Bedwetting

[ilovedogs]

Does anyone here have kids with trouble with bedwetting. We have trouble with our ds off and on. He had a really bad exacerbation of OCD symptoms and early waking and bedwetting last fall but now all the problems are gone except for occasional bedwetting. He's almost 12 and it's starting to bother him more now. Some nights he'll just wet his underwear a bit and the bed won't have a spot or smell or anything. Then he may go a few days with no problem and then he'll have a few days of issues, etc. According to my mother in law, my dh also had issues with bedwetting but she never told me how old dh was when it subsided and dh isn't much help.

 

Should I have him checked for a medical condition? Has anyone tried the bedwetting alarms? I'd really like to help him get over this but I know that sometimes things just take time! LOL!

 

Thanks,

 

Bonnie

[thereishope]

When my son is in an exacerbation, he will wet the bed. That is definitely a PANDAS/PITAND symptom. He wet the bed almost nightly for a month. When we were about to rule out bladder infection, it stopped. Thank goodness!

[smartyjones]

i'm going to post here my understanding of what Dr. Latimer said at the conference concerning urinary frequency. that's the term she used and talked about daytime but i believe it would be true for bedwetting also. i found this interesting b/c i've never before seen the explanation for it, just the listing as a symptom.

 

you have an internal and external sphincter for the bladder. the internal is unconscous and just 'works' as a body function. urine flows in, you don't feel it b/c the internal sphincter stays shut. once the bladder is full, you have the feeling of having to go due to pressure on the external sphincter. kids with pandas lose control of the internal sphincter. i don't think she pulled that back to why -- b/c that is an area of the brain controlled by the basal ganglia -- ?. so they only have pressure on their external sphincter, just like the rest of us when we have to go, whenever urine flows into the bladder. which is basically all day long at any time, yes?

 

if a kid only has bedwetting, are they better able to control that external sphincter during the day? maybe they also feel they have to go all day long, but just think that's a normal feeling and deal with it? then at night, just can't have the same control?

 

i guess it never hurts to be thorough and check out other possible causes but if your son has other pandas symptoms . . .

 

i think it would be very interesting to talk to your mil to see if your dh has other pandas symtpoms.

[ilovedogs]

Thank you for the replies. We have not been diagnosed with PANDAs though. Ds did have a Titer test done for strep about 1 1/2 years ago, 6 months after his tics started. I forget the results right now but he did not have any traceable strep infection in his body. He only wets at night and it's not every night. He has no other symptoms of anything right now. The anxiety has been gone since last November, the tics are minimal, his ADD is much better, and we've stopped all supplements. My dh was extremely ADHD as a child and had some LD's like dyslexia. He did not have anxiety issues or tics. My father in law has OCD, though, but not my husband.

 

I might just go to the pediatrician and see if they can help at least rule some things out. I'm tempted to try a bedwetting alarm but I just don't know if they are effective.

[kimballot]

i'm going to post here my understanding of what Dr. Latimer said at the conference concerning urinary frequency. that's the term she used and talked about daytime but i believe it would be true for bedwetting also. i found this interesting b/c i've never before seen the explanation for it, just the listing as a symptom.

 

you have an internal and external sphincter for the bladder. the internal is unconscous and just 'works' as a body function. urine flows in, you don't feel it b/c the internal sphincter stays shut. once the bladder is full, you have the feeling of having to go due to pressure on the external sphincter. kids with pandas lose control of the internal sphincter. i don't think she pulled that back to why -- b/c that is an area of the brain controlled by the basal ganglia -- ?. so they only have pressure on their external sphincter, just like the rest of us when we have to go, whenever urine flows into the bladder. which is basically all day long at any time, yes?

 

if a kid only has bedwetting, are they better able to control that external sphincter during the day? maybe they also feel they have to go all day long, but just think that's a normal feeling and deal with it? then at night, just can't have the same control?

 

i guess it never hurts to be thorough and check out other possible causes but if your son has other pandas symptoms . . .

 

i think it would be very interesting to talk to your mil to see if your dh has other pandas symtpoms.

 

Smarty - THank you SO much for that explanation! Now I can describe it better to the teachers and such.

[tygertoo]

Thank you for the replies. We have not been diagnosed with PANDAs though. Ds did have a Titer test done for strep about 1 1/2 years ago, 6 months after his tics started. I forget the results right now but he did not have any traceable strep infection in his body. He only wets at night and it's not every night. He has no other symptoms of anything right now. The anxiety has been gone since last November, the tics are minimal, his ADD is much better, and we've stopped all supplements. My dh was extremely ADHD as a child and had some LD's like dyslexia. He did not have anxiety issues or tics. My father in law has OCD, though, but not my husband.

 

I might just go to the pediatrician and see if they can help at least rule some things out. I'm tempted to try a bedwetting alarm but I just don't know if they are effective.

 

 

 

We tried the bed wetting alarm (our insurance covered it) for my son (8). He also had bouts of chronic and sporadic bedwetting. The alarm worked for the most part for a while but we always went back to bed wetting. This spring we got the PANDAS diagnosis and he was put on azith. My son had very high strep and myco plasma (walking pnuemonia) titers. About 5 days into the zith - no more bedwetting (2 months later).

I have read a few places that the myco plasma has something to do with chronic bedwetting. However if your son does not have high titers for myco plasma P then the alarm is worth a try. Good luck!!!

[kimballot]

Does anyone here have kids with trouble with bedwetting. We have trouble with our ds off and on. He had a really bad exacerbation of OCD symptoms and early waking and bedwetting last fall but now all the problems are gone except for occasional bedwetting. He's almost 12 and it's starting to bother him more now. Some nights he'll just wet his underwear a bit and the bed won't have a spot or smell or anything. Then he may go a few days with no problem and then he'll have a few days of issues, etc. According to my mother in law, my dh also had issues with bedwetting but she never told me how old dh was when it subsided and dh isn't much help.

 

Should I have him checked for a medical condition? Has anyone tried the bedwetting alarms? I'd really like to help him get over this but I know that sometimes things just take time! LOL!

 

Thanks,

 

Bonnie

 

We've always had these problems with exacerbations. Recently I obtained copies of all my son's medical visits and found several times that we had brought him in through the years to check bladder infection - all negative (I had forgotten about these). I suggest bringing your child in just to get it checked out... if nothing else it will document that this is happening.

 

 

My son is 13 now and still has urinary frequency with exacerbations - but he was able to make it through this last exacerbation (6 months) without bedwetting - just lots of waking up and going during the night.

Edited July 24, 2010 by kimballot

[monarchcat]

My son was not dry at night until he started taking antibiotics for PANDAS. About 3 weeks after starting abx he stopped peeing at night and has been dry ever since (about 10 months now). He was 8 1/2 when he started the abx. He didn't have any day time urinary issues at all.

[matis_mom]

Does anyone here have kids with trouble with bedwetting. We have trouble with our ds off and on. He had a really bad exacerbation of OCD symptoms and early waking and bedwetting last fall but now all the problems are gone except for occasional bedwetting. He's almost 12 and it's starting to bother him more now. Some nights he'll just wet his underwear a bit and the bed won't have a spot or smell or anything. Then he may go a few days with no problem and then he'll have a few days of issues, etc. According to my mother in law, my dh also had issues with bedwetting but she never told me how old dh was when it subsided and dh isn't much help.

 

Should I have him checked for a medical condition? Has anyone tried the bedwetting alarms? I'd really like to help him get over this but I know that sometimes things just take time! LOL!

 

Thanks,

 

Bonnie

For us bedwetting and day time increased frequency are related to exacerbations. We did check for urinary issues and there were none, it's just a PANDAS thing. So, I offered if he wanted to try the pads senior citizens use. I thought he might be offended or embarrased, but he readily agree to wear them at night. So now he wears them every night, and most of the time he doesn't need them, but I think it helps him get a good night sleep. Before he would wake up a lot and try going to the bathroom, kind of trying to make sure he "got it all out." That really cut into his sleep time. So for us it has worked well, he can go to sleep without worrying. Getting enough rest is a crucial part of healing, so do whatever works. Just reasure him it's not his fault or anything he can control. It will pass once he gets better.

[matis_mom]

i'm going to post here my understanding of what Dr. Latimer said at the conference concerning urinary frequency. that's the term she used and talked about daytime but i believe it would be true for bedwetting also. i found this interesting b/c i've never before seen the explanation for it, just the listing as a symptom.

 

you have an internal and external sphincter for the bladder. the internal is unconscous and just 'works' as a body function. urine flows in, you don't feel it b/c the internal sphincter stays shut. once the bladder is full, you have the feeling of having to go due to pressure on the external sphincter. kids with pandas lose control of the internal sphincter. i don't think she pulled that back to why -- b/c that is an area of the brain controlled by the basal ganglia -- ?. so they only have pressure on their external sphincter, just like the rest of us when we have to go, whenever urine flows into the bladder. which is basically all day long at any time, yes?

 

if a kid only has bedwetting, are they better able to control that external sphincter during the day? maybe they also feel they have to go all day long, but just think that's a normal feeling and deal with it? then at night, just can't have the same control?

 

i guess it never hurts to be thorough and check out other possible causes but if your son has other pandas symptoms . . .

 

i think it would be very interesting to talk to your mil to see if your dh has other pandas symtpoms.

Thanks for that explanation. It makes total sense. I think my son would enjoy learning why he feels like he has to go all the time, and how it is totally beyond his control.