Hi all.
I've just seen my urology consultant and he's recommended Desmopressin to stop me having to get out of bed seven or eight times a night to have a pee.
Has anybody tried this and have there been any side-effects? He only told me that I would have to have my sodium levels monitored by blood tests.
Thanks for any reply or info.
This is the first I've heard of this med at all or it being used for nocturnia. Most men on this forum have been prescribed Flomax (tamsulosin) or daily Cialis. Did the doc give you any explanation as to why this med was his choice?
Rich
I've been prescribed tamsulosin for ten years. Daily Cialis isn't available on the NHS (I'm in the UK).
He suggested Desmopressin because I produce two-thirds of my urine overnight and I have to pee every hour for the first four hours and then every hour and a half until around seven in the morning when I can hopefully get some uninterrupted sleep. Hopefully it will stop this.
The side effects seem severe from what I just read.
It is for nocturia not to help him pee. It is given to children to prevent bed wetting.
Hi Grunthos,
Do you know any of the other details of your current condition>??? Unless you are excited by/okay with having this chemical running around in you every day, you might want to consider CIC (Clean Intermittent Catheterizing) which I and many others here do. For you, cathing right before bedtime might empty your bladder enough to limit your necessary trips to the loo.
I’m very similar to you as far as the night time sequence. I’m taking imipramine and am still experiencing that frequency. How’s the desmopressin?
If they prescribe it for children it is not a drug that will have extreme side effects if the rules are followed and it works for eight hours.
No one ever seems to suggest cathing children before bed time.
Hi Slydog,
My consultant will write to my GP recommending the treatment. He told me that I would need to have a blood test to establish my sodium levels before I started on Desmopressin, then the same test after a week and a third test after a month.
I haven't agreed to take Desmopressin yet, hence my question here. Has anybody tried this and have there been any side-effects?
Hi Cartoonman,
I asked about that (it's called ISC, intermittent self-catheterisation here in the UK) but it won't help me. I produce between two-thirds and three-quarters of my urine at night. My daytime urine is concentrated, the urine at night isn't concentrated. I retain 60ml of urine in my bladder each time I pee, so that's not excessive. At night, each time I pee it's between 200ml and 400ml and I pee five or six times. That's the thing I want to stop. I'm perfectly OK during the day, no urgency, no crossing my legs etc. Maybe I should sleep during the day!!
Hi Ed,
What did you just read?
OH! Wow, and sorry to read! I suppose getting completely soused by bedtime wouldn't help either then! Strange liquids-processing times your body has set up although some others have reported similar situations. Good luck with the meds, then!
You might want to look at your fluid intake in the late afternoon, at dinner, and during the evening. Decreasing that may help dramatically.
Neal
Grunthos, sounds to me like your body is retaining fluid during the day. This usually accumulates in your lower extremities due to gravity. Then when you go to bed, the excess fluid leaves your legs and is cleared by your kidneys causing a large amount of urine. Reduce your fluid intake after 7pm and talk to your doctor about taking diuretics. Good luck to you.
And maybe a session of head stands, hand stands and shoulder stands, late afternoon???
I would try a diuretic first:-)
Apologies, I'm replying to my own post here.
I've decided to have a chat with my GP before doing anything. All of the info I've read says that Desmopressin should not be prescribed to anyone over 65 or with high blood pressure. As I'm 67 and have high blood pressure and also don't know how long I'm supposed to be taking the anti-diuretic I'm beginning to get a bit sceptical about everything.
Thanks for all your replies. I'll post to this discussion again if and when I manage to find out anything interesting.
Desmopressin is primaritly used for diabetes insipidus (DI) and is a rare disorder that affects water metabolism, preventing the body from conserving water and releasing too much of it.
I tried the nasal spray form of desmopressin for your same reason, nocturia. I only used it on two nights for a test and didn't find a lot of relief from nocturia. I found that I felt worse from the desmopressin the next day though, compared to getting up 5-6 times a night, It was almost like I had a hangover feeling from the desmopressin, and it was worse than just being tired from getting up so much. Every body is different though and the only way to know if it works for you is to try it.
I think you should try it and see how you feel. You can always discontinue its use. If the nasal spray version does not work well for you for whatever reason, you could then try the pill form, which I did not try.
"head stands, hand stands and shoulder stands, late afternoon???"
Cartoon, did you try these ? Did they really help ?
Hank
Cartoon characters can do that sort of thing:-)