Sleep apnea and bed wetting

by Arriejo
(San Diego )

My friend has sleep apnea really bad and continues to wet the bed more then once in a night.

She is taking no medical care at all for this. She has no medical insurance.

Answer

Bed wetting or frequent bathroom trips during the night, also called nocturia, is a symptom of untreated sleep apnea.

The explanation of nocturia in patients with sleep apnea is:

• the apnea episodes (every time your friend stops breathing in sleep) causes the blood oxygen levels to fall drastically.


• to protect the brain and the vital organs from the low levels of oxygen, the heart starts to beat really fast to pump more blood.


• as the heart pumps harder, the blood pressure increases, reaching dangerous levels for the body.


• in an attempt to lower the blood pressure, the body releases diuretic hormones to reduce the blood volume.


• and that's why the person urinates frequently.

If your friend avoids having apnea episodes during sleep, then nocturia will disappear. For this, she will need a CPAP machine, but with no medical insurance, and without money, it will be difficult.

She could try alternative treatments for sleep apnea - especially positional therapy - but these alternatives are not effective in severe cases of sleep apnea. So CPAP is the way to go.

You can find a similar question about bed wetting here.

I hope it helps. Don't be afraid to comment back.

Remy Thierry
Founder of Sleep Apnea Guide

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