The good news is, in many of these cases, there’s plenty you can do to regain control over your bladder and limit your hangouts on the porcelain throne. Read on to learn expert strategies for how to stop peeing so much and when it’s best to pay a visit to a doctor.
1. Keep a bladder diary to track your peeing and sipping.
It’s helpful to record each pee for a few reasons: It’ll let you know whether you’re actually peeing more than what’s normal and make it easier for you (or your doctor, should it come to that) to spot a pattern. Dr. Preil suggests marking down the time of each pee and how long it lasts in Mississippi seconds, and also creating a separate column to track each drink you consume—both what it is and the quantity—for four to seven days. Recording each poop, too, could let you know if constipation might be at play. (It’s also worth noting if you’re barely making it to the bathroom without leaking, which is a sign of urge incontinence, or peeing a little bit when you cough, laugh, sneeze, or exercise, which could indicate stress urinary incontinence.)
Generally, the length of time that your first pee of the day lasts is a proxy for the amount of urine your bladder can hold, Dr. Preil explains, since it’s theoretically been filling up all night. “So if your flow goes for 12 seconds in the morning, for example, then it means you’re capable of that same length of pee throughout the day,” she says. If you’re finding that, by contrast, your subsequent pees are all shorter dribbles (and happening nearly back-to-back), then some aspect of your daytime behavior is likely prompting the spike in frequency.
2. Be strategic about when and how much water you’re drinking.
You might assume that if you’re peeing all the time, you should gulp less water throughout the day—after all, less in means less out, right? But it’s actually not so simple. Drinking too little can make your pee super-concentrated, irritating the lining of your bladder and making you feel like you need to go more often.
So you don’t want to dehydrate yourself in the name of peeing less although consuming too much fluid will force your kidneys to constantly flush the excess. It turns out, there’s no goldilocks amount of water that everyone should drink in a day—contrary to popular belief, we don’t necessarily all need eight glasses, Lopa Pandya, MD, MS, FACOG, an Illinois-based urogynecologist, reconstructive surgeon, and medical advisor at Aeroflow Urology, tells SELF. For instance, if you exercise often, live in a hot or humid climate, or are breastfeeding or pumping, you’ll need to replenish your fluids more often. (And the liquids you consume in food also count toward your total intake.) “I always say to drink to thirst,” Dr. Pandya says. Another barometer is the color of your pee: If it’s as dark as apple juice, grab the H2O; if it’s lemonade-like or lighter, your intake is more on target.
Read the full article here
