I wake up every night to have a tiny pee
I wake up every night
I saw my MS consultant for the annual visit in November 2016. He asked me if there were any changes since my last visit to the clinic. I said to him “Now I wake up every night to visit the lavatory and have a tiny pee”‘
I wake up every night to have a pee
“Yes” I added, “It is really getting me down. I’m only sleeping for about five to six hours each night.”. I added, “To make things even worse it is only a tiny pee”.
He did not even pause.
He just said straight out “I will arrange for you to start a course of DDAVP or desmotabs” then he went on to add warnings and instructions.
“Is it really that simple?” I asked
He nodded.
We then went on to talk about more general things
This included the frequency of my falls, the FES, my Travelscoot and the sponsored I km walk I did in September. I first started seeing him in 1998 and we have a good relationship. He suggested the ASCEND and MS-SMART trial to me but that is another story.
My thoughts when I wake up at 4 am
A few weeks later
A letter arrived from my consultant, copy for me and the original to my GP. I fixed up an appointment with my Doctors surgery for a couple of days later.
I went in to see the doctor and talked about my visit to my MS consultant. After checking the magic book she wrote a prescription for desmotabs. They were given to me for a trial to see how I got on with them. The doctor said that I’m to take one about an hour before I go to bed.
First night I took one not really knowing what to expect
WOW
I slept straight through the night
Fall asleep at midnight and I woke up eight hours later. None of that strange feeling of waking up and realising I need to have a pee. I eventually go to the loo and fall asleep one to two hours later. The 0.2 mg desmotab pill that I take at night has totally changed my life. It must have been 5 or 6 months since I last had an uninterrupted sleep through the night.
These pills are not addictive.
There is no need for me to change my way of life in any way. Now I don’t wake up to go to the loo. Life is so much better. What is there not to like about them?
10 years later
The above was written and published in 2016. I still take desmopressin and I still get a full night’s sleep.
I started botox injections into my bladder in about 2017. but I continue with desmotabs. Botox is a minimally invasive treatment for an overactive bladder and urge incontinence. The procedure relaxes the muscle, reducing sudden urges to have a pee.
Desmotabs contain desmopressin acetate, a synthetic analogue of the natural hormone vasopressin (antidiuretic hormone, ADH), which helps the kidneys retain water and produce less urine
These days It I am going to be out of the house for several hours during the day I take a desomtab and drink very little. A full bladder is terrible news, it means that my bowels empty and I have no control over it. I might find it tricky to use the disabled toilets, I have no sense of balance and cannot stand unaided. How do people in a wheelchair cope?
December 2026
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thanks patrick
i will ask my gp for them.
can’t remember my last full night’s sleep.
carole x
Hello Carole
Good luck and I really hope they work
This is really good to know! Happy New Year!
Hello Judy
New to me as well. More people need to know about Desmotabs cos so many complain about being woken up in the night to go to the loo