Although many people think this is normal because they drank a lot of water before bed, it usually isn’t. If you drank a lot of water before going to bed, waking up once to urinate is still not necessarily warranted, and waking at night to urinate more than once or after drinking a reasonable amount of fluid is a common sign of abnormal aldosterone levels. Aldosterone is a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands to regulate electrolytes in your body, primarily sodium and potassium. Low aldosterone levels correlate with a lower level of sodium (more lost through the urine and sweat), and higher aldosterone levels correlates with higher sodium, lower potassium. Aldosterone levels are normally lower during the day than they are at night. This results in you having to urinate more. At night the levels should be higher, causing fluid and therefore urine, retention. Since this is an adrenal secreted hormone, adrenal problems will cause this to function abnormally. Check out the other sleep articles on this site too!
Dr. Stephen Gangemi
I'm a board certified chiropractic physician and clinical nutritionist with a passion for true natural health care. I implement dietary & nutritional therapies, exercise & movement practices, and lifestyle changes along with manual therapy techniques to help the body heal and prevent illness and injuries.
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