Sleep enuresis is actually a type of sleep disorder that is characterized by voiding in the middle of the night, during sleep. Nocturnal enuresis is different from nocturia, which both are commonly mistaken to be similar. In nocturia, a person wakes up in the middle of the night to urinate properly, while in sleep enuresis, a person urinates in his or her sleep. Sleep enuresis mostly affects younger children but can still affect adults. Many people find sleep enuresis to be annoying and most of them get frustrated if a family member is suffering from sleep enuresis. What they have to keep in mind is that sleep enuresis is something that can’t be controlled and something that nobody wants to suffer from.
Diagnose Sleep Enuresis
In order for sleep enuresis to be properly diagnosed, it is very important for the person suffering from the said condition to seek consult to his or her physician. And all symptoms present and general habits of the sleep disorder should be reported to the health care provider or the physician. It will also be helpful for you to keep a diary or journal with all your symptoms and general habits for it to be easier for your health care provider or physician to diagnose sleep enuresis or diagnose other medical conditions.
What to Write in your Journal
There are things that are very important to include in your journal or diary of symptoms and there are also irrelevant things that are not important. Here are some of the important details that need to be included in your diary of symptoms.
- If possible to take down the exact time of the voiding episode, the better. You can ask someone to take down the time of when you voided. And if you wake up several times in the night just to urinate, take down the time.
- Estimate amount of urine voided if possible. You do not have to measure the exact amount of urine voided, only an estimate.
- It will also be helpful if you are going to write down the amount of fluid intake during the whole day and the time. Writing down the patterns of your drinking can also be helpful, such as if you have drinking patterns during the night or later in the afternoon.
- Record or write down the number of wet nights versus dry nights.
- Write down any other abnormal symptoms that is not normal.
