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My 52 year old partner has recently been getting up every night to pee (sometimes several times a night) - this is disturbing both our sleeping patterns! Is this just an age thing and we just have to live with it or could it be something more sinister?

Is there anything he can do to prevent the need to go in the night? Should he be seeing a GP?

Getting up at night or Nocturia is common and not usually due to sinister causes.
Can be caused by urine infection, overactive bladder, enlarged prostate, too much caffeine/fluid in the evening, restless sleep and many other things. Very rarely prostate cancer.
Once a night in the 60s is normal, twice in 70s and 3x in eighties.
Hes a bit young for this. So yes GP to start then urologist if needed.
Basic advice is reduce fluids pre bedtime, avoid caffeine after lunch, reduce alcohol, make sure not constipated.

Ben

Dear Judy

It's ok to get up at night once to pee at this age, though I'd recommend avoiding caffeine and alcohol especially after 4pm and emptying the bladder before bed. If this doesn't improve things then it's worth seeing your GP or urologist to do some basic tests: blood tests for kidney function, diabetes, and prostate assessment, urine tests to rule out infection, and possibly scans and other tests. Usually it's nothing to worry about but occasionally it can be so worth checking if things don't respond to the simple lifestyle measures.

Cheers

Mr Sooriakumaran (call me PS!)
Consultant Urologist
scastle@santishealth.org

Dear Judy

From my perspective, I would want to learn a little more about your partner's lifestyle and diet, as these way provide some additional clues to his nocturia. It may also be a side effect of some medication (eg for high blood pressure).

I agree with my esteemed colleagues advice above. Reducing fluid intake for 3-4 hours before bed and avoiding alcohol and caffeinated drinks would be a good starting point. He might also want to try reducing foods like chocolate, acidic and spicy foods (these may irritate the bladder). If these are favourites, it may be worth avoiding them for a few weeks, observing the difference (if any), and then slowly reintroducing them one at a time.

Kegel exercises may be useful too - the Mayo Clinic has a nice article on this: see https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-life ... t-20045074 for more details.

However, if this persists, I would suggest that he sees the GP to investigate potential causes.

I hope this helps.

Best wishes
Pieter