Many folks know that there are common causes of frequent urination.

Common causes of urinary frequency:

• Diabetes
  
• Urinary Tract Infection
• Drinking too much water, caffeine, etc
• Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy aka BPH
• Alcohol
  

Well, it so happened that an older man presented to our teaching clinic with problems sleeping. I asked him what was up - he said he is waking up every 2 hours to urinate. That sucks.

My first thought was BPH so I asked:

• Do you tend to pee more at night? No - the same as during the day
• Do you have difficulty starting to pee? Nope - I really gotta go and I go no problem
• Do you notice that your stream of urine is not as forceful as it used to be? Nope - it's fine.
• Do you feel that you have urine left over in your bladder after you pee? Nope
• Do you drink anything before bed? Nope

Well that about closed that door for diagnosing BPH so I told him, "Well, I don't think you have BPH."

He laughed and said, "Definitely not. I had my prostate fully removed 3 years ago due to a bad infection."

I opened his chart and found a new report from his MD. The paper said:
Problem List for Patient: BPH

Hmmmmmmmmmmm

Good ol' docs. Gotta love funny screw ups. It helps if you ask questions....

But the poor guy is still waking up all the time to pee.

We checked him for a urinary tract infection: all clear

I then figured out that his low blood levels of sodium were likely causing his problem.

We had a recent lab test showing low levels of sodium which his MD thought was irrelevant. There was a little note on his labs stating, "Looks great."

Well - it is not great - especially when elevated eosinophils accompany low sodium - that is a red flag for Addison's disease.

We're working on raising the sodium levels by supporting his adrenal glands.

I told him the connection and he figured we were on the right track.

Two weeks later, he returned and reported that he is waking one time less at night which is quite significant. His blood levels of sodium have been raising and his energy as well.

Uncommonly diagnosed problems for frequent urination:

• Adrenal Insufficiency
• Addision's Disease

We are further evaluating him for Addison's Disease but likely he is not. He is recovering from his intense fatigue very well.

What did we do?

• We supported his adrenal glands with a multivitamin high in B vitamins, magnesium and other nutrients
• We provided him an adrenal glandular product which he takes twice a day
• We advised he eat more frequently and ensure he has protein with each meal to balance his blood sugar levels.

That's it.

I see him next week with the lab results. Ill let you know what we find.

Ask to see your laboratory results. If you see anything that is marked 'High' or 'Low', ask your doctor, "Doc, why is that?"

If they say it is fine, ask again. Get an answer. It is there job to tell you what is going on with your body.

It is up to you to ensure proper health care and that is hard to come by nowadays.

Get a naturopathic physician in your back pocket - they'll take the time to walk you through what is going on.

Medical care works the best if one has a MD and a ND working for them. I don't recommend one without the other. It takes both to ensure proper health.