You’re exhausted after a long night shift. The house is empty and you’re looking forward to a long, uninterrupted sleep. You fall asleep with ease. And then it hits. Two or three hours into sleep you’re awoken by an overwhelming urge to pee. And your sleep plans are ruined.
Even if you are able to get back to sleep – a tall task given the time of day – the fragmented sleep can leave you moody and less than prepared for the coming shift.
This scene is all too common for shift workers. With sleep occurring at such unnatural times, our bodies don’t always cooperate. But with a little planning, we can increase our chances of unbroken sleep.
Avoid fluid intake leading up to bed
Rather obvious, yet no list of tips would be complete without it. Start with a 4-hour no-drinks window and increase it if you’re not seeing improvement.
“But how will I get my 8 gallons of water a day under those constraints?”
I’m not denying water’s importance, but If you’ve committed to drinking ridiculous amounts in the name of health, you may want to explore the myths and marketing behind the idea in this piece from the New York Times.
Circadian entrainment
There’s always a circadian component, and urination is no different.
We have a hormone in our body – antidiuretic hormone (ADH), also called vasopressin – that causes the kidneys to release less water, decreasing the amount of urine produced. We make more of this hormone at night to prevent getting up to pee during sleep.
If your ADH rhythm becomes uncoupled from your sleep patterns, you’re going to have problems. The best way to prevent this is to maintain consistent sleep times.
This is difficult for us shift workers, but there are things we can do to help. If consistent sleep times are something you can’t commit to, experiment with the next best thing: anchor sleep. Also, since light is the biggest synchronizer of circadian rhythms, pay careful attention to the timing of light exposure (and get some blue-blockers).
Raising ADH
Now that we know what ADH is, we can look for ways to raise this hormone naturally.
- Avoid alcohol. Alcohol inhibits ADH, causing you to pee more than if you had drank an equivalent amount of water.
- Certain nutrients are necessary for the production of ADH, namely copper, vitamin C and zinc. If waking to pee is a serious issue for you, you may want to consult with a doctor and get your levels checked.
- According to Chris Masterjohn, salt before bed might help you produce more ADH. Start with a ¼ teaspoon and work your way up until you’re seeing results. Though there’s also evidence that too much salt can disrupt sleep1, so tread carefully.
See a doctor
It’s possible your nocturnal polyuria (fancy term for peeing a lot at night – though “nocturnal” may be a misnomer in our case) is the result of something you aren’t able to diagnose on your own. In this case, you’ll want to visit your doctor to see if there’s something else going on.
Start by tracking the amounts and timing of fluid intake, as well as when you’re voiding. This information will help your doctor with a possible diagnosis.
In others’ words
If you don’t want to take my word for it, or prefer video over written content, here are a couple videos from people who have a few more credentials than me.
What can I do to prevent interruptions in sleep due to needing to get up to urinate? | Peter Attia
How to Stop Waking Up to Pee | | Chris Masterjohn
The Peter Attia video includes another interesting hack – taking vasopressin the hormone. Though he doesn’t necessarily recommend it. Consult with your doctor on this one.
Stay healthy-
Jason Glenn
Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash