Diabetes Insipidus - Anybody else?

I joined a month or so ago after trying to find a community dealing with bedwetting. I started wetting the bed around the first of the year for the first time in a long time... and it hasnt been this consistent since I was a kid.

Anyway, my primary care doctor said it could be diabetes insipidus among some other ideas (UTI, kidney stone, OAB, etc.) and I finally got around to reading about DI this week. Seems to fit most of my symptoms but it says it is pretty rare.

I'm unbearably thirsty all the time, I urinate a lot, many times during the day, I have been very tired, more irritable than normal, urine tests at the dr show dilute urine even after limiting fluids and my ADH in a blood test was under 1 pg/ml.

Is there anybody on here with diabetes inisipudus? And if so, does this seem like a possibility from your personal experience or am I missing something? What have you done to deal with it?

Thanks everybody.

Red and Blue

I suffer from Diabetes Insipidus and got diagnosed at age 17, my bedwetting hasn't stopped since age 16 and I am 30. It mainly affects me towards the evenings. I used to take DDAVP for it but decided to accept the fact I will probably wear diapers at night for the rest of my life. My symptoms are pretty mild, I stick with water rather than soda and alcohol in the evenings unless its on the weekends.

Thank you for the reply crowza! That is a little different than mine. I'm pretty high intake and output all day/night... but I definitely notice I end up more wet at night if I drink alcohol before going to sleep. I actually started wearing an m4 on nights I have wine or beer with my wife instead of the lighter cloth backed molicare cause it couldn't take the "pressure"

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Sorry, one more thing, did you have any bad side effects from the DDAVP? Or was there another reason to stop taking it? I told my wife desmopressin might help and she told me I was too young to start a med I would have to take the rest of my life. She leans more toward all natural stuff and said laundry detergent is cheaper than fighting cancer.

My incontinence is caused by my diabetes and I have been told by my urologist there is no cure. I was refered to the continence nurse for practical help in managing my incontinence. I shall most likely have to wear pads or nappies for the rest of my life. My bladder just empties as it needs without my control. I tend to drip, dribble and sometimes have a steady stream of urine most of the time. I wet heavily and sometimes several times during the night. I just felt my bladder release in to my incontinence pad as I write and had no way of stopping the flow.

I would stress to all of you that you maintain good blood sugar control. Are any of you on an insulin pump as that helps in the control of high blood sugar. I say this because my wife had type I diabetes. She no longer has any wetting problem because she has no kidney function. She does home dialysis and I am her dialysis partner. I wonder if your diabetes is affecting your bladder, that it might also be affecting your kidneys.

Drinking alcohol in the evening is going to jack your blood sugar sky high so that would be one contributing factor. Unfortunately when you have diabetes, there are some things you can't do. I had a bleeding ulcer in 1985 and I had to give up alcohol. Oddly enough, it wasn't difficult, but my ulcer technically killed me, and when I came back from the dead, I was a very changed person in some significant ways, drinking alcohol being one of them.

Thanks again for the replies.

Dogboy- I was thinking blood sugar diabetes when I first heard of insipidus as well. Diabetes Insipidus actually doesn't have to do with blood sugar. Basically, your body doesn't properly regulate how much urine you should be making. Your kidneys keep pumping it out regardless of water intake or sleep. But it makes you very thirsty to try and compensate.

DDAVP would 90% of the time work and keep me dry at night, however the mornings i would wake up with a massive headache. I decided I'd rather wear a diaper than have morning headaches. I would recommend to anyone with Diabetes Insipidus to stick with wearing at night.

RedAndBlue said:

Thanks again for the replies.

Dogboy- I was thinking blood sugar diabetes when I first heard of insipidus as well. Diabetes Insipidus actually doesn't have to do with blood sugar. Basically, your body doesn't properly regulate how much urine you should be making. Your kidneys keep pumping it out regardless of water intake or sleep. But it makes you very thirsty to try and compensate.

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I've learned something new. I should have looked it up. That's an odd ailment. Is there any medication to moderate the action? It sounds dangerous. No wonder you have to keep drinking just to stay hydrated.