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Dr Catherine
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Girl
8-15 years

I know someone that is 18 years old and she still wets the bed. It is out of her control she sometimes dosnt feel it and she sometimes is dreaming that she is on the toilet when she’s actually in bed. She could go just under a whole month without bed wetting, or she could do it 3 times a week. She has been to doctors and specialists and nothing has come up. Please help as she gets worried to sleep at night incase she wets the bed.

In a very small percentage of cases people do continue to wet right through adulthood. I wonder if she has noted any particular pattern to her bedwetting ... does it occur when she has been out late at night, emotionally stressed or following the consumption of particular foods? What forms of treatment has your friend tried to help her to become dry? The best forms of treatment are conditioning alarms – these do not always work at first and may take up to 6 months of constant use. It is not unusual for individuals to experience one or two relapses, when this occurs you need to reintroduce and repeat the process. Sometimes dietary control can help reduce bedwetting – if this is something your friend would like to explore further her best contact is the Australian Naturopathic Practitioners Association (1800 422 885) who will be able to recommend someone in her area. In the meantime she should avoid things like caffeine and chocolate as these are known to stimulate the kidneys, try and get at least 8 hour sleep every night as over-tiredness will make it even more difficult to wake in response to a full bladder. Kind Regards, Dr Cathrine