# Internal Urinary Alarm Clock
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-urinary-alarm-clock/3605
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 29, 1999, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-urinary-alarm-clock/3605 "1999-09-29T12:26:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@kellibelli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellibelli)
#### Post date: [September 29, 1999, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-urinary-alarm-clock/3605/1 "1999-09-29T12:26:00Z")
This is NOT funny!
Every day this week, I have been awakened from a deep slumber between 6:30, and 6:45 AM…my clock goes off at 7:00 am, and I _need_ that extra few minutes! I pee before bed, and all that, I dont drink excessivesly after supper…Why am I waking up so early to pee?
Of course I go back to bed, then I cant wake up when the clock goes off…sure I could stay up after my trip to the bathroom…but the bed is all warm and cozy…
Any ideas on how to de-program my bladder?
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### Author:  [@smilingjaws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smilingjaws)
#### Post date: [September 29, 1999, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-urinary-alarm-clock/3605/2 "1999-09-29T13:21:00Z")
Be grateful–I wake up at 3 am every morning! Can’t fall back asleep for at least an hour.
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### Author:  [@AuraSeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuraSeer)
#### Post date: [September 29, 1999, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-urinary-alarm-clock/3605/3 "1999-09-29T13:27:00Z")
WAG: Has the salt content of your diet gone up recently? When you consume more salt, your kidneys expel more water to wash it out of your system.
WAG #2: Has it gotten colder in your area in the last week? Maybe you had been sweating a little during the night, but now you’re not. The moisture that’s no longer leaving through your skin is leaving through your kidneys, and makes just enough difference to wake you up early.
* * *
Laugh hard; it’s a long way to the bank.
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### Author:  [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)
#### Post date: [September 29, 1999, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-urinary-alarm-clock/3605/4 "1999-09-29T15:00:00Z")
As an oversleeper of Godlike proportions, I would LOVE for this to happen to me.
* * *
Yer pal,
Satan
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### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [September 29, 1999, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-urinary-alarm-clock/3605/5 "1999-09-29T15:13:00Z")
why not drink less fluid before going to bed?
I once asked the pharmist[sp] if there was any
drug that would make a person pee less, as there are things that make you pee more. But he didn’t seem to know. Im sure there is.
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### Author:  [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)
#### Post date: [September 29, 1999, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-urinary-alarm-clock/3605/6 "1999-09-29T16:09:00Z")
Unless you suffer from incontinence, I can’t imagine why you would want to pee less frequently. I can’t imagine that all that water retention is good for you. The alternative is dehydration.
We need to water to live. One of the byproducts is having to urinate. It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.
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### Author:  [@kellibelli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellibelli)
#### Post date: [September 29, 1999, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-urinary-alarm-clock/3605/7 "1999-09-29T16:13:00Z")
Didnt you last two read the OP, I dont mind pee-ing, I just dont get why it has to be at 6:30 EVERY morning!
I like drinking, I like pee-ing, but I _love_ sleeping 🙂
Like I said, I dont drink much after supper, I pee before bed…and my salt intake hasnt changed, and I dont sweat even in summer (not much anyway) so that isnt it…
HELP!
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### Author:  [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)
#### Post date: [September 29, 1999, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-urinary-alarm-clock/3605/8 "1999-09-29T16:35:00Z")
By the way, this thread title belongs in the “Best band names” thread in MPSIMS.
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### Author:  [@Mr\_Thin\_Skin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Thin_Skin)
#### Post date: [September 29, 1999, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-urinary-alarm-clock/3605/9 "1999-09-29T16:44:00Z")
Kelli,
Relax.
You may be falling into some sort of self-fulfilling prophesy. You worry about it, so it happens. You can call your doctor’s office. It’s ok to do that.
I don’t want to scare you, but frequent urination is a sign of pregnancy. “This occurs initially because of hormonal effects on the bladder and later because of the growing uterus…” (Mayo Clinic Family Health Book).
You could also have Chronic Urethritis, or some other sort of infection, but hey, I’m just reading from a book. Your doctor would know.
Sweet Dreams,
-David
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### Author:  [@kellibelli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellibelli)
#### Post date: [September 30, 1999, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-urinary-alarm-clock/3605/10 "1999-09-30T05:22:00Z")
Dont want to scare me…???
Pregnancy???
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggggg
sweet mother of bob!
couldnt be, cant be,
no way
no how
NNNNNOooooooooooooooo
If I suddenly stop posting it will be because I blew my head off!
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### Author:  [@AuraSeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuraSeer)
#### Post date: [September 30, 1999, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-urinary-alarm-clock/3605/11 "1999-09-30T05:25:00Z")
It’s also possible that you’re diabetic. Would that be preferable?
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### Author:  [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)
#### Post date: [September 29, 1999, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-urinary-alarm-clock/3605/12 "1999-09-29T19:16:00Z")
I read someplace (damned if I can find it) that the bladder becomes less elastic as people grow older. Since it can hold less you feel the need to pee more often.
This is, admittedly, a WAG.
Now, if you were male, that prostate thing might be called into question. Be glad you don’t have that Edsel of bodily organs.
* * *
" \<— My own personal quote. I call him Doug.
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### Author:  [@Nickrz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nickrz)
#### Post date: [September 29, 1999, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-urinary-alarm-clock/3605/13 "1999-09-29T22:51:00Z")
When this happens to a man, it could be trouble with a capital T that rhymes with P that stands for prostate.
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### Author:  [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)
#### Post date: [September 29, 1999, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-urinary-alarm-clock/3605/14 "1999-09-29T23:07:00Z")
Thanks Nickrz. That’s just peachy. Now I have to go home and find my “Best of Robert Preston” Cd to get it out of my head. 🙂
Kellibelli, try experimenting. Don’t drink anything for a couple hours before bed, make sure you go potty before you turn in, see if it helps. Or drink a lot before bed and plan on getting up at 3:00 am. Either way, you might be able to shake your body out of a rut and find a solution that works for you.
Or go to bed a half hour earlier, bite the bullett, and get up when the ol’ bladder starts screaming. Not that I’m advocating mornings, mind you. . . .
-andros-
* * *
“Listen Children Eternal Father Eternally One!” Exceptions? None!
-Doc Bronner
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### Author:  [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)
#### Post date: [September 29, 1999, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-urinary-alarm-clock/3605/15 "1999-09-29T23:08:00Z")
Bite the bullet, that is.
I guess it could have read, “bite the Bullitt.” I always sleep with the VCR on.
-a-
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### Author:  [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)
#### Post date: [September 29, 1999, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-urinary-alarm-clock/3605/16 "1999-09-29T23:08:00Z")
Rysdad: I don’t think your statement about the bladder becoming less elastic as one ages is a WAG. Had a discussion about this with my OB just a few months ago. Bladder control problems are not unusual, especially in women over 30 who’ve had more than one kid. There are some women out there who would rather hold in a cough or a sneeze until their heads explode because they (well, _we,_ to be perfectly honest) know what will happen.
Kelli doesn’t seem to be having a problem with actual control, though. Just seems to me like it’s a “why am I waking up earlier than I really need to because I have to pee?” thing. That sounds like something that will go away on it’s own.
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### Author:  [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)
#### Post date: [September 29, 1999, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-urinary-alarm-clock/3605/17 "1999-09-29T23:25:00Z")
kellibelli;
6:30 to 6:45 **ain’t** exactly the “crack of dawn”. 🙂 I’m a late sleeper (on my days off) and I usually have to get up early to urinate, and then go back to bed. If you don’t get up often during the night, or go very often at other times, it’s probably just old age creeping up on you. Tho there is some merit to the pregnancy hypothesis.
There’s really not much you can do about it, except maybe go to sleep a little later and go pee one more time before bed. 9-10 hours is a long time to hold it, if that’s how long you sleep.
Peace,
mangeorge
* * *
Work like you don’t need the money…
Love like you’ve never been hurt…
Dance like nobody’s watching! …(Paraphrased)
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### Author:  [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)
#### Post date: [September 30, 1999, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-urinary-alarm-clock/3605/18 "1999-09-30T21:12:00Z")
Satan:
> [@](#):
>
> As an oversleeper of Godlike proportions, I would LOVE for this to happen to me.
If you’re really trying to cure an oversleeping problem, there’s nothing quite like an infant. I’m sure you know a few parents who won’t mind you borrowing theirs for the night.
* * *
Chaim Mattis Keller
[ckeller@schicktech.com](mailto:ckeller@schicktech.com)
“Sherlock Holmes once said that once you have eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be
the answer. I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible.
The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it that the merely improbable lacks.”
– Douglas Adams’s Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective
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### Author:  [@kellibelli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellibelli)
#### Post date: [September 30, 1999, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-urinary-alarm-clock/3605/19 "1999-09-30T23:27:00Z")
It would appear I am ‘cured’…
It was the pregnancy threat that scared my bladder into submission, I am almost certain!
As I am 30, and do have 2 kids, incontinence may someday be a problem…actually after I had frankie…I sneezed and partially peed my drawers! Kegels are an amazing thing…(just ask my honey 😉 )
As for the diabetes thing…I was screened just recently to rule out causes for an ongoing (4 years) problem with fatigue that comes and goes.
So while I appreciate all the ideas…all I really needed to do was eat a sponge before bed, and now I am fine. 🙂
Oh and cmkeller…Satan _has_ a child…remember _Damien?_
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [September 30, 1999, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internal-urinary-alarm-clock/3605/20 "1999-09-30T23:59:00Z")
Better an INTERNAL urinary alarm clock than an EXTERNAL one.
My first husband came from a large family and they shared beds.
Nuff said.
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