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Will Medication Help Bedwetting?

Some children have increased urine production in the night, which their bladders cannot hold. In children with larger bladders, bedwetting can then be helped by use of medications such as desmopressin or imipramine, which your pediatrician may prescribe.

This treatment does not work for every child – results have been inconsistent and unpredictable. However, many children have had success with medication. There are also some side effects to these medications.

The second mentioned drug, Imipramime, is an antidepressant. This drug can cause serious side effects, so it needs to be closely monitored by both the parent and especially the doctor who prescribes it. This drug is successful at reducing bedwetting in about 1/3 of the children who use it. It is thought to work by improving the patient’s sleeping pattern or increase the efficiency of the smooth muscles in the bladder.

The first mentioned drug, Desmopressin acetate, is given as a nasal spray or, is now available as a pill. It is a synthetic form of the antidiuretic hormone, and thus it helps the child’s or teen’s body make less urine during the night, which in turn decreases the chances that the bladder will be filled during the night. This medicine works quickly and causes fewer side effects than Imipramime. This medication does not work in all children – in children and teens who have a small bladder, enuresis will still occur.

The advantage to medication is that this will work quickly and may be a good way to stop bed wetting for the interim until your child grows out of the condition. The disadvantage is that enuresis can return after medication is discontinued – the effects are not permanent.