Excessive urination seemingly not from high BG

I am a 28 year old male and have been diabetic for 14 years now.  The last six years I have been trying to maintain a disciplined regiment and having benefitted from switching to the pump, have seen good results including a A1C that hovers around 6.1.  Personal kudos aside, I wanted to ask if anyone suffered from, or had any knowledge about excessive urination NOT due to high BG levels.  Over the last two years I have noticed that I go to the bathroom a lot more that I used to.  Always when I wake up (sometimes I will wake up in the night just to go to the bathroom and then go immediately when I wake in the morning).  I can easily go four or five times in an 8 hour workday.  When I feel like I am going to the bathroom excessively  I will check my BG levels more frequently and many times is not explained by high levels.  I am also not spilling ketones either.  Anyone have any ideas?  I know I am getting older and many men complain of shrinking bladders, but there must be something scientific causing this phemnomenon.   I have asked my doctor and he is was not concerned as long as my BG levels were not high and I wasn't spilling ketones.  Another thinly related question I had was if anyone else had experienced a spell of high blood sugars from drinking a lot of caffine.  This is not the cause of my bladder trouble, but I did experience an unexplained spike in my BG levels yesterday after drinking more than usual amounts of caffine (but all in no-sugar/diet drinks).
Any ideas?

[JDRF-Team-ES]

First of all, congratulations on the great control.  For those of us who have been working on control of our diabetes for years, I think we would all agree that it doesn't get any easier.  One of the hard parts for me is that anytime something unusual happens in my body, I immediately wonder if it is related to my diabetes.  Sometimes it is, but sometimes it is not.

I'm sure you have already looked at how much and when you drink and if your drinking habits have changed since you started having this problem.  I know that if I drink water, I urinate more frequently than if I am drinking diet soda or even coffee.  Urinating more frequently doesn't necessarily mean there is a problem.  It could be good thing.  I'm not a doctor,but maybe your kidneys are functioning more efficiently.

You do seem a little young to be having bladder problems, but there are people who have spastic bladders and resulting frequent urination.  I always say, if this is a concern to you, I would get it checked out and I would have it done by a urologist. I am big on specialists because the body is just too complex for one doctor to know all there is to know about each part.

Regarding caffeine and high blood sugars, I have not had that experience, but some people have odd reactions to the sweeteners in diet drinks.  Splenda is actually a carbohydrate, albeit a very slowly metabolizing one.  I would be interested in hearing if others have had a similar reaction.  In the meantime, so many other things can cause spikes in blood sugars...hormones, stress, fatty food sometimes will raise people's blood sugars, etc.  My advice is keep up the good work, get the kidneys checked out and as long as you keep having those great A1C's, enjoy your life because you're going to be around for a long time.
Es

[Tousch7]

I knew excessive caffine consumption was not adviseable, but this cleared up a couple of things directly relating to diabetes.  Hope someone else finds it useful. www.diabetes.ca/Section_About/caffeine.asp

[JDRF-Team-LRS]

Want to echo what's already been posted and to share some observations -- I'm another volunteer, and not a physician, so do check out this info with your doc.

If our fluid balance is in sync, then every additional volume of fluid we take on, we will pass as urine.  When we're slightly dehydrated, we can drink more & not pee so much, cuz our cells are soaking up the fluid.  WHen we're well hydrated, additional fluid just gets excreted.

As you may know, caffeine is a diuretic and so you might find you'll excrete more when you drink more caffeine.  I hadn't heard about shrinking bladders in "older" men, as much as I've heard about enlarged prostate glands -- which put pressure on the bladder.  You might ask your doc for a prostate exam, tho' you do seem young for that.

Finally, I'm one of those whose blood sugar is affected by caffeine.  Even from black coffee.  For me, it was noticeable in the mornings and over the past year or two, I've gradually decaffeinated myself.  The result?  I can bolus for morning meal and get a predictable BG as a result.  I'm also a pumper and I tried all sorts of other explanations for why I needed much more insulin with breakfast.  By chance (cuz I loved my morning coffee), I had a day when I had only coffee and no breakfast -- high bg before lunch.  I tried just water and no coffee -- predictable bg before lunch.  A few experiments with & withotu caffeine & the results were irrefutable for me.  Caffeine is a stimulant and it stimulated hormone production that required more insulin.  I can have a bit of caffeine in the afternoon, but I do that 1-2 times a month if I can't get a caffeine-free soft drink when I'm thirsty.