There is nothing more annoying at work or during a social event than to constantly have to use the bathroom. It is uncomfortable, embarrassing, and annoying. The good news is that you’re not necessarily dependent on a lifetime of frequent visits to the bathroom. Instead, it’s likely that something in your health or diet is out of balance.
You may be wondering how much is “normal” to pee in one day. The typical urine output in a 24-hour period varies between 4-8 times daily, depending on food and liquid intake and activity level. You may be peeing more often because its hot outside and you’re drinking more water, or perhaps work has been busy and your caffeine intake has increased. On the other hand, increased urination can also be a red flag for more serious medical conditions.
When your bladder is stretched, there is an automatic feedback mechanism that signals your brain to trigger the urge to urinate. Frequent urination can be cumbersome in the workplace, so many people decide to simply “hold it” for longer periods of time. While this may help you get more work done, the longer you hold your urine, the increased likelihood of bacterial infections, which can spread to your kidneys and cause more serious problems. There are six common causes of frequent urination listed below:
1.
Blood pressure
medicines: One of the most common types of drugs to treat high blood
pressure are diuretics known as “water pills,” which remove sodium and water
from the kidneys, allowing your blood vessels to relax. If your trips to the
bathroom are getting annoyingly high, talk to your doctor about diet, exercise
and lifestyle interventions for treating high blood pressure.
2.
Enlarged
prostate: For men as you get older, you may notice an increase in
urination frequency, often considered a normal sign of aging. If your trips to
the bathroom have significantly increased recently, it may be a sign of an
enlarged prostate gland pressing up against your bladder and triggering the
urge to urinate. Often in this situation, only small amounts of urine are
voided each trip. Talk to your doctor if these symptoms sound familiar.
3.
High blood
sugars: If you go the bathroom frequently, it may be a sign your
blood sugar levels are on the rise. We often associate diabetes with overweight
individuals, but skinny people can also have poor blood sugar control.
Chronically high blood sugar levels lead to increased thirst, hunger, and
urination, and are an early warning sign of pre-diabetes. If you suspect a problem,
a specific blood test (HbA1c) can assess your blood sugar control over the past
3 months and uncover if the early signs of a problem exist.
4.
Infection: If
you have a urinary tract infection (UTI), you’ll have to go to the bathroom more frequently. You’ll
likely know something is wrong, because you’ll also have pronounced pain or
discomfort. This is much more common in women as the urethra is much shorter
than in men. Bacteria have a shorter distance to travel to the bladder
increasing the risk of infection. If you have a UTI, talk to your doctor about
the right treatment
5.
Overconsume
water: If you chronically drink a lot of water, and still pee
frequently, you may be drinking too
much water. Distilled water can flush out sodium from the body,
resulting in increased thirst and urination. Losing too much sodium is called
hyponatremia, and it’s a common problem in runners who overconsume water,
thinking that “more is better.” If you’ve just started drinking additional
water, it may take your kidneys a couple of weeks to modify the absorption
rate, so it’s normal to go the bathroom more often.
6. Too much coffee, tea, chocolate, or alcohol: Caffeine
and alcohol are diuretics, which mean they trigger increased urination. They
actually block the anti-diuretic hormone (ADH), which, as the name suggests,
prevents you from peeing frequently. Once you remove this natural inhibitory
mechanism with too much coffee, tea, chocolate or alcohol, it can lead to more frequent trips to the bathroom. Drink less of these beverages to avoid
taking too many trips to the bathroom throughout the day.
If you feel like you make too many trips to the bathroom,
here are natural solutions to treating an overactive bladder.
·
Remove dietary
triggers: If you’re struggling with frequent urination, you need to
address the root causes, one of which is often the overconsumption of caffeine,
alcohol and sugar. Removing these from your diet for 4 weeks typically leads to
improvements in symptoms, mild for some people and dramatic for others. Also,
make sure you’re not drinking too much water; restrict your intake over the
next 4 weeks and drink only when thirsty.
·
Retrain your
muscles: If your pelvic floor muscles around your bladder become
weak, it can lead to increased frequency or urgency to urinate. Retraining
these muscles using Kegel exercises is a great way to improve bladder control.
Perform for 5 minutes daily, 5 days per week.
·
The bladder
brain reboot: While it’s not good to hold out for too long, retraining
your body to wait longer and longer between trips to the bathroom is helpful.
Each week, try and lengthen the amount of time between “pee breaks,” gradually
increasing the amount of time over a couple of months. This helps to reboot
your brain and decrease the urgency to urinate
“With
age comes new skills, you can laugh, cough, sneeze and pee all at the same
time.”(Maxine)[i]
[i] Sources used:
·
“No, Coffee and Tea Aren't Actually Dehydrating. Here's Why” by Jamie
Ducharmie
·
“Pee Too Much? 6 Little-Known Causes of Frequent
Urination” by Dr Marc Bubbs
No comments:
Post a Comment