Frequent Urination, especially at night

#1

Does anyone using daily time restricted eating with 4 - 8 hr eating window and LCHF (nearly ketogenic - .4 blood ketones in the morning) have an issue with frequent urination, especially at night. Need to go between 2 and 5 times. If so, has anything been helpful reduce the need to go. While I would like my FBG (high 80’s to low 90’s) and A1C (5.5), to be lower, I don’t feel the numbers are ominous. Prostate and PSA are good. Trying to figure this out so I can get a good night’s rest. I’ve heard/read that burning fat for fuel can cause excessive urination.

(Tim W) #2

I have this every now and then, it actually occurred to me last night, I took a handful of supplements before bed because I had forgotten to take them earlier in the day, my hypothesis is one of them caused it.

So, are you taking any supplements on a regular basis? What is your timing before bed? Also, when are you consuming your last dose of caffeine before bed? Could that come into play?

Good luck!

#3

I take lots of supplements, but none late at night. I don’t believe they are known to cause frequent urination.
Decaf only and never after mid afternoon.

(Tim W) #4

Copy.

Does it feel like your bladder just won’t empty?

#5

No, I feel like I empty completely. I do take a lot of Vitamin D, maybe 7000 IU’s per day unless I can get out in the sun. I did read that Vitamin D excess can cause increased urination, especially at night. I need to get my vitamin D levels checked as I want them to be good. I’ll check with a urologist too.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #6

I’ve had less of this problem since going keto, but one thing I’ve found helpful is to be hydrated at bedtime. My hypothesis is that when we are dehydrated, the minerals the kidneys filter out of the blood are less dilute because they are dissolved in a smaller quantity of urine. This seems in turn to trigger the bladder to feel full sooner than it otherwise might.

When I stay hydrated, my urine is much more dilute (I can tell because it’s much lighter in color) and I can go longer without urinating, and my bladder can get fuller with less discomfort.

I also find that I want to urinate more when I’m low on salt.

#7

That’s interesting Paul, I thought of trying both of those things. How much do you drink and how close to bedtime do you do it? What do you think about a tsp of salt before bedtime? I doubt that it could hurt, especially since a lot of people are saying the “guidelines” for sodium are too low.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #8

I keep a bottle of Seltzer next to the bed, so sometimes I just take some swigs when getting into bed. If I get to sleep before it catches up with me, I don’t have to get up till quite a bit later.

Salt before bedtime is a good idea; it often helps me, if I haven’t had enough during the day. The recommendations I’ve seen are for getting at least five grams of sodium a day.

#9

Thanks Paul

(Brian) #10

The idea that salt is not evil is a bit of a new mindset for those who’ve listened to the convention drone of “cut out the salt” for the past few decades. I still have to stop and think about it at times.

#11

I was having the same problem. I decided to re-train my bladder by waiting longer and longer between urination in the daytime so that eventually I could go 3-4 hours before using the bathroom again. As my bladder grew stronger it also stopped waking me up so much at night. Now I go once right before bed and then only once during the night. I have no medical issues and I don’t know if someone with diabetes or prostate issues could retrain their bladders.

#12

Sounds like an excellent approach. I will certainly give it a try. Curious to know how long your “training period” was. Also, would you mind stating how old you were when you trained yourself.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #13

Unlike @MelTar, I never successfully trained myself. I get up at least once during most nights, and three or four times is not uncommon. Sleeping through the night is rare, though it has become more frequent since I became ketotic. But as I posted before, salt and staying hydrated do seem to help.

#14

I didn’t keep track of how long it took, but thinking back I believe it took a week or so. I’m 55 years old. I don’t take any meds so I don’t know if that made a difference.

(Michael Wallace Ellwood) #15

Before I first tried LCHF, which was about 2007/2008, I needed to urinate a lot, and I put it down to pre-diabetes (there were other symptoms as well).

I’m pretty sure I reversed my pre-diabetes on LCHF (which I kept up for at least 2, maybe 3 years), but I still needed to urinate a lot. However, of course, low-carb itself tends to make one lose water, and we are also told to drink plenty, so I just hoped it was for a “healthy” reason this time.

Of course, I am “of a certain age”, and may have prostate issues as well.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #16

You just had to mention the P-word, didn’t you?

(Troy John) #17

Cjtdds, Were you able to sort out your frequent urination at night issue? If so, please share what you did as I have a similar issue.

(Championsidewinder) #18

No, it’s the sodium that causes frequent urination, look it up. I pee 3 times a night and because I take in so much sodium I pee too much, and I have bph and keto seems to make it a lot worse even after two months, I might quit keto and just do whole30

(Championsidewinder) #19

Not a good idea if you have bph

#20

Have you looked into the Carnivore Diet. I’m hearing lots of good things, but I can’t say that I’ve heard much about frequent urination or BPH.