Bedwetting and alcohol drinking in adults
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anonymous Asks ...
Sometimes when I get very drunk I wet the bed in the night (with urine). This only happens once or twice a year. It happened last night and I had my new girlfriend sleeping over. This was very embarrassing. Should I be worried that I do this? I have never really talked to anyone about this before because it is fairly embarrassing to admit. Is this a common thing or do I need to get checked out medically?
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Dr. James Strawbridge Says ...
Bedwetting problems often arise for those who go out and have a big night drinking alcohol, sometimes they experience urinating during their sleep that doesn’t arise when they don't consume as much alcohol as they normally would. This type of bedwetting is still a form of nocturnal enuresis, but it differs from normal bedwetting problems in that it is specifically caused by excess alcohol consumption.
Alcohol is the main trigger factor in these types of cases because alcohol is a diuretic, excess consumption causes the body to try to expel it as quickly as it can, meaning you need to urinate more often. Going to sleep doesn’t always eleviate this, and the body will still reject excess liquids that it has trouble processing - leading to bedwetting during the night, often more than once. Lets look at why the body rejects the alcoholic liquids, and why this turns into bedwetting problems. The kidneys and liver process alcohol of alcohol of alcohol are consumed and the bloodstream converts the excess fluids into urine. This process is hurried along with excess amounts, because your body works hard to return to normality and purge the extra alcohol. At night, if you have consumed a lot, even in your bed your body is still attempting this process.
When you combine this with the fact that being ‘drunk’ often makes you tired and of poor judgement, your body's normal signals to you, to get up and go to the toilet (to avoid bedwetting) might be ignored in place of that comfortable, long sleep you desire.
So its important that if you do find yourself wetting the bed during a night after having heavy amounts of alcohol, be aware of this before you start drinking. The only way to end this problem is to limit your alcohol consumption and ensure your body can handle what you put into it. Aside from not bed wetting, and a dry nights sleep, there are numerous other health benefits to giving up excess alcohol consumption. If you find you drink enough to regularly wet the bed at night, this may always occur. Also, consider your partner. If they are having to share a wet bed with you, while you are heavily asleep, that is impacting their life also. There is much more than just bedwetting to be cured, when you make the decision to give up excessive alcohol drinking.
