Children Grown Up: Teenage and Adolescent Bedwetting

Urinating while asleep, also called nocturnal enuresis, is common in children. It is messy and upsetting, but as it is unintentional, it is simply a sign of a developing body growing adapted to sleeping without diapers. Bedwetting in teenagers and adolescents, however, may be worrisome for parents; it can be awkward for older children, and is considered a physical symptom of deeper troubles in a teenager or adolescent.

What causes enuresis? To understand it, one has to understand how the kidneys and their corresponding hormones work. One particular hormone, the antidiuretic hormone, controls the body's release of water. This antidiuretic hormone is involved with a hormone cycle that ensures that the bladder will not be full until the morning; this in turn ensures that a person will urinate when he wakes up.

This antidiuretic hormone cycle, however, is not fully operational in babies. It develops as children age; in a few cases, it stabilizes by the end of puberty; in extremely rare cases, the cycle is not established at all. These unusual scenarios are what may cause adolescent bedwetting.

Another means of controlling urination is through the brain itself, which, for its part, controls the body's capability to awaken prior to urination. In children, this is learned by the brain, as it grows more and more aware of the body's hormonal cycles. This learning process, however, can be damaged by certain factors such as emotional or physical stress. Such stress can be as mild as forcing children to urinate when they are not fully awake. Other contributing factors can be brutal, such as physical or sexual abuse.

If your teenager or adolescent wets their, you may consider the following treatments and therapies.

The first consideration in adolescent bedwetting is the body's inability to develop the antidiuretic hormone cycle, or the brain's inability to identify it. Physicians may recommend antidepressants such as Nortriptyline and Amitriptyline, both of which can treat enuresis for up to three or four months.

Desmopressin, another common enuresismedication, mimics the role of the antidiuretic hormone, and can be used when diagnosis points to poor hormonal development as the cause of enuresis.

The second consideration when treating adolescent bedwetting is the brain's inability to both recognize the antidiuretic hormone cycle, and to manage it with respect to time and sleep. To address this, psychiatrists advocate training machines such as the bedwetting alarm. This nocturnal gadget can help in the conditioning of teenagers to wake up when they first feel moisture, and that they must urinate. Ideally, this will lead to the body finally recognizing when the bladder is full, and can curb adolescent bedwetting.

The third consideration could be the body's complete inability to control bedwetting, which is quite rare. In this case, doctors advise using diapers or pads, which will help reduce the discomfort associated with bedwetting. Although this lessens the shame, it will not stop bedwetting completely, and additional measures should be taken to eliminate it.

The last consideration could be the brain's inability to control urination or identify the antidiuretic hormone cycle because of mental conditions. Such conditions may be brought about by stress; if this stress stems from physical or sexual abuse, your child may not want to talk to you about it. Psychiatric care and therapy is advised in these cases; while counseling may not directly target the problem of adolescent bedwetting, it may give you and your child closure on any problems that are brought to light.

Teenage or adolescent bedwetting is a treatable disorder, and it requires both patience and consideration on the part of the concerned parent. If your adolescent is wetting his or her bed, take him or her to your physician, and have the problem diagnosed and treated. In no time, your adolescent will overcome their condition.

Article Source: http://www.adoptiondoctors.com/articles

Liz Radisson is the editor of www.OurGoodHealth.org OurGoodHealth provides information and resources about a variety of topics, such as enuresis.

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