Dry mouth is a rather unpleasant condition. It has its own name - xerostomia. It is associated with a violation of the salivary glands. It, in turn, can be caused by various reasons - both objective (directly related to the work of the salivary glands) and subjective (associated with changes in the functioning of the body). When the mouth is dry, a person suffers from thirst. He can drink up to 5 liters per day and not get enough.
Often, dry mouth and frequent urination appear together. What is this talking about? What diseases are these symptoms indicative of? What do we have to do? We will talk about this later in the article.
Why is there a dry mouth in the morning?
Why does it dry out in the morning? The main causes of this condition are as follows:
- Taking certain medications. Xerostomia can be provoked by antibacterial drugs, sedatives, antihistamines, pain medications, bronchodilators, antiemetics.
- Intoxication of the body. One of the obvious symptoms of dehydration in adults and children is precisely dry mouth, unquenchable thirst. Drying of the mucous membranes may occur along with general weakness, apathy, and a breakdown. The reason is food or alcohol poisoning, inhalation of toxic fumes. For example, ammonia.
- Diabetes. How does the disease begin? It is with periodic dry mouth in the morning. During the day, the patient continues to suffer from thirst. He drinks too much liquid. From here, two symptoms manifest themselves at once - dry mouth and frequent urination.
Pregnancy condition
During pregnancy, dry mouth is a pathological condition. Indeed, in this period, the salivary glands, on the contrary, work actively. Symptom may indicate dehydration.
At the same time, a pregnant woman often notes frequent urination. This is due to the fact that the growing fetus begins to put pressure on the mother's bladder. The frequency of urination increases, the fluid does not linger in the body of a woman. Therefore, it is so important for an expectant mother to observe a drinking regimen, monitor the amount of drinking water every day.
In the first trimester of pregnancy, this condition may be associated with the consequences of toxicosis. Then dry mouth, frequent urination appear along with diarrhea, vomiting. In this condition, there is a great danger of dehydration for both the mother and the fetus.
The case of the development of gestational diabetes in the expectant mother cannot be ruled out. This condition has nothing to do with type 2 diabetes. As a rule, insulin levels return to normal a few months after birth. But during pregnancy, the likelihood of hypoinsulinemia is increased. Therefore, the expectant mother should be monitored by doctors.
Normal urinary frequency
On average, an adult needs to urinate 6-7 times a day. But also the spread is 4-10 times non-pathological if a person drinks about 2 liters of water per day, and urination itself does not cause him discomfort.
In children, the norm is somewhat different. Babies urinate almost every hour. Therefore, parents replace 4-6 diapers per day - this is normal. At 3 years, the optimal frequency of urination is 10 times a day. For a child of school age - already 6-8 trips to the toilet per day.
Reasons for frequent going to the toilet
The reasons for frequent urination without pain are many:
- Drinking in large quantities of liquid, especially caffeinated, alcoholic beverages.
- Reception of diuretic drugs and herbal preparations.
- The appointment of anticancer drugs, radiation therapy of the pelvic organs.
- Irritation, disease, injury, urinary tract infection. In certain cases, this is a symptom of urolithiasis.
- Diseases that contribute to the increased production of urine.
- Damage to the muscles, nerves of the bladder.
- Violation of the anatomically normal location of the pelvic organs. In particular, this occurs with cystocele, urethral stricture, and the development of benign prostate tumors.
- Pregnancy.
What diseases can urinate often speak of?
If you suffer from private urination during the day or the whole day, this can also have pathological causes. The most common three.
There is a high probability of a urinary tract infection, from which a person of any gender and age is not insured. But according to statistics, women suffer from such diseases 4 times more often than men. Also, patients with diabetes who have a spinal cord injury or a catheter in the bladder are susceptible to infection.
You can talk about infection in the presence of additional symptoms:
- At the same time, rapid and painful urination.
- General weakness.
- Temperature rise
- Pressing pains in the lower abdomen.
- In certain cases, chills.
- Change in color and smell of urine.
- Pain in the lower back or side, near the ribs.
Another common cause of rapid urination is diabetes. The patient may complain additionally about the following:
- Dry sensation in the morning or throughout the day.
- Increased urination mainly at night.
- Chronic fatigue.
- Unreasonable weight loss.
- Long healing of even the smallest wounds on the body.
- Genital itching.
- Visual impairment.
The last reason is an overactive bladder. It manifests itself in the form of sudden urge to urinate, which the patient is sometimes difficult to control - incontinence may also develop. Rapid urination is observed at night - a person has to get up to the toilet several times.
Reasons for Men
In addition, we highlight the causes of frequent urination in men. As a rule, there are three main ones:
- An increase in the size of the prostate gland. Natural phenomenon with age. It is noted in 1/3 of all men over the age of 50 years. Until now, scientists have not decided on its cause. Gland enlargement is not a harbinger of prostate cancer. But it may be disturbed by the following symptoms: discomfort at the beginning or end of urination, a feeling of incomplete emptying of the bladder, the need for straining for outflow of urine, night trips to the toilet, weak outflow of urine.
- Prostatitis. Inflammation of the prostate gland with its subsequent edema. The disease is most often infectious. He is more susceptible to men aged 30-50 years. In addition to frequent urination, a person can note the following: pain in the external genitalia, buttocks, lower back and abdomen, pain during ejaculation and urination, discomfort during long sitting.
- Prostate cancer Basically, the disease affects men over 65. However, it can be diagnosed in patients over 50 years old. The signs of this cancer are: frequent nightly trips to the toilet, the need for straining when urinating, a weak outflow of urine, the delayed onset of emptying of the bladder, the feeling that it is not completely released.
Reasons for women
According to statistics, the most common cause of rapid urination in women is an infection that affects the genitourinary system. Also, a similar condition is typical for pregnancy. In this case, it can be associated with the action of hormonal factors on the body, an increase in the speed and volume of circulating blood, a growing uterus, which presses on the bladder.
In fact, frequent urination is one of the sure signs of pregnancy. Before the invention of the tests, it was this symptom that was one of the determining ones for confirming it in the early stages.
Symptom coherence
Dry mouth and frequent urination - these two symptoms together are most often observed precisely with diabetes. The disease is characterized by active excretion of fluid from the body. A constant lack of water is fraught with chronic xerostomia, exacerbating in the morning.
Thirst and frequent urination with this disease are also interrelated. The patient drinks a lot, the fluid does not stay in the body. Hence the frequent urge to urinate. A similar phenomenon is caused by a decrease in blood insulin levels. Without this hormone, the body is not able to break down glucose entering the bloodstream.
And with an increase in blood sugar, the process of removing fluid from the body is activated. The kidneys are working at an accelerated pace. This is the main reason for dry mouth and frequent urination if they occur together. Help the patient can only normalize the level of insulin in the body, calculating the required proportion of glucose for each individual case.
Diabetes here is not the only reason for the joint manifestation of xerostomia and frequent urination. This may be due to the following:
- Endocrine Disorders In particular, the activity of the kidneys and pituitary gland. Here the kidneys lose their ability to retain fluid. The body loses water. This condition may be mistaken for a symptom of dehydration in adults and children.
- Taking diuretics. The active substances of these funds contribute to the rapid removal of fluid from the body.
- Addiction to caffeinated drinks can also lead to the fact that a person simultaneously suffers from dry mouth, and from frequent urges to urinate.
Which doctor should I go to?
You notice dry mouth and frequent urination. Which doctor should I contact in this case? There are three options:
- Therapist. A visit to this doctor is necessary to rule out the infectious causes of these symptoms. In addition, he will be able to determine that these symptoms are not dangerous in your case. For example, xerostomia in the mouth and thirst that it causes can be the consequences of rhinitis or SARS.
- Endocrinologist. The specialist will prescribe procedures for studying the hormonal background. He can establish or exclude the fact of the presence of diabetes, including in the latent phase.
- Nephrologist. The doctor prescribes a specific urine and blood test, directs the patient to an ultrasound scan to confirm or exclude diseases of the genitourinary system and kidneys.
Diagnostics
If you are tormented by a dry mouth, or this symptom along with frequent urination, you must undergo the following diagnostic procedures:
- Biochemical and general blood tests to determine the general "malfunctions" of the body.
- General urine analysis. To exclude or confirm diseases such as leukocyturia, proteinuria, microhematuria.
- Blood test for glucose. The material is submitted for analysis strictly on an empty stomach. If the sugar level exceeds 6.0 mmol / L, it makes sense to suspect the onset of diabetes.
- Hormone test. To confirm or exclude diseases of the endocrine organs.
- Ultrasound Using this method, the salivary glands themselves are examined. Their size, condition is determined to exclude the presence of cysts and tumors.
- Sialoscintigraphy. The study allows you to determine the phase of the formation of saliva at which a failure occurred.
- CT The method allows to identify various neoplasms in the salivary gland zone.
Additionally, such procedures can be prescribed:
- General urine analysis.
- Back sowing urine to determine the sensitivity of pathogens to antibiotics.
- Biochemical blood test to determine the level of creatinine and urea.
- Ultrasound of the bladder, kidneys, in relation to men - the prostate gland.
- Intravenous urography.
- Cystoscopy.
- Determining PSA levels - that is, a specific prostatic antigen.
For all these diagnostic measures, you can be given a referral by a therapist, pediatrician. According to the results of the examination, the doctor redirects the patient to narrower specialists.
Treatment
What is the treatment for frequent urination without pain, dry mouth? In eliminating the cause. That is, a disease that is characteristic of these symptoms. Accordingly, therapy is prescribed depending on the diagnosis - diabetes, endocrine disease, enlargement of the prostate gland, infection that affects the genitourinary system, pathology of the salivary glands and so on.
To prevent dry mouth, stop smoking and drinking alcohol. And also from salted, spicy, smoked, fatty foods that cause thirst. Refuse monodiet. Eat plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits, greens. Try to quench your thirst only with clean water. Other drinks, especially those containing caffeine, cannot fully restore water balance.
If you experience problems with frequent urination day or night without a pathological reason, you need to adjust your body weight, empty the bladder according to the established schedule. And also do exercises to train the muscles of the bladder and pelvic floor.
Most often, the cause of dry mouth and frequent urination is precisely diabetes. But, in addition to this, other causes are revealed - both pathological and natural. They can only be determined by conducting a comprehensive diagnosis.