HELP - 15 year old still wetting his bed

[concernedanddesperate]

Hi guys, not sure how to go about this as this is my first time reaching out on this website (and online in general). I want to give as much background information as possible because quite frankly I have never been more concerned/worried/desperate. My fifteen year old brother (almost 16) still wets his bed - often. He has been doing this for years and without reason. Now, I will admit I had this same issue. I wet the bed for years and my parents were concerned but I completely stopped around the age of 11 (I'm 18 now). I have another younger sibling who never had this issue and out of plenty of cousins and family members none have dealt with this either. Besides the bedwetting issue my brother is perfectly "normal". He excels in school, has made honor roll, plays soccer, has a great group of friends, great social life, has no mental/emotional delay, or anything else whatsoever. Besides this issue he is literally a perfect well rounded teenage boy at home and at school and that is why I am so concerned as to what has triggered this, and why it won't stop. He wets his bed - THAT I KNOW OF - at least three times a week in the middle of the night. The worst part is that his room is literally 5 feet away from our bathroom. At first he would leave his sheets and clothing soaked and waited for them to dry before sneaking them into the washer. But our mom is on top of that now. However she isn't helping at all. All she does is scold him without addressing the actual issue. She tells him to put an alarm at night to get up and go to the bathroom, and once a week she will enter his room and make sure his sheets are clean but that's it. She won't talk to doctors or even try to reason with him because she's embarrassed about it as well (with me she had only asked one doctor about as she assumed it was something to do with my bladder or some female infection or puberty idk to be honest but after blood word and cat scans it was never resolved or talked about again as i had just simply stopped out of the blue). I know he's embarrassed about it, he realizes it isn't normal but what can we do? He doesn't even realize when his room and clothing smell "off" anymore he's so used to it. As the oldest sister I just want what's best for my brother, and with college years approaching I'm afraid this so-called bad habit will not be broken in time and that'll potentially take over his life as a young adult. Keep in mind I'm only 18 and completely alone in trying to help him; so what can I do to find what had triggered this, and how can he stop this? Please, help. I'm open to answering any further questions and taking any advice at this point.

[jjghighlander]

My son's doctor recommended an alarm that had a biofeedback component - strong buzzing at first dampness (audible-only alarms didn't do the trick due to deep sleep) for my 11 year old. This worked after 3 weeks of consistent use and changed our lives (sound like an infomercial but as you are living through the trauma of this, you know what it would be like for all of that to go away). A bit pricy at about a hundred bucks but again, eliminates pullups, plastic sheets, daily laundry, the stress, etc.. priceless.  

[pawnshopblues]

you should take him to the doctors.my best friend had this problem and it was hard for her parents to notice the cause at first but it was from her PTSD from when she was severely bullied in school.Please get him help soon because I know at the minute he seems fine but he may be remembering something really traumatic like sexual abuse or something.

[Stacy_afd]

I already wrote a response but had to sign up first and don't see it here so I'm doing it again, sorry if it appears twice.  I think this is well worth looking into.  I wish you and your family all the best.

Research done by Paediatrician Sean O'Regan

Suspecting constipation, O’Regan had a colleague perform a balloon-inflation procedure, anal manometry, on his son to find out whether the boy’s colon had been stretched by impacted stool. Using a catheter, the colleague inserted a small balloon into the child’s bottom and gradually inflated it, waiting for the boy to report discomfort. But the child felt nothing. O’Regan’s colleague reported, “The kid’s got no rectal tone.”

O’Regan gave his son an enema nightly for a month, then every other night. Within two months, the boy had stopped wetting the bed. Figuring he was onto something, O’Regan tried this therapy with several hundred wetting patients and published a series of remarkable studies. These showed convincingly that children with wetting problems were severely constipated and that treating constipation resolved the wetting in dramatic fashion.

Here’s the interesting part: O’Regan noted in his papers that the parents of his patients had no inkling their children were backed up. Yet these kids were so clogged that they could not feel, in their rectums, the presence of balloons inflated to the size of a small cantaloupe.
O’Regan’s research tells you why constipation is so easily missed. Often, the rectum simply expands to compensate, like a squirrel’s cheeks or a snake’s belly. So much poop builds up that even though the child may still poop regularly, she never completely empties. Many severely clogged kids poop two or three times a day. Parents and doctors are fooled into thinking all is well.

[Sandman2]

The poster on constipation does have a point.   Constipation will put pressure on the bladder and cause problems.  It certainly is worth checking out - hopefully without going to the lengths mentioned in the post.  It should be mentioned to his doctor.

[fatyoniboy69]

Although the mechanism is not clear, the pressure effect of stool in the descending or sigmoid colon likely restricts bladder capacity, and colonic movements at night might trigger an uninhibited detrusor contraction. Constipation is usually present in children with neurogenic bladder and is more common in those with overactive bladder or dysfunctional voiding.

[Diana_Brant]

My daughter was still wetting the bed at age 12. Spime with her Dr. Several times in the past but then he prescribed desmopressin. Very low dose, .2 mg. It has helped and stopped the bed wetting completly. She is now almost 14 and we are about to start trying her without her meds ro see how she does.

[Nurseg12]

I had the same problem and usedbto hide my sheets.  The doctors told my mom to not let me have anything to drink after 7pm due to having to go in the middle of the night.  I didn't stop wetting the bed until I was around 11 years old.

[Zxcvbnm12345]

But don't hold urine too long! Just a few minutes longer than when he first feels the urge. Too long is not good!

[Zxcvbnm12345]

I agree with the post about the sleep alarm.  A friend had same issue and it is a deep sleep problem. He is sleeping so deeply he cannot wake to the urge. The alarm works but someone has to wake him when it goes off and make him get up and answer a question. Next day ask him what the question was to see if he was fully awake after awakened by the alarm. If he doesnt remember then hes not waking and you need to splash water on his face or something. If he wants to cure this he will try really hard and it works quickly! Eventually it trains the brain to wake at that time during the night. Also, during the day stretch the bladder by holding urine for as long as possible.

[Fuxkaitlyn]

I had this almost every single night when i was still a baby..but magically it stopped when i turned 15. Im 18 now and im glad i got over that horrible nightmare waking up middle of the night feeling soaky on my clothes. Worst case scenario was when i accidentally sleep-peed infront of my mom lol

[RockRose]

Interesting about the constipation theory.  I do agree a physician could diagnose that without a balloon procedure.   There is also a hormone that most people produce that causes less urine production during sleep - and that's why you can go 8 hours without peeing,  where during the day that would be impossible.  It's likely you and your brother are low in that.  Has he tried setting an alarm for,  say,  1 a.m. and using the bathroom in the middle of the night?

[Ummna]

This is not Uncommon now a days. Especially with the change in food and diet over the past few years ( GMO, high fructose corn syrup, etc.) it should  end. I had a family member who went to age 15 and completely stopped before age 16. Allergies can also cause a condition, that sends a signal to the brain that the bladder is full. And that can cause nocturnal Enuresis.