We no longer have a specialist service locally to support with enuresis. My son is 9, he is wet most nights. We have tried all sorts of things including food/drink management & vasopressin. He has had a bowel and bladder scan, all normal. He is dry during the day but has never been at night. He is starting to become more conscious of this as he is getting older and as drynites are getting smaller on him and leaking regularly ! The GP says it will happen in time. Is this right ? is there anything else we can do to hep him ?
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Phoenix78
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Bedwetting can drag on a bit longer for some children.
The best thing to do is let him know it's not his fault and he's not doing anything wrong.
If his pullups are leaking possibly consider getting an alarm, if it's clipped in the front waistband of his pullup it should wake him before it leaks.
It's also good for him to be independent with changing his pullups, that way he's managing it himself.
Alternatively you could try a more absorbent product, I highly recommend the tesco junior plus nappies.
Has your son ever been prescribed oxybutynin/Lyrinel or Desmomelts? My 9 yr old has the same issue but with a combination of these two drugs is now dry at night (whilst on the medication). We tried an alarm loaned to us by the NHS but didn’t work for us but does for some children, worth a try? My child’s scans were also normal. I would go back to the GP and push for a referral to the closest clinic or hospital that deals with this. Don’t accept the GP’s dismissal, they must take it seriously for both his physical and mental health. Good luck with everything.
I haven’t noticed any, and did ask at our last hospital appointment about any long term effects of taking these tablets but was told there aren’t any. It’s well known that oxybutynin can cause constipation but we don’t find this an issue. The only thing we have found is that she can get very hot if doing sport in the summer months as I think oxybutynin can impact on the regulation of temperature so that’s something to look out for.
Hi, I know you said all scans were clear, but did they ever advise to treat for constipation? I can totally relate on the pull-ups at night - same here with my 9 year old daughter. Although I believe a lot of it is do with mild constipation with her.
I have been adding a tena pad into the bottom /back of her pull-up to increase absorption- perhaps something you can do in the interim.
I do think he struggles with constipation and then sometimes can be really loose. What do you do to help ? There just doesn't seem to be a pattern in relation to his eating/drinking habits.
I was referred to the paediatric consultant at our local hospital who specialises in bowel and bladder issues. Before doing anything he wanted us to try a laxative. This was despite me thinking poop couldn’t be the cause of her wetting as there was no obvious signs.(day and night) and lie and behold a few weeks in and regular poops it really seems to be helping so much. Always worth a go. But I’m surprised they aren’t looking at alternative medication or anything? It’s so hard at this age isn’t it. Their awareness is really kicking in.
I think it’s always best to discuss with the GP, but you can buy lactulose over the counter. It’s a nice tasting sweet syrup that does help or I know people have used Dulcosoft which is also over the counter. I’d say discuss with the GP and see if they’re happy for you to rule out constipation.
Good luck. X
The laxative has really helped us in a short space of time though 👍
Hello - sorry for the late reply. My son is 11 and still wets in the day (damp/dribbles rather than full accidents) and is wet at night. He has been under the continence clinic for a number of years and now sees Dr Wright, or the Pee Professor as we call her
She's told us that the bed time wetting is unrelated to day time, and that the medications he is on for day time wetting will not impact his night times (and I can report that that's true in his case, it's made no impact whatsoever).
He has tried oxybutynin, tolterodine and solifenacin for his day time wetting. Be aware that these drugs can cause anxiety in some kids, and in my son's case the oxybutynin and solifenacin caused huge problems with his mental health and led to a CAMHS referral. Fortunately tolterodine didn't cause the same side effects so he's on that long term and while it hasn't fixed the day time wetting completely it does make it much more manageable. It has zero impact on the nights.
I've been told the best thing we can do for the nights (and the day time issues) is to make sure he's drinking enough. To do that we got him a vibrating watch which goes off every hour and he has to drink 100/150ml every time. It's made a big difference to increase his daytime capacity and we have noticed that he's not AS wet at night. We're waiting until the Christmas holidays to trial going dry at night properly, with the back up of a bed wetting alarm.
He's tried Desmopressin briefly and it didn't work for him.
The other thing we had some success with is a TENS machine. His bladder capacity increases loads when he's wearing it. Though the effect doesn't seem to continue once he takes it off, but might be something for you to try?
The other thing I'd add is that it's only in the last six months or so that my son seems to have genuinely matured enough to want to tackle the isssue. For a long time we despaired slightly because he just didn't seem to care, but I think he was in denial and didn't want to admit that it was troubling him and that he felt a bit helpless. He now seems to be in a much better position for us to tackle it together, more proactive mindset, if you see what I mean.
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