My Life and Sleep Apnea

Does the need to use the bathroom wake you up several times each night? If you are like me, you go quite a few times. This can be particularly irritating especially if you have sleep apnea. It seems that there is a connection between sleep apnea and Nocturia . Nocturia is when you wake up to urinate. Bedwetting is called enuresis which is different because you don’t wake up. The vast majority of people can limit their nightly bathroom visits to one time at the most; this is considered normal. Those who have severe Nocturia can go as many as five or six times. Two- or three-bathroom visits are about my average. Of course, since I have sleep apnea, I am usually awake anyway, so it really doesn’t bother my sleep routine. I was always under the impression that the reason you had to go to the bathroom so many times each night was a full bladder caused by drinking too many fluids before going to bed. Apparently, there is another reason, and it has to do with sleep apnea....

I am over fifty years old so I try to get a physical every year. Of course the part that I dread is having my prostate checked. I especially needed it checked because I was getting up in the middle of night to go to the bathroom 3 or 4 times each evening. If you combine that with waking up constantly with sleep apnea, it all gets rather annoying. In a previous post I wrote about something called Nocturia , which is when you wake up to urinate. I really thought that was what I had because of the many times that I go to the bathroom at night. Another reason was it is associated with sleep apnea, which I have. Just for clarification Enuresis is the term for bedwetting. I talked to my doctor about it and he checked my prostate and it had gotten bigger. This really isn’t surprising because after 40 most men’s prostates get larger and it is really common for men over 60. For more information go to emedicinehealth.com . The Doctor also did blood work to make sure there wasn’t any c...