NOTURIA (getting up 5 to 8 times/night to pee) – a dreaded curse. What works for me.

[MBAnderson]

I consider sleep every bit as important as nutrition and exercise. I’m now getting 7 to 8 hours without getting up. This has made a huge difference in how tired I feel as well as my overall attitude and motivation.

Intermittent fasting. This likely will not work for everyone, but I suspect it’ll work for many.

I recently resumed intermittent fasting and on the 4th day of fasting, I slept through the whole night.

6.20 min Dr. Berg video. (I like his videos because they’re all between 5 and 6 minutes and while he does sell supplements, he does not mention them in most of his videos.)

youtube.com/watch?v=FL-790z...(Not working as expected?)

Fasting by itself may not do it. If not, there are many other natural “bladder hygiene” remedies. I practice a few these, as well. YouTube videos & scientific literature all say pretty much the same thing.

2 mins.

youtube.com/watch?v=Wn0I_p7...(Not working as expected?)

8.33 mins.

youtube.com/watch?v=_y0t-4n...(Not working as expected?)

11 mins.

youtube.com/watch?v=ICeDpmR...(Not working as expected?)

Sleep hygiene, eliminate foods that irritate the bladder, such as caffeine, tomato based food, acidic and carbonated beverages (diet soda,) alcohol, sugar, and real spicy foods. Treat sleep apnea & diabetes, strengthen the pelvic floor (kegel exercises,) manage constipation, “bladder training” -- pee at scheduled intervals (I do this) and stop drinking 2 to 3 hours before bedtime.

I have another suggestion. Try not to age.

[WinnieThePoo]

I like your final suggestion. I'm working on it.

[jimcaster]

Good suggestions. As to the final bit of advice, I'm fond of saying, "Aging sucks...but the alternative is worse." 😊

[MBAnderson in reply to jimcaster]

Jim, we had to miss our intended meeting in June. Boo-hoo. If it were not for Covid, wouldn't it be nice if the entire Minnesota cohort could meet occasionally? I think there's at least 4 of us.

When it's safe to go out, should we consider Iowans? I know that would be controversial.

[jimcaster in reply to MBAnderson]

Ha! I was born and raised in Iowa, so I say "The more, the merrier!" Unfortunately, I think it will be months if not a year before we can all meet...

[faridaro]

Your final suggestion is the best - wish Ponce de Leon had found the fountain of youth

[kaypeeoh]

Because of BPH I would get up 4 or 5 times per night to pee. BUT if I get a decent workout during the day I sleep 8 hours with no trips to the toilet. Right now I'm living at my mom's house with no access to a gym and too much traffic for jogging. So the doc Rx'd Myrbetriq. Not as good as a workout but better than nothing.

[LAJ12345]

Like the last one! Well I have changed my diet along with hubby about 2 years ago to be all healthy and my teenage son said yesterday hey mum, your hair is gone blonde again and isn’t as grey as it was! It certainly seems shiny and healthier. So maybe this diet does help stop aging as fast!

Before you ask... no sugar, no processed food, no seed oils only olive oil, no gluten, lots of nuts, beans, seeds, meat only every 4 days, fish every 4 days and vegetarian in between days. No deep fried food. Fish oil, Hardys daily essential nutrients ( 4 per day) . Lots of vegetables and some fruit. No I don’t have PD.

[MBAnderson in reply to LAJ12345]

I bet that made you feel good. If only we had the brains to eat like that from the time we were in our twenties.

[LAJ12345 in reply to MBAnderson]

Yes, and children that would take advice😕

[MBAnderson in reply to LAJ12345]

I believe humans all have a genetic defect that prevents their offspring from listening to sound advice. If only my children could benefit from my experience, they'd have it made in the shade, but no.

[Millbrook]

Thanks Marc.

[Rhyothemis]

Apart from prostate and autonomic nervous system problems, one issue in aging related to nocturia might be loss of function of aquaporins. Aquaporins are membrane transporters for water; though water can diffuse across cell membranes AQPs move water faster and are particularly important under stress conditions. AQP function declines with age and could contribute to many age-related health issues including reduction in blood brain barrier function.

hindawi.com/journals/omcl/2...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Oxytocin has some vassopressin-like activity and helps move AQP from inside the cell to the membrane surface when needed.

jasn.asnjournals.org/conten...

Oxytocin levels decline with age:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

The probiotic L reuteri increases oxytocin production:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Though oxytocin is promoted in some popular health sources as being 'the love hormone' and a panacea - more is not always better. It can actually increase anxiety in females in some situations:

sciencedaily.com/releases/2...

Oxytocin can also cause uterine contractions and my own experience with L reuteri is that it caused labor-pain level menstrual cramps (I'm not exaggerating - it was that bad) - so it is not for everyone.

That said, I think L reuteri might be worth trying for men and post-menopausal women [edit: or maybe not worth trying for women at all - see Park Bear's reply below]. It is found in a number of products; the one that caused my cramps was Lifeway BioKefir Digestion (vanilla flavor).

[park_bear in reply to Rhyothemis]

Oxytocin works differently in women than in men and not just by causing uterine contractions. Not a good idea for women. I wrote about this here:

Women Ill-Served By Exclusion From Pain Studies

tinyurl.com/y2ptxfld

[Rhyothemis in reply to park_bear]

Good to know. Thanks for the post.

[felixned]

I also use terazosin before I go to bed. It is quite effective helping to sleep without need to pee 6 or 8 times. It might help with the pd according to some. Mark, how is ptt surgery working for you? My neurologist suggested dbs during the last visit while dr.j said that i would not be a good candidate for ptt. I am a little confused

Felix

[MBAnderson in reply to felixned]

Felix,

I remain quite happy with it. I don't believe I've progressed since the procedure, March 11, but it's hard for me to tell from a four month interval. My wife agrees and I take her word for it. Tremor in my right arm is pretty significant, though.

Why did Dr. J say you're not a good candidate?

marc

[felixned in reply to MBAnderson]

Marc, dr.j said that because i didn't have tremors and my off symptoms were 'diffuse' and I didn't show freezing ( I do have them occasionally) the ptt wouldn't benefit me. My neurologist said that as long as I am responsive to l-dopa dbs should help while allowing me to reduce the amount of medication.

Felix

[Parkie- in reply to felixned]

Hi Felix. Can you tell us what your "diffuse" symptoms are? Thank you

[MBAnderson in reply to felixned]

That's consistent with what Dr. J told me.

No point in spending the money and going to the trouble to have PTT if it won't do any good.

I don't know a lot about DBS, but I know woman who had it 10 years ago and she's very happy with it.

Let us know if you're going to do it.

[Parkie- in reply to felixned]

I am awaiting my assessment appointment with Dr J. Like you, I don’t have a resting tremor nor freezing... I sure hope there are other factors that will make me eligible...

Surprised you got turned down because your symptoms included you DON'T have freezing. Dr J turned down someone else because his symptoms included he DID have freezing:

"He said that my dad's form of parkinson's is really difficult to treat with any surgery, and that we might be disappointed to have him undergo the FUS and see that he still has gait freezing (his biggest problem is freezing)."

healthunlocked.com/parkinso...

I am sure there is a reason for this, I can’t wait to see if I can get help from PTT.

[felixned in reply to Parkie-]

Parkie, Diffused in my case means significant variation. My understanding of the procedure is that it is half science and half art. If the surgeon tells you he has some doubts take it very seriously. Dr. J seems like a caring physician and his opinion should be taken at face value.

[Parkie- in reply to felixned]

Right. Thank you.