Nocturia is a bothersome condition, where people have to get up 6 or 8 times each night to urinate. Naturally this leads to exhaustion and fatigue, and a feeling of exasperated loss of control over your own body. Interstitial cystitis is a very difficult condition, where one has all the painful symptoms of cystitis but often no bacterial cause, and therefore, it is complicated to treat.
In both conditions, inflammatory molecules called leukotrienes irritate the bladder wall, leading to muscle contractions, but muscle relaxants are not the answer. Something has to block the leukotrienes – and Angelica has been studied for that purpose.(1)
The root and seeds of Angelica are used in the digestive liqueurs distilled by European monasteries such as Benedictine. The root saved people’s lives during the great plagues of the middle ages, and today herbalists include the root and seed in digestive and respiratory tonics; but in this case, we are using the leaf.
Here we find a constituent called isoquercitrin, which interrupts the action of the leukotrienes. The result is less urinary urgency, an ability of the bladder to fill to greater capacity before needing to be emptied, and much more restful, undisturbed sleep(1). I like to combine it with a soothing tea of marshmallow and calendula.
(1)^ Sigurdsson S, Geirsson G, Gudmundsdottir H, Egilsdottir PB, Gudbjarnason S. A parallel, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to investigate the effect of SagaPro on nocturia in men. Scand J Urol. 2013 Feb;47(1):26-32. doi: 10.3109/00365599.2012.695390. Epub 2012 Jul 2. PMID: 23323790; PMCID: PMC3549610.