Nocturnal Urination (Nocturia) Remedies

There were several studies performed using pumpkin seed oil (PSO) in the treatment of overactive bladders. The studies confirmed that PSO did in fact "significantly reduce the degree of Overactive Bladder System Score...and are effective for urinary disorders such as OAB in humans." (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24872936)

Having struggled with OAB for the last 10 years, I was beginning to think I would simply have to accept the fact my sleep would continually be disrupted due to this issue. I did try various products to solve the problem, one a very expensive herbal product touted for women but at approx. $45 per month felt this to be too expensive. The other was saw palmetto which my husband regularly takes and is very effective for him.

I purchased a bottle of a popular brand of 1000 mg soft gels of PSO (at a cost of $11.24 at my local store) and started taking 2 per day. Wow! What a striking difference after only 1 day. Instead of waking to the urgency of a bathroom call several times in the night I woke only once and that to a gentle pressure. The successive nights were similar and one night I was able to simply ignore it and actually fall back asleep. Mind you, I have only been taking this for 7 days while the studies were conducted over a longer period. I definitely will continue to take this product (also has other health benefits, I.e., anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory) and perhaps increase dosage to 4 mg per day and then taper off back to 2 mg per day.

Turns out that a serving (1/2 cup) of brown rice about 1/2 hr before going to sleep may reduce nocturia. The theory is that the rice absorbs water (from the vascular system) by bringing it into your gut instead of excretion via your kidneys/bladder. I used to awake every 2-3 hrs. Now I am up to 6 hrs of blissful, uninterrupted sleep.

I used to make my own rice but discovered Minute rice - and others - had a microwaveable single-serving package that took only 1 minute to heat and serve. No mess, no fuss.

I am curious if this works for others.

I tried drinking grapefruit juice last night. It worked for me! I slept through the night with no urges! I generally get up 2-6 times a night.

I get up as many as 6 times a night. I started to take pickle juice just before bedtime for leg cramps (about 1 1/2 oz), but found that it also reduced my nightly visits to the loo. I think it is the salt, vinegar and herbs in the pickles that makes it work. Not scientific, but it is worth a try.

After 3.5 years of nocturia (usually having to get up every hour during the night), and nothing else helped consistently --- I'm finally onto something! Last fall when I noticed prominent veins in my inner thighs, a chiro said is sounded like liver congestion. On her advice I ate large quantities of fresh organic parsley & cilantro (in smoothies, or chutney) and the veins gradually returned to normal. But ALSO my nocturia slowed down. A few months later it speeded up again, and now I'm back on liver herbs daily and --- yippee --- nocturia is again on the decline. I'm working up to the full liver-gallbladder flush using olive oil & citrus juice. It seems (though no doctor suggested this) that upon lying down the blood flow somehow encourages the kidneys to work harder. (Doctors were thinking blood sugar or cortisol was causing nocturia, but that theory did not hold up). If this same cure works for anyone else, I'd be happy to hear about it.

Some people use nutmeg during the day to cut the urge but you would have to read up on it and not overdo it.

I use charcoal capsules at bedtime for many health issues and it really helps my body calm down and rest. I have pain coming from many different directions and it can be hard to stay asleep. Charcoal is in the digestion isle of pharamacy, if you are interested.

WORKED TEMPORARILY

I've been having to get up every hour for a couple of years. A book suggested that salt + carbohydrate would alter the interstitial fluid. I made a salt brine of Himalayan salt in filtered water (try youtube). A little experimentation showed that if I take 14 drops salt brine + 2 teaspoons maple syrup (or raw honey) with a water chaser on an empty stomach --- my bladder will fill at half the rate and gradually increase in speed again. It provides me temporary relief.

That is so weird because I have been trying to cut back on beer and that is when my nocturia really got bad! I am happy to hear about the grapefruit juice and rice vinegar, I will see if that helps!

Francis, how much salt are you using?

Re: frequent urination... It appears salt works. I have managed to reduce night frequency to one and I am continuing to carry out more tests.

Had Nocturia really bad.I was having to get up 4 plus times a night to relieve myself. Did all the normal stuff- no caffeine (coffee or tea), no chocolate, no fluids at night, etc, etc. with no effect. I had to keep my fluids up as I am on a high fiber diet. I was drinking up to 2 liters a day of caffeine-free diet root-beer. Cutting back on this intake did not work. This diet soda contains Aspartame sweetner- which I later read was implicated in bladder irritation that can cause Nocturia. Quitting that soda entirely and substituting water did not work. I tried fruit juices as a substitute but it didn't work either, and I was consuming much too much sugar. Two weeks ago I switched to plain old regular BEER - 4 cups (1 liter) over the course of the day and evening, and I made up the rest with with the diet root beer. It worked. Immediately. The nocturia ceased utterly. Go figure.

I also have nocturia and have been waking every 90 minutes at night for the past three years. Nothing my urologist prescribed helped it, and some of those meds like Flo Max (Tamsolusin) caused a really serious side effect that affected my heart rate, breathing and blood pressure dramatically, and I thought I was having a stroke. I also could not tolerate another drug called RapiFlo.

I happened to eat half a grapefruit one night before bed, and slept all night without waking. A happy accident? I tried it the next night and several other subsequent nights with the same results. I suppose the same ingredient is in grapefruit juice. Be careful if you take statin drugs like Lipitor (who doesn't these days?). Chemicals in grapefruit inhibit a digestive enzyme that breaks down the active ingredient in statin drugs. It could cause too high a dosage to go to your liver that might cause damage. I have no problem giving up Lipitor, as I am on an extremely low fat plant-based diet, and my lipids have fallen off dramatically so I no longer need the Lipitor. (Google Dr. Esselstyn diet if you are interested in the diet). Try grapefruit if you have nocturia.

Grapefruit Juice cured nocturia (need to get up and urinate in the night). I discovered this quite by accident. I was traveling by car on a long trip and at two different stops purchased a bottle (pint?)of 100% ruby red grapefruit juice to drink. That night I did not need to get up to use the bathroom during the night! I began drinking grapefruit juice daily. After a few weeks I no longer needed to drink the juice to maintain the healing.

Regarding grapefruit juice I also discovered when I was doing a colon cleanse and feeling poorly from the toxins being released that it helped my body clear out the toxins. Then learned from doing research it has an enzyme that helps the liver to detox the blood. It worked.

I am 80 and bothered by frequent nocturnal urination (as often as every hour). After taking 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar, the frequency is 2-3 hours.

Any info on rice vinegar usage?