At my age one normally visits bathroom 3-4 times. Though I stop all liquids before 6 PM still night visits to bath room are there. At one web site I read that one should control it as long as possible so that bladder gets used to longer intervals. I apprehend that it may do more harm than good if one put excessive pressure on the bladder. Any views/ experience about it?
Urologist can measure bladder and do tests to find out what's going on. Could be your not emptying your bladder. That's what was happening to me. Had a few nights I was up every hour and a half. Pee a little, go back to bed. When doc did urodynamics test they filled my bladder up all the way. I could only pee out less than a third of it. Holding it til you have to pee bad can stretch your bladder from what I have read in here and been told. Don't rush into things. Find out what's causing the problem. Blockage, prostate, bladder muscles not working, etc. Could be a few things. Tests will tell more.
In my experience, it's best not to hold on too long, as for me, the pressure of a full bladder makes retention more likely!
I can see that in those circumstances you don't want to hold it in for long. My own circumstances are that age 50 post holep all is good, but I occasionally notice my frequency is creeping up and I will wake to pee after say 6 hours sleep then not get back to sleep as so close to morning. Leaving me tired - happened today and yesterday ! When this happens I have dropped to only voiding say 250ml instead of 450+, and I need to as I see it, "recalibrate" by holding on longer for a few days where convenient. If you ignore the mild feeling of needing to pee it often goes away and doesn't come back for ages. I can see that this is a bad idea for those at risk of retention or with high PVR. I believe mine empties more or less completely as pre holep, a hospital hand ultrasound scan during my acute prostatitis showed a PVR of 50 ml
Thanks for your response pl.
Another factor to consider is ankle swelling or edema. If your ankles swell during the day, by raising your legs in sleep, all that fluid can be mobilized and cause you to pee more through the night.
"At my age" How old are you? Just to put another approach in: due to BPH my pee-ability is totally shut down. I do CIC (Self-cathing) each and every time. I cath just before bedtime, and only get up during the night to pee 6–9 nights each month! The rest of the time... I sleep through the night. I'm almost 68.
What you suggest is much more likely to cause serious problems than fix them. When bladders get stretched due to retention, they can lose their elasticity permanently and that can put you into unfixable retention.
The suggestion to get checked is a good one. They use a protable ultrasound to measure you and it takes about 5 seconds. If you're NOT in retention, you might be able to train yourself a bit. But most likely, you have BPH issues which can be treated. If you're off fluids after 6 and are still going multiple times/night, you would do well to have a full workup from a Urologist to see what's going on.
I did both. Had it measured in office and went to imaging department at hospital for ultrasound of bladder, kidneys, etc. Didn't take long at all. Pretty simple. Then they knew if I had any blockage or stones stuck anywhere.
If I take 3 200mg ibuprofen before bed I can get through the whole night. Works during the day too.
Do you do that on a regular basis? I was under the impression that there might be issues with doing that.
Rich
It's not considered a high dose. Some people can't take ibuprofen because they are prone to bleeding but if you are healthy enough to take it it is fine. It can also effect blood pressure so I would watch that. I take it every other night. If I'm going to a ball game or a movie I take it before to limit bathroom breaks.
Ibuprofen isn't too good if you have issues with kidneys though, and a lot of us who have urinary issues also have some kidney disease, as I have, as a result, probably, of strain caused by multiple UTIs.
How old are you and how many times do you urinate during the day and at night? You can measure urine output with a plastic beaker from the grocery store which should have "oz" and "ml" markings.
The website might have been talking about bladder retraining for an overactive bladder. However, that would only be relevant if your voids were small and bathroom trips frequent. Other than that, "control it as long as possible" is bad advice and can cause problems later on by stretching the bladder. If your void volumes are normal, best advice I can give is to go to the bathroom as soon as you feel the urge.
Jim
PK,
I hope you do not have any retention issues because ibuprofen before bedtime can make it worse and in the process stretch the bladder making it even worse down the road.
Jim
My urologist gives those urnals that are graduated away if you ask for one. If yours doesn't I seen them in drug stores cheap. Not sure bout where you all live or how much they cost.
Are you talking about the classic horizontally oriented male urinal with handle and cap? They are excellent if used when lying down, but I find a simple 600ml (20oz) pyrex measuring cup much easier to use and read from the standing position. Think I got mine at the grocery store.
Jim
Google "Going to the loo 'just in case?' It could wreck your bladder" from today's Daily Mail newspaper. I cannot post in the URL.
Hi Paul,
Just read the article. Thanks. Yes, a younger person (that's not most of us here lol) typically can hold 400ml without much problem.
Not sure if there's any real back up to the assertion that emptying it earlier is harmful, but IMO most young people have the opposite problem, which is holding it in too long. And when I say "young" I'm talking about all the way into the 50's.
Holding it in too long does stretch the bladder and that does not make it stronger, over time it makes it weaker. Maybe there's a sweet spot for younger people, but once the bladder gets over streched, the only chance to bring back the elasticity is to try and keep volumes below 400ml, which for that reason is the number we use as a benchmark of when to self cath.
Jim
Yes. They gave me one to measure urine output before they did urodynamics testing.