Teenage and Adult Bedwetting

Bedwetting can be a highly embarrassing problem, which can stop people participating fully in many of the enjoyable activities of life. It can lead to avoiding school camps and holidays and present difficulties with friendships. It is important not to give up. Bedwetting can be cured even in teenagers and adults.

Most adults sleep less deeply than children so some sufferers finally outgrow the bedwetting problem in their teenage years as their sleep becomes less deep. This is not the case for everyone. Research has found that about two percent of adults between the ages of sixteen and sixty wet the bed several nights each week.

Teenagers and adults who wet the bed fall into several different categories.

Bedwetting every night
In this group bedwetting has continued since childhood with no improvement in the teenage years. The causes are generally the same as for children. The main difference is that families have often tried a variety of potential cures without success and have given up hope of ever curing the problem. As with treating all bedwetting trying one strategy at a time often leads to disappointment. It is essential to use a combination of strategies because it is highly likely that there are multiple causes not just deep sleep.

Bedwetting several nights each week
There has been some improvement since childhood but the problem persists. This pattern is very common. Once again all the steps of a combination program need to be followed. Although many teenagers and adults in this group will respond well to the initial steps on the Bedwetting Cured DVD it is likely that the occasional wet night will still occur unless the alarm is used as well. With young children a wet bed once a fortnight or once a month will seem like a very good result if they were previously wetting every night. The occasional wet night is not acceptable with older children, teenagers or adults. This is where the alarm comes in.

A teenager or adult may find it hard to stick with a rigid program of drinking as set out on the DVD. When they are with friends they will want to have a few glasses of their favourite drink in the evening or may even be drinking alcohol. To be able to live life as their friends do it is usually necessary to use the alarm as well as the steps on the DVD to obtain a complete cure, that is, no wet nights. Aim for thirty dry nights then six months of dry nights. Once you have achieved this you will be feeling secure that the problem is solved.

Episodes of bedwetting
Some teenagers and adults go for long periods remaining dry, even weeks or months, only to have the problem return. The reason for this is usually that the person is borderline. That is they have one or more of the causes of bedwetting either some of the time or to a minor degree. As well as deep sleep, for example, they may have a relatively small bladder capacity. In the summer when they perspire more, less urine is produced so the bladder doesn�t fill up and they have a dry night. In winter with less fluid lost through perspiration the bladder may become full during the night. As usual they sleep heavily and end up wetting the bed. It could be any of the causes which change marginally e.g. constipation which comes and goes, consuming food and drink which increases urine production or moving house to a strange bed which may improve the situation only to have it return when back in the usual bed. Children, teenagers and adults who are borderline need to follow the whole program to eliminate the problem entirely.

Bedwetting only after drinking alcohol
Alcohol suppresses one of the natural hormones, vasopressin, also called antidiuretic hormone.Normally smaller amounts of this hormone are released during the day and increased amounts overnight leading to a larger volume of urine produced during the day and smaller volume of urine is produced at night.

After consuming alcohol the levels of this hormone drop leading to an increase in urine production. The bladder will fill up more rapidly and may need to be emptied more frequently including during the night. If they are a deep sleeper or the alcohol has made them sleep more deeply they may not wake when necessary to empty the bladder.

What is the best method of curing this problem? We recommend using the Kit. Start with the steps on the DVD and set the alarm only on nights when you have consumed alcohol. Set the recordable alarm to your mobile phone ring tone or your own voice or the alarm sound, whichever wakes you better. This will help to make the connection between the bladder and the brain and eventually you will start to wake before wetting.

The medication desmopressin acts in a similar way to the hormone vasopressin. It is only available with a doctor's prescription. We do not recommend using this as it will not cure the problem. It is better to achieve a cure rather than be on lifelong medication.