I thought only little kids with immature bladder muscles were supposed to wet the bed at night. Now, at age 46, every once in a while I wet the bed. What in the world? Another misconception I had was that the older we women get, the more our bladder muscles become weaker, therefore, adult bedwetting. It wasn’t until after a trip to the doc and some Internet searching that I found a lot of reasons for adult bedwetting.
Sound asleep in my bed with visions of creative articles dancing in my head, all at once a visitor in my dream says, “It’s okay, you’re in the bathroom, go ahead.” Well, snap! I wasn’t in the bathroom. Suddenly awakened by the “warm” feeling, I run towards the bathroom, with last night’s sweet tea leaving a trail behind me. Unable to stop the flow as hard as I tried, I thought to myself, “Here goes another visit to the doctor.”
It’s strange, but true, that about once a month I have the same scenario in my dream that leads to wetting the bed. After a visit to the doctor, he said, “A daily dose of Enablex will fix that right up.” But I found out later that not just a weak bladder can contribute to adults wetting the bed at night. With my research complete for causes for adult bedwetting, I’m convinced that my problem was heavy sleeping due to sleep aids and I was completely unable to wake up and visit the bathroom.
What causes adults to wet the bed anyway?
Let’s get the big words out of the way first. A common name for bedwetting is nocturnal enuresis. Young children who suffer from bedwetting are diagnosed with primary nocturnal enuresis. It’s easy to figure out why children wet the bed. Usually a child’s bladder isn’t developed enough to store urine overnight or they just aren’t able to wake up and go to the bathroom. Adult bedwetting, secondary nocturnal enuresis, can be caused by a variety of things such as heavy sleeping, sleep apnea, stress, urinary infections, chronic constipation, diabetes and other medical conditions. You should be evaluated by your doctor if you suddenly develop bedwetting as an adult.
Help for adult bedwetting
Although your doctor may decide to write a prescription medication, such as Enablex, to help deal with adult bedwetting, there are a few herbal remedies available. Adult males may find saw palmetto effective for adult bedwetting. Fennel may also be helpful for adult bedwetting by making a tea from fennel seeds. Combine 1 cup of boiling water and 1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds and steep for 10 minutes, strain, then drink. Consult a doctor or pharmacist before taking fennel for longer than a few weeks.
Other tips for alleviating adult bedwetting are to limit your fluid intake before bedtime, visit the bathroom before going to bed, exercise your bladder by making fewer trips to the bathroom during the day or using bedwetting alarms.
