I’ve noticed that when I haven’t gotten much sleep, and I drink caffeinated beverages to wake myself up, I end up urinating more frequently than if I got a good night’s sleep and drink the same amount of caffeinated beverages.
This is most noticeable on Sunday mornings, when my morning routine is more structured than on other days of the week. On Sundays I get out of bed, empty my bladder and shower, then on my way to church I stop at the store to pick up breakfast (chili dogs!) and two 1-liter bottles of Mountain Dew. Breakfast of champions! This is consistent from one Sunday to the next.
If I am well rested, I usually end up making one trip to the restroom at church. But if I didn’t sleep much the night before, I end up making 2-3 trips during the service.
In both cases, I have eaten the same breakfast and drunk the same amount of Mountain Dew.
I should mention that I don’t drink alcohol, so this isn’t a case of staying out too late on Saturday night and having alcohol’s diuretic effect combining with the caffeine’s effect. But I do have the bad habit of frequently staying up too late.
So is this because when I’m really tired my body works to absorb the caffeine more quickly, thus making me feel the need to urinate more often? Or is my bladder simply as tired as the rest of my body and therefore less able to retain its contents as long? Or some other explanation?
I have no medical or scientific proof to back this up, but I do frequently drink caffeinated products, and when I drink more heavily caffeinated ones (Mountain Dew), I tend to urinate more frequently.
Phase42 seems well aware that Mountain Dew contains caffeine which is diuretic - his/her question is how getting a good nights’ sleep can alter the effects of this.
Could be either - or maybe (WAG) after a good sleep the bladder takes a little longer to “wake up” to fully working again?
Ahem. I’m drinking the Mountain Dew regardless of how much sleep I got. I can spring from bed bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and I’m still going to drink the Mountain Dew. I really like Mountain Dew.
So, the Mountain Dew seems to make me pee more frequently when I’m really tired. The Mountain Dew makes me pee less frequently when I’m not extremely tired.
And caffeine itself isn’t a laxative, as far as I know. It’s the hot water you use to make coffee that loosens up your bowels, not the caffeine. Lots of elderly people who cannot take caffeine will drink plain hot water to loosen their bowels. I found that out when the Oddfellows and Rebeccas (service clubs populated my many elderly people) held a convention at the hotel across from a restaurant where I was cooking. They all came over for lunch and ordered hot water to drink.
Caffiene is not a laxative but a stimulant. If you are particularly sensitive to it the caffiene can speed up your bowels and give you a kind of laxative effect.
On the full night sleep question… from what I understand when you sleep your body makes a chemical that slows urine production so you can make it through the night without getting up to pee. Maybe when you get a full night’s rest this chemical is more prevalent in your blood and takes longer to dissipate than after a shorter less restful sleep.
Otto, as I said in my OP, I don’t drink alcohol. I’m actually a recovering alcoholic with nine years sobriety As to how much liquid I drink the night before, one of the first things I do every morning is urinate, so that should eliminate any carryover.
As to how much liquid I drink the night before, one of the first things I do every morning is urinate, so that should eliminate any carryover.