Even I had to admit it was a terribly stressful day. The traffic on 3rd Mainland Bridge to Victoria Island was a killer and all through the journey I kept thinking of my job- that’s if I still had one.

I’m one of those people that hate my job, but can’t do without it. So to be told that I was being sent to disciplinary was a shocker to me because I couldn’t fathom what exactly went wrong.

Honk honk!

The noise and clamor on Naija roads can raise a dead body Walahi! I thought to myself.

Honk honk honk!

The horns were blaring from all angles, everyone was restless and wanted to know why we were at a standstill. I immediately made a mental note to hire a driver. I was done with this drama, at the age of 48 and with three kids to worry about, I needed to transfer my stress to someone else and since my hubby had been dragging his feet for months now, I knew I would have to make this decision with or without him.

I finally got home 2 hours later. My back ached, my neck ached, and my head ached. And through all this stress I couldn’t stop thinking of my job.

That night my sleep was restless. My hubby got in real late and informed me he’d be out early the next morning; I must have mumbled something in response, but I can’t remember.

*************

My alarm went off as usual at about 5:00 am and I sluggishly tried to get myself out of bed. As my senses woke up slowly, I could smell a faint odor, like urine…

My first thoughts were “how the heck did Chichi get in my bed last night” and then my thoughts swung to “Chichi is 13, she no longer wets the bed.”

I got up and took in the scene.

My mattress was wet, and my nightie was soaked through. As I started to take it off, I realized that my panties were soaked and smelt so bad I knew now that I was responsible. I had wet the bed.

Okay, this was a shocker.

I knew that some adults wet their beds because of medical reasons, but I can’t really say exactly why- I no be doctor!

I didn’t go to work that day, as I was terribly worried about how I slept through that puddle. I was worried about the fact that I wet my bed, but I was more worried about how I could sleep through it all. So I got some education on this. See below.

I found out that for infants and little children, bet wetting is involuntary. Most kids attain some measure of bladder control by the age of 4.

Now here comes the surprising part- Grownups who wet their bed at night frequently have difficulties in the day too, such as having to run to the lavatory before they wet themselves. This is surprising to me because I believed I had amazing bladder control.

It’s not an exact science why adults wet their bed but could be as a result of the below:

• Lack of muscle and nerve control
• Urinary infection
• Coffee, alcohol or diuretic medications
• Sleeping tablets
• Diabetes
• Excessive stress
• Other serious conditions

Lack of muscle and nerve control

Your bladder may not have grown the essential nerve and muscle control, thus the bladder muscle contracts and empties the bladder when it’s half full of pee.

Urinary disease

A urinary infection can irritate the bladder, and make it harder to hold your urine.

Coffee, alcohol or diuretic medications

Diuretics are drugs that are used to treat high blood pressure and some heart related issues. They support the kidney and create more urine. It’s best not to take a diuretic at bedtime, because you’ll need to pass urine in the night and, if you can’t hold your bladder, this could cause bedwetting.

Sleeping tablets

These can make you sleep so soundly that you don’t wake up when your bladder is full.

Diabetes

Diabetes is a disorder where the blood sugar is too high, and the kidneys attempt to lower the sugar by making tons of sugary urine, so you pass more urine in the daytime and during the nighttime. If your bladder control is poor, this could cause bedwetting. The issue goes away when the diabetes is treated.

Stress and anxiety can cause bed-wetting

If you have to spend hours in Lagos traffic. And also have work related issues on your mind. Plus a BP that’s skyrocketing by the minute, then you are probably stressed out. Well, I think this is it ooo… because none of the others relate to my condition. I’ll leave the diagnosis to my doctor.

Author: Dr. Nse