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Clinical symptoms
- Waking once or more each night with the need to pass urine
- Broken sleep and tiredness the next day
- Sometimes urgency, a weak stream or frequent urination in the daytime
Common causes
- Making more urine at night, including from evening fluids, tea, coffee or alcohol
- Enlarged prostate (BPH) or an overactive bladder
- Diabetes, heart or kidney conditions, and leg swelling that settles when lying down
- Sleep disorders such as sleep apnoea
- Some medicines, especially water tablets (diuretics) taken late in the day
How it is evaluated
- History of fluids, medicines and sleep, and a 3-day bladder diary
- Urine and blood tests, including blood sugar, kidney function and PSA where appropriate
- Ultrasound of kidneys, bladder and prostate, with urine flow and residual urine checks
Management options
- Cutting down evening fluids, caffeine and alcohol, and taking water tablets earlier in the day if your doctor agrees
- Treating the underlying cause, such as diabetes, sleep apnoea or heart failure
- Medicines or procedures for prostate enlargement or overactive bladder when these are the cause
- Medicines that reduce night-time urine production in selected patients, only under medical supervision
When to see a urologist
See a urologist if you wake two or more times on most nights, if you also have a weak stream, burning or blood in the urine, or if sleep and daily life are affected.
This information is for education and does not replace an examination. Please consult a doctor for your own condition.
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