My PWP has always had to get up multiple times in the night to urinate. With PD, the frequency is a little more often, and he can't always get out of bed quickly enough. The anxiety he feels going to bed, and panic when he can't get up, are keeping us both awake most of the night, almost every night. Wondering if anyone has used a non-prescription product designed to "calm" the bladder or if we need to get something from the doc.
PWP is on sinemet, Neupro and amantadine at present.
I try to take my evening supplements and medications at least two hours before bedtime and not drink anything thereafter, with the exception of a dose of carbidopa levodopa taken with a small amount of water at bedtime.
We've cut back on evening fluid intake somewhat but we have been dealing with dehydration issues as well, so doc wants "some" fluids before bed. And this has been an issue for the 28 years we've been married, it is just "worse" now with PD and difficulty getting out of bed. We see doc again next week so will raise the question about fluid intake at night.
Thanks for the insight.
Parkinson's dries out the G.I. tract from one end to the other. I suffer from low saliva production as a part of that problem, and at times have needed to take a stool softener to remedy constipation. This is nothing to do with dehydration and everything to do with Parkinson's.
Your husband is a very long way from dehydration if he has to urinate multiple times every night.
Since adopting the protocol set forth above I have not had to interrupt my nightly slumbers.
Re: dehydration - when we did lab work last week, blood and urine, they called in a panic saying he was so severely dehydrated that he almost needed to be hospitalized.
We are going to try reducing liquid intake this evening to see if it helps.
I didn't realize PD dried you out - we have suffered with substantial drooling in the past (I know this is difficulty swallowing, not excessive saliva) but recently have seen dry mouth symptoms.
Sigh.
It is possible to suffer from both drooling and dry mouth. Drooling has to do with control of the musculature around the lips.
Drinking plain water is not good for rehydrating, because without the electrolytes it just dilutes the blood and causes the kidneys to excrete it. In an emergency when the ER has to rehydrate someone they use isotonic saline, which is about 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt in a quart of water. I prefer to flavor my water with emergen-C or herbal tea.
If he is drinking plenty of fluids with electrolytes and is nonetheless dehydrated, the lack of fluid intake is not the problem. If the doctor expects this to solve the problem when it is clearly failing he is barking up the wrong tree. Parkinson's drying out the G.I. tract is not the same as causing general dehydration.
Since he is seriously dehydrated taking care that is more important in the near term than losing several nights sleep whereas normally since twice as much blood passes thru the kidneys when a person is a sleep, cutting back on fluids two hours before bedtime usually won't do much.
It is not about the rate of kidney filtration. It is about whether you are forcing the kidneys to take water out of the bloodstream in order to maintain electrolyte balance. This will happen as a result of drinking plain water before bedtime. If he is dehydrated drinking isotonic saline before bed will rehydrate effectively without causing nighttime urination.
Thank you, again. I too, get up every 90 minutes. So, are drinks like Gatorade just as good as isotonic saline?
Personally I would not. It has got a whole lot of sugar which might be good for an athlete who is busy burning it off but for the rest of us that is not a good thing. It is listed as having salt but how much is not clear.
In addition to not drinking before bed the other cause of frequent nighttime urination is urinary tract irritation. I snack on a few cranberries now and then during the course of the day which seems to help and also take NAC which alleviates prostate inflammation.
We had been using a 50/50 of G2 Gatorade and water per doctor's instructions. We did not continue once we had a 'good' report from the lab - the doc's PA said we should stop. I guess we can try a small amount before bedtime. What you say makes sense about the electrolyte balance.
If you have overcome the dehydration no need to drink right before bed. I would never drink Gatorade personally, diluted or not. No need for all that sugar. Consider emergen-C instead if you want something tasty - at least it has good things in it. If he is not dehydrated salting food to taste should be good enough to keep his sodium levels up.
Does the type of salt make a difference, iodized or sea salt?
No.
Yes I make 5-8 trips nightly. I will try Emergen C in the evening. Use it daily for energy rehydration and mix with O.J. To start add warm water not much to activate the powder. Very good suggestion Park Bear. Mary1927 I I use biotene mouth spray. I know yourhusband's issue is hydration and I also use gatorade but realize that Park Bear has good advice and will consider adding salt to water.
He gets more than enough salt on his food - he's one of those who has a bit of food with his salt sometimes. I'll look at the emergen C - he's not a fan of Gatorade (we're using the low sugar version) in any event, just looking for some relief from constant treks to the bathroom.
Have you considered that this might be an enlarged prostate problem?
Hi Mary, you have my sympathy!! I too have numerous visits to the loo both day and night!! I now have a commode at the side of the bed because of accidents not getting out of bed quickly enough with PD affecting my balance. Although I have suffered with this problem for many years before I developed PD, I truly believe it has gone worse since. I have tried both drinking fluids to not drinking for several hours when going out or going to bed and neither action has made any difference. I have now resigned myself to this as my lot!!
Hi Mary
My Husband experiences very similar conditions; frequency & urgency, and much more difficult at night, when unable to reach the toilet in time. He was so reluctant to drink much at all during the day, that dehydration set in quickly, resulting in frequent urinary tract infections.
Our Urologist found that the problem is an enlarged prostate, and began medication, but the urgency & frequency became so difficult to handle when the PD meds wear off that he agreed to have a penile catheter inserted since October 2017. He's due for prostate surgery in mid March. Thank the Lord it's not cancerous, simply enlarged and misaligned.
I'm strongly inclined to believe that your partner's main problem might be an enlarged prostate gland, and exacerbated by PD.
Thanks for the info. I concur, but getting him to go to the urologist is a problem. He is so doctor-phobic - he had to be virtually falling every time he walked anywhere to get him to the neurologist for the PD diagnosis. I've tried pleading, begging, bargaining, and threats (ok, not proud of that one) all to no avail. Yet. This is really getting to him so we're trying the supplement for 30 days (recommended on package). He thinks it is getting better after a 3 days on the supplement but he's good at kidding himself so time will tell.
L-Tryptophan supplements to aid sleep issues
Supplement recommendations
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photo of supplements hubby takes
