Living with the title Bedwetter

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Snow, I'm glad to see you still plan to ask about a Foley catheter. That just may be the key to better sleep for you and that's what really counts. I don't know where your urologist gets the idea of someone being too young for one. I haven't heard that one before. I'm sure a lot of younger people who use wheelchairs have them. But if you ask about just using it at night that might be a more viable option that he could agree to. Or, depending on when your urologist retires it may be wise to wait until you get a new urologist and then right from the get-go you can start selling him (or her) on the idea. At this point I think it would be to see if that would, given your situation, be an appropriate step for you to take.
And I like your reference to amitriptyline! And since your name is Amy I think that may be a good sign right there!

 

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Snow, I also have ADHD so I completely understand the inability to be still.

 

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@laalaauk Who prescribes the Amytriptyline for you, you primary care physician, your urologist, or a psychiatrist? Here in the U.S., only psychiatrists prescribe sleep meds. I took Amytriptyline once (gift from a friend) and slept great. I see my psychiatrist on Monday so I’ll bring it up. Amytriptyline really helped my granddad at the end of his life. He was a curmudgeon without Amytriptyline. It’s too bad he didn’t live longer after starting that medication.

I currently take Trazadone and Gabapentin, which give me nightmares and don’t keep me asleep through the urge to pee. I’m certainly willing to try Amytriptyline. So far, Ambien is the only drug that actually gets me 4-6 hours of continuous sleep. Fortunately, I don’t need to increase my dose on that and I don’t have any side effects except superb sleep. I’ve taken it for 17 years. Unfortunately, it’s currently very much over-regulated here. For instance, for 12 years I was prescribed 10mg #60 each month, and slept great! Now I only get #5 per month, which really sucks. My favorite psychiatrist retired five years ago - very traumatic for me, actually - and nobody since has been particularly willing to help me with sleep. Very few providers believe in chronic insomnia, and even fewer actually care - even when you have a sleep test to prove how often you awake to pee!

Does Amytriptyline continue to help you sleep without you having to increase the dose over time? Have you experienced any side effects from it?

I should take Amytriptyline because my name is Amy! Could anything be more obvious?! It’s *my* drug! - LOL!

My mum is from Peterborough (in the midlands, Cambridgeshire) in your part of the world! I have more rellies over there than I do here! I really miss them. My family here is unbelievably tiny: one aunt, one uncle, one cousin, my parents, and my estranged brother. I have about 10 rellies near Snowdonia and Anglesey in Wales. I love the UK. I’ve spent several months there, accumulatively, over my life. I sleep soooooooo good when I’m there - funny, eh? Every Sunday night, I have dinner with my parents and we watch BBC shows on our channel here (PBS). Tonight we’ll finish the most recent season of “Endeavor.”

I wish you a lovely evening and a good night of sleep tonight!

My doctor prescribed 20mg of Amytriptylene to help with my evening restlessness to calm my nerves. It's also an anti-depressant so it's an excellent med I find. I'm going through a patch where I wake up at 01.20am and tonight is one of them.

Certainly discuss the benefits with your Psych tomorrow and I wish you luck Amy, hope they agree to prescribe.

 

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Man, I wish I could currently afford my Botox injections! They realllllllly help me sleep!

Another reason to come and live here... they're FREE!

Tell you what,.. let's swap homes so I can buy Duette Foleys over there as I can't get them here!

 

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I highly recommend the drug called Amytriptyline and it really helps to have a good night sleep while connected to a Foley and night bag. I have done this for some years now and both are really helpful for Nocturia.

My wife takes that sometimes when in severe pain from her athritis and almost always wets the bed as it knocks her out and she never realises she needs to pee.

 

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@Stevewet Wow, it helps with arthritis pain? Which kind of arthritis? I have osteoarthritis throughout my body and the pain is another thing that makes it hard for me to sleep.

 

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@laalaauk It’s a deal; let’s swap!

 

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@Bedwetter Nice to meet a fellow ADHD on here. I’m glad you can sleep. My dad has ADHD and my brother has ADD but they both sleep great.

 

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@Snow, I'm sure you know but gotta say incase not. Trazadone is a tranquilizer and gabapentin is a nerve suppressant. The two together might help you sleep but they can also help contribute to or make worse any night time leaking. Just a thought.

 

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@Steven1980 Thank you. Yes, I’m aware. I had neurogenic bladder and nocturia/enuresis before I took those meds. I don’t think they help me sleep very well. I’m tired of taking them. I’m going to taper off them in a month, one at a time, probably Gabapentin first. I have to taper slowly because I’m prone to withdrawal seizures. I’ve already had plenty of TBIs and concussions for 100 lifetimes.

Trazadone is actually an antidepressant. It makes some people sleepy as a side effect. That’s why it’s taken at night and not in the morning.

 

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@Steven1980
@snow

I take gabapentin 600mg/3x a day for PTSD. Would this cause a worsening of nocturnal enuresis? I need the medicine for trauma and abuse purposes as my stress and anxiety causes me to have severe episodes that also lead to an overactive bladder which actually the gabapentin helps with as it relieves my nerves.

Gabapentin has been a lifesaver for me in starting to live a better life...

 

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Snow, glad you know about tapering! When I used the word tranquilizer, I used it as another word for sedative. Trazadone is a antidepressant and also sedative. Some use it for either one.
Honeycombs, I couldn't tell ya. Sorry. I only post what I know from personal experience or training/schooling and work. That's a question your doctor would best answer. Sorry.

 

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@Honeeecombs @Steven1980 Come to think of it, my nocturnal enuresis has decreased by about half over the past 2-3 years as the dose of both my Gabapentin and Trazadone has been raised. I don’t know if there is any correlation/causation. Interesting to consider. I’ll ask my urologist next time I see him. I peed less often when I quit taking 30mg of Oxybutynin and went down to 0-10mg (I choose my dose depending on my day’s activities).

@Honeeecombs I’ve never heard of Gabapentin being prescribed for PTSD, but it’s possible. Doctors will do anything to avoid prescribing benzodiazapenes like Xanax. Gabapentin is most commonly prescribed to settle nerves pertaining to back pain and neuropathy. My brain neurologist prescribes it to me to help with sleep and back pain. Even on 2400mg/night, I don’t think it actually helps with either. At one point he had me on 8000/mg night. Still didn’t make much discernible difference, also evidenced by results from sleep studies. For me, Gabapentin isn’t much except a weight-gainer, which is another reason I’m going to quit taking it.

@Honeeecombs I’m so glad you’ve found some relief from PTSD. I’ve suffered with mild PTSD over a few events in my past, and it is so very hard to see everyone around you carry themselves into their futures while you’re still stuck reliving the same trauma from the past, in the present. May peace be with you.

 

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In college they nicknamed me puddles when I wet a friends bed in my dorm after drinking to much and falling asleep on his bed. There were probably 6-8 guys in there and I soaked myself maybe 20 minutes after I passed out. They woke me up after I soaked myself and his bed. Ughhhh, I was more than mortified. Anyway it turned out positive because I no longer had to hide my bedwetting/diapers. And my friends were really cool about it. When people would ask why they called me puddles they would simply say because he wets his bed. It was always done in fun and they would say it in a manner that really defended me. Strangely enough anyone they told pretty much shrugged it off as no big deal. I really discovered our shame and stigma I carried for so long was mostly self deprecating. Other people really didn’t care.

 

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@Steven1980
@snow

I take gabapentin 600mg/3x a day for PTSD. Would this cause a worsening of nocturnal enuresis? I need the medicine for trauma and abuse purposes as my stress and anxiety causes me to have severe episodes that also lead to an overactive bladder which actually the gabapentin helps with as it relieves my nerves.

Gabapentin has been a lifesaver for me in starting to live a better life...

Awesome for you man. Glad the med is helping out for you.

 

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@donny4 Thats cool that they were chill about your bedwetting. Not sure I would have told them. I might just let them think my wetting was due to drinking and remind myself to be more careful in the future. Good for you in being open with your friends and them supporting you.

 

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I probably would have avoided those people for the rest of my life. I definitely would have blamed it on the alcohol as a one-time incident.

 

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Hi @donny4, I think I would have been embarrassed beyond belief myself but it's cool your friends stood up for you and didn't hound you to death over it. And as for your Puddles nickname, your friends had the humanity to explain in a way where they still had your back without the ridicule. You know that when you're dealing with a bunch of young adults just getting out on their own for the first time in college it's going to be a real mixed bag. You'll run into some great guys and also into quite a few ________s! Been there, done that!
And it was a great revelation to you that people who found out about you just shrugged it off as no big deal and that you learned that the stigma came from within you. That was a learning experience and I also liked how you realized you didn't have to hide bedwetting or diapers any more. That is a relief and really one less thing to worry about!
And you also found out that other people have so much going on in their lives that they really aren't bothered if someone they casually meet is incontinent. After all, who is prefect? Even if they were you probably wouldn't be able to stand them anyway!