umm... embarrassed... but serious question?

Question

I'm embarrassed to ask or even speak about this but I have to.

Ok... I'm a 24 year old woman and I have been having this problem since I was a little girl: Bed wetting!
I shouldn't be battling this problem at my age still but I do....
When I was a little girl I use to wet my bed every night... My parents would get mad all the time because I would have to get a new mattress every year. I tried every possible solution when I was younger. From not drinking liquids after 6 to taking pills. Ive tried them all. When I woke up dry (which was very rarely) it would be a good night.

Now that I am 24 I dont wet the bed as often (maybe like once every two weeks) but its still way to much for my age. I thought I would have grown out of it by now....

So anyways... does any one else have this problem still as an adult or am I just a freak.....? or does any one possibly have any solution to my issue...? I'm very open to this particular junction....

Answer 1

You're not a freak... this happens to a LOT more young adults than you might think. I was the same way as you growing up... I wet every night until I was about 12, and my parents and doctors tried about everything you could think of with no success. I was always simply told that my bladder was too small for my age and I would "grow out of it"... but as I found out the hard way, some people just never do. I'm now in my late 20s and still wet the bed maybe once a month on average, although it goes up and down some from there -- it's worst when I get really tired, behind on sleep, or under a lot of stress.

Unfortunately there are really no easy solutions to this (if I had one, believe me, I would tell you!!). One thing that I think helped reduce my number of wet nights was this exercise that I was told would strengthen the muscles of my bladder... basically, when you go to the bathroom to urinate, try to stop the flow of urine mid-stream and hold it for 10 seconds before you let it go again... then do it again 1 or 2 more times if you can before you finish. It will probably be hard to do at first but with practice you can get better at it. This makes the muscles at the outlet of your bladder stronger so that they can stand more pressure during the night before you wet. As you can tell it didn't make it completely go away for me but I think it did help reduce the number of wet nights... now I can wake up and stop myself just as I start to wet a lot more often than I could before.

I really hope this is helpful to you; anyway I think it was the most helpful thing to me out of the zillions of things I've tried! Since you've had this your whole like it's probably not a serious health issue... probably just that your bladder never completely "outgrew" the problem, which happens to a lot more people than you would ever think... most of them are probably way too embarrassed to talk about it just like you are! Hopefully you will find a way to make it stop completely, but if not, please don't let it affect your view of who you are (it really doesn't change who you are!) or your ability to socialize or do anything else... even when it comes to sleeping in places away from home, there are a LOT of people out there who will understand your condition and won't judge you or anything if it happens. I'm engaged to be married to a wonderful girl who knows about my problem and is completely accepting of me regardless... and there are a lot of other good people out there like that. :)

Take care and best of luck! If you want to talk more about anything, please feel free to send me an e-mail by clicking on the link in my profile.

Answer 2

I wet the bed until I was 15. I eventually grew out of it. And I also tried everything from the pills to the not drinking liquids after 6. I found that if I stayed up until at least 1, I wouldn't wet the bed. But eventually I just ended up wearing pullups for young children. It was extremely embarrassing buying them, but I would buy the boy kind so noone would even have the chance of suspecting it was me that wore them. I went to my doctor time and time again and they never really helped me any. So my best advice would be to wear some sort of adult diaper at night and take a good shower in the morning and then go to your doctor and make sure you have a way of solving the problem.

Answer 3

Because of the embassment of bed wetting---you are depressed--- it is a cycle and that makes you more embarrassed and depression more wetting the bed. I would not like to be in your sheets if you have a man stay over and you stay awake all nite--so ya won't wet the bed. Depression can cause a deep sleep and you do not know that you are wetting the bed until it wakes you up. If your family doctor or specialist cannot find the problem. Look in the yellow pages for a psychologist/psycaicrist--little drug therapy.

Answer 4

Bed wetting is usually related to stress. But being 24 you may want to talk to your GYNE or urologist about it. Perhaps your problem is medically related. the thing I can tell you for sure, if you want to get better, you'll need to find out exactly what is wrong. If you have no physical reason for bed wetting your physicain will refer you to somebody who can help yo stop and have a normal life.

Answer 5

It sounds like your pelvic muscles could be weak. Here are instructions for pelvic muscle exercises, used "to prevent the involuntary loss of urine by strengthening the pelci floor muscles". I am quoting the following entirely from my nursing textbook:

"Frequency: perform 60 times daily for at least 6 weeks, ideally working up to 150 contractions daily in several sessions of at least 15 exercises per session. Can do this lying, sitting or standing.

First, identify the pubococcygeal muscle by contracting the muscle that stops the flow of urine. Do NOT do this regularly when urinating.

Next, lie down and insert your finger about three quarters of the way up your vagina. Squeeze the vaginal wall so you feel pressure on your finger and sensation in your vagina.

Method: Tighten your pubococcygeal muscle and hold for a period of 3 seconds.
Relax this muscle for an equal period.
Repeat the contraction-relaxation cycle (one exercise) for your scheduled number of times.
Breathe normally during the exercise and do NOT tighten other muscles at the same time. Be careful not to contract your legs, buttocks or abdominal muscles while contracting your pubococcygeal muscle.
Repeat this exercise daily for a totaly of 60-150 exercises.
For each of the daily sessions, vary your position (ie perform exercise while lying down in morning, standing in the afternoon, sitting at night)
Gradually increase the duration of each exercise up to a count of 10 for a contraction and 10 for a relaxation."

Many of my professors have recommended this when teaching on urinary incontinence. This exercise is recommended by doctors and nurses. Hope it may be of assistance to you, and I would also recommend seeing a doctor to screen out other possible causes.

Answer 6

Talk to your Dr about this. My friend was having the same problem and found out she had diabetes (I'm not sure if that's a common symptom, but for her it was how she found out) Don't be embarassed, obviously there is nothing wrong with YOU, your body is just acting up. I hope you're able to get into the Dr office soon.

Answer 7

I have a friend who did that untill she was like 22. She finally went to the doc and they gave her some pills to make her bladder stronger. Her bladder was weak making her pee when she was asleep. Even during the day she had to wear those big ol pads. I would just talk to your doc and they can help you. Good Luck!!

Answer 8

Have you seen a doctor about this (a urologist might be a good choice)? I'm wondering if there may be a physiological issue here that was never addressed in childhood and is still giving you trouble today.

You're not a freak!

Hang in there,
~M~

Answer 9

I would check with your doctor.. I had this problem when i was a child.. and they had to go in a stretch my kidney tubes..bc they didnt grow properly with my body.. therefor i couldnt hold it all night.. no enough "room"... soo i would just check and see if that if a possble problem.. sorry for the inconvience.. i know it sucks..

Answer 10

Have you considered a catheter? Rubber sheets? Are you even serious?

Have you had yourself checked for diabetes?

Empty your bladder before you go to sleep (as I'm sure you already do). Set an alarm to go off in the middle of the night, relieve yourself, go back to bed.