Q. A while back I read in your column that eating raisins before bedtime could control nighttime trips to the bathroom.
For the past three years I have suffered from urgency urination. My physician prescribed oxybutynin twice a day. This helped quite a bit for the daytime. It did not help much for nighttime urgency.
When Oxytrol patches came out I tried them instead. Again, the daytime problem was mostly controlled, but I would still have to get up five or six times every night and sometimes I did not get to the bathroom in time.
Raisins Before Bed
After reading your article, I tried eating raisins before bedtime and had my first good night’s sleep in a long time! This has been working for me for weeks now.
I didn’t know the right dose, but I have settled on “nibbling” about 1/4 cup of raisins between 9 and 10 pm. (I usually go to bed at 11 pm.) Now I only have to get up perhaps once during the night, usually without the urgency that was so troubling. I am delighted to learn about this.
A. A number of other readers have also reported benefit. Raisins don’t come with the same side effects as oxybutynin, which can cause dry mouth, constipation, blurred vision, urinary difficulties, headaches and dizziness.
Raisins Side Effect
A downside to this raisin remedy is extra calories. One reader noted that she was also delighted that she went from getting up five times a night to once a night, but after two weeks she had gained four pounds.
You may have to compensate for the raisins by cutting back on snacks or desserts.
