# Sleep and Dreams > Sleep and Health >  >  Waking up and needing the toilet

## Amoeba

Okay, so I have a problem where I have never ever had a proper night's sleep in my life unless I was so sick I was KOd.

The culprit: My bladder.

Okay, problem is if I don't drink any water before bed, I wake up extremely dry with a thumping headache. If I _do_ drink any water before bed, guaranteed I will be up at _least_ twice during the night to urinate, even if I only had a couple of mouthfuls of water. I also wake up incredibly thirsty each time and need to replenish my water supply.

So every night my sleep is disrupted at least twice (often more) by the need to go to the bathroom. My flat is so creepy in the dark (especially that stair light coming in the hallway) I need a light on. I don't mind nightmares on occasion but I don't like nightmare fuel. Thus falling back to sleep takes between half an hour to an hour.

I have been tested for diabetes and kidney problems, bladder infections and they all come up negative. Doctor says I'm very healthy and I just happen to need to pee and drink a lot, that's just me. I'm a water guzzler, just like my dad and my granny (his mum). So I think it's hereditary. And I do only drink water, nothing else, except sometimes milk or fresh fruit juice at meal times. I don't like alcohol or carbonated drinks or anything like that so I never drink them. Teas are rare occasion, usually mint or camomile. Bottled water because tap water gives me morning/midnight sickness and other pregnancy symptoms for some odd reason (I don't have any sex so no, I haven't actually been pregnant, plus when this was happening I was too young to be interested in sex). I don't know if it might have caused any permanent damage to the way I process water but surely the doctors would have picked up on that?

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone else has had the problem of needing to pee too much? I usually wake up with a semi-full bladder - I could wait longer. But it distracts me from being able to fall asleep because I can feel it semi-full and whenever I drop off a little it starts nagging at me to empty it and I can't fully fall asleep.

Is there a way that I can train myself to _stay asleep_ so I don't wake up too much or fall asleep even when I feel the slight need to pee? I am quite lucky in the sense that I have good bladder control. I have had lots and lots of dreams of urinating but they've never followed through to real life (except the very first time I had a dream like that when I was six). So I wouldn't have to worry about wetting the bed. It's just getting to sleep and staying asleep that's the issue.

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## Saturos

Wear a diaper. Or pee right before you have to go to bed. Seems simple enough to me.

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## Amoeba

Thank you for your helpful response.  ::roll:: 

I do go right before bed. Still doesn't help.

I don't need to get up to go for fear of wetting the bed, as I said I could wait longer but it just nags, preventing getting back to sleep.

I'm sure someone here has tips and techniques for staying asleep, or for falling asleep when you have distractions like that.

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## Saturos

> Thank you for your helpful response.



No problem, any time!

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## Philosopher8659

You actually train your body in its ability to handle water. If you slowly cut back, your body will adjust. I read about this somewhere.

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## Robot_Butler

Waking up multiple times in the middle of the night is normal and healthy.  Most people wake and immediately go back to sleep without even remembering it.  It is also great for learning to lucid dream.  Many people drink water before bed to make sure they will wake in the middle of the night.  Check out the Wake Back To Bed tutorial:
http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...ad.php?t=64626

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## Amoeba

> No problem, any time!



Tee-hee!  :Cheeky: 





> You actually train your body in its ability to handle water. If you slowly cut back, your body will adjust. I read about this somewhere.



I had heard the doctor say you can do that, but she said it was so limited it's not even worth it. Then again, there's been lots of things the doctors have gotten wrong. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll try it.





> Waking up multiple times in the middle of the night is normal and healthy. Most people wake and immediately go back to sleep without even remembering it. It is also great for learning to lucid dream. Many people drink water before bed to make sure they will wake in the middle of the night. Check out the Wake Back To Bed tutorial:
> http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...ad.php?t=64626



I had never heard of it being considered healthy. I had always been under the impression that it was considered a sleep disturbance which I have always heard to be unhealthy. It says in the thread to not get too awake and that is my problem. As soon as I even think about getting up, unless I am absolutely shattered (which I'm not usually) I will be awake for a long time. Needing the toilet just makes that worse. It also cautions the loss of sleep which some people may have trouble with the next day... doesn't sound too healthy to be honest.

I appreciate your help and I understand you meant well, but it just doesn't really convince me that it's healthy.

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## Flashdance

There's nothing wrong with needing to pee once or twice in the night.

In summer I drink 1-2 cups of water right at the time of going to sleep, and up to 1 Litre in the final 1-2 hours before sleep. In winter I drink 2-3 cups of water in the final 2 hours before sleep.

Personally, I think that dehydration is the cause of insomnia, and that dehydration causes an over-active mind. If you wake up in the night, and your mind is too active to fall back to sleep, I think that's because of dehydration. I always sleep better when I am fully hydrated at bed time.

And every time I wake up and pee at night, I always drink 1 cup of water before going back to bed. So I rehydrate before going back to sleep.

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## DanielleK

Way late response but...

This describes me to a t. Tested for everything they can think of and I'm a-ok. Get old that's just the way I am. I drink a lot of water and pass a lot of water...

I've tried reducing water in take and it doesn't help I end up with very chapped lips, mild constipation and just a overall feeling of dehydration even though I'll still be drinking like 2-3 ltrs a day.

The only thing I've found which helps at all is avoiding all diuretics, which is pretty much anything with caffeine in it like most tea's, coffee's etc

I also try limiting my water after around 3pm (I go to sleep around 10pm). My last glass of water is with my evening meal 6.30ish. Then I'm not allowed anything.

I still wake up by the urge to pee isn't as great. I resist the urge to drink anything until I wake up. 

When I wake up I'm usually extremely thirsty though so I have around 1ltr of water before leaving the house and drink another 2 ltrs before lunch. 

Unfortunately I've not found anything else that helps at all  :Sad:  





> Okay, so I have a problem where I have never ever had a proper night's sleep in my life unless I was so sick I was KOd.
> 
> The culprit: My bladder.
> 
> Okay, problem is if I don't drink any water before bed, I wake up extremely dry with a thumping headache. If I _do_ drink any water before bed, guaranteed I will be up at _least_ twice during the night to urinate, even if I only had a couple of mouthfuls of water. I also wake up incredibly thirsty each time and need to replenish my water supply.
> 
> So every night my sleep is disrupted at least twice (often more) by the need to go to the bathroom. My flat is so creepy in the dark (especially that stair light coming in the hallway) I need a light on. I don't mind nightmares on occasion but I don't like nightmare fuel. Thus falling back to sleep takes between half an hour to an hour.
> 
> I have been tested for diabetes and kidney problems, bladder infections and they all come up negative. Doctor says I'm very healthy and I just happen to need to pee and drink a lot, that's just me. I'm a water guzzler, just like my dad and my granny (his mum). So I think it's hereditary. And I do only drink water, nothing else, except sometimes milk or fresh fruit juice at meal times. I don't like alcohol or carbonated drinks or anything like that so I never drink them. Teas are rare occasion, usually mint or camomile. Bottled water because tap water gives me morning/midnight sickness and other pregnancy symptoms for some odd reason (I don't have any sex so no, I haven't actually been pregnant, plus when this was happening I was too young to be interested in sex). I don't know if it might have caused any permanent damage to the way I process water but surely the doctors would have picked up on that?
> ...

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