Urinating at night, may be a sign

Many of us feel the urgent need to urinate during our sleep, it can disrupt our sleep patterns leaving us feeling exhausted and fatigued when we wake. So is night time urination effecting your sleep? It is not normal to urinate at night and it may be a sign of a sleep disorder, it is not allowing us to receive a good night of sleep, resulting in sleep loss.

Sleep loss affects our bodies several ways, our ability to concentrate during the day or night, our ability to make conscious decisions and a constant feeling of fatigue. These are all factors that can affect our daily routines, from our work life to home life and even how we make decisions on the road.

During sleep, our urine production slows down, however it is more concentrated which allows the body to rest interrupted for what is the optimal sleep period of 8 hours.

Age is a factor

Age is one of the biggest factors in increased urination at night and is due to our bodies producing less of the antidiuretic hormone, this hormone assists our bodies in retaining fluid and due to our bodies producing less it can result in an increased urine production especially at night.

Therefore, as we look at the effects it has on our sleep it is interesting and not uncommon for us to believe that increased urination is part of the aging process and is normal. What is not normal, is the effect it has on our sleeping patterns.

Our optimal sleep time

Research has shown that most of us will achieve 6 hours of rest and not feel the need to urinate, however if we think about the impact that not achieving the optimal sleep time of 8 hours and what effect this has on our bodies, it can be quite alarming. Feelings of exhaustion and unrest are common ailments and it is important to understand how managing your sleep more efficiently can decrease these symptoms.

As sleep plays a vital role in both physical and mental functioning, understanding how we can maximise our optimal sleep time is key. With an increased recognition of the impacts that a disturbed sleep can have on our awareness is prevalent to ensure we are arming ourselves with as much knowledge as we can regarding healthy sleep patterns.

During sleep our brain can provide a false sense of having a full bladder which will then lead to us making the decision to stop our sleep and go to the bathroom, this is known as Nocturia when it occurs several times a night and will lead to disrupted sleep patterns and as mentioned have a great impact on our overall health.

Not only does the overall need to urinate at night effect ourselves, but it can also have an impact on our partners well being, if you consider the amount of times you are disrupted by going to the bathroom, you could also be causing your partner to have a disrupted sleep pattern again impacting on their physical and mental functioning.

Seek assistance

It is important to seek assistance if you are experiencing any of these symptoms as help may only be a phone call away, allowing you to gain control of your sleep and health. So, take some time to consider the impact urination at night is having on you or your family members and take action to understand the consequences further and work towards achieving optimal sleep. So ask yourself again, is night time urination effecting your sleep?