination, can be caused by overactive bladder, but also may be due to other medical conditions. You should record a diary of your symptoms and review this with your doctor to clarify your diagnosis.
“Nighttime urgency and frequent nighttime [urinating] is probably one of the worst health impacts of overactive bladder,” says Lauri Romanzi, MD, Urogynecologist with NYU Langone Health. “It interferes with sleep, and anything that interferes with sleep, night after night, is not good for all of your health.”
What are ways to cope with overactive bladder at night?
Here are a few ways to reduce nighttime urgency from overactive bladder:
- Watch your fluid intake. Try not to drink too much water late in the afternoon or evening. That way, you’ll go to bed without a lot of fluid in your system. However, drinking too little fluid may make symptoms of overactive bladder worse.
- Cut back on caffeine. Caffeine can act as an irritant and make overactive bladder worse. Limiting your caffeine, particularly in the afternoon, may keep you from too much nighttime urination.
- Elevate your legs. Lying down and elevating your legs may help drain fluid away from your feet and legs and bring it toward your kidneys, explains Dr. Romanzi. That way, your body may be able to process the fluid and urinate it out before going to bed at night.
- Time your medications. If you take a once-a-day medication for your overactive bladder, try taking it at night. If you take other medications, such as diuretics, you should talk to your doctor about whether this is safe to take in the earlier part of the day.
- Avoid long walks to the bathroom. If your bladder is overactive at night, your sleep is disrupted by frequent walks to the bathroom. Instead, you can consider keeping a commode chair or urinal near your bed so you can get back to sleep quickly.
- Empty your bladder before going to bed. This may help to offset your need to get up over the evening.
- Talk to your provider about bedwetting. Dr. Romanzi says that bedwetting is actually uncommon with overactive bladder, so it could be a sign of another health issue.
The bottom line
If you’re one of the many people who live with overactive bladder symptoms, watching your fluid intake and cutting back on caffeine can make a difference. However, make sure to talk to your provider if you’re wetting the bed. It’s a sign that something else could be wrong.
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