As soon as you start to pee more than usual you may ask yourself: what causes you to urinate a lot? why do I pee so much? Could it be something that’s part of my lifestyle like food or drink? Or is it due to a medical condition I may have? This can be stressful for anyone and it takes more time out of your day when you could be spending it with your family, kids, friends, or just enjoying life without having to take frequent bathroom breaks to pee. This frequent urination (urinary urge incontinence) can also be related to overactive bladder or urinary incontinence. Neither of which is life-threatening and if this frequent urination affects your daily activity, then seeing a doctor may help.
Types of Incontinence
- Urge Incontinence. Aka overactive bladder (you have to pee now).
- Stress Incontinece. You experience urinary leaks due to laughing, caughing, sneezing, and/or exercising.
- Overflow Incontinence. You feel like your bladder does not fully empty.
- Functional Incontinence. An underlying mental or physical illness prevents you from getting to the bathroom on time.
- Mixed Urinary Incontinence. A combination of 2 types of incontinence.
Lifestyle Choices That Can Cause you to Pee A Lot
- Anxiety. “Your body goes into fight-or-flight mode. This tense, adrenaline-filled response may stimulate the need to relieve yourself. The fight-or-flight response may also increase the kidneys’ production of urine, according to Dr. Tom Chi“
- Drinking Too Much Water. Other than from beverages, you can get water from the foods you eat. It may take time in finding the right balance in drinking water in which your urine clear or light yellow but without drinking so much you pee frequently. Try sipping on your beverages and not chugging them.
- Diuretics. Aka water pills. “These drugs treat high blood pressure and liver and kidney problems. They make your kidneys release more salt (sodium) into your urine, which makes you pee more. This may cause you to lose too much sodium and potassium, which could be bad for your health. You might be dizzy, achy, and nauseated. Talk to your doctor before you stop or change your dose.”
- Drinking too much alcohol or caffeine. These act as diuretics in flush out more water from your body.
- Consuming bladder irritating foods & drinks. Tomatoes, cheese, lemon juice, & carbonated drinks. More bladder irritants are listing in our blog post, “What Foods & Drinks Make You Pee Frequently? And Why?“
Medical Conditions That May Cause You To Pee A Lot
- Weak Pelvic Floor. Pelvic muscles are located below your belly that holds up your bladder along with the urethra and other organs like the colon and uterus/prostate. It can become weakened after giving birth or as you age. You can perform pelvic floor exercises (aka Kegel exercises) to help strengthen your pelvic muscles.
- Vaginitis. “Your vagina gets infected and inflamed from yeast, bacteria, viruses, medication, or hormonal changes. It also can happen from chemicals in creams, sprays, or clothes. You may itch or burn when you pee, and hurt during sex. You also might notice a discharge and a smell, and feel like you have to pee more often.” (Source)
- Tumor or Mass in the Pelvic Area. Causes pressure against your bladder.
- Constipation. Your colon can cause pressure against your bladder if you issues pooping. Drinking more fluids and gradually consuming more fiber can help prevent constipation.
- Sleep Apnea. “Untreated sleep apnea patients produce a larger urine volume at night. The oxygen depletion that occurs in episodes of sleep apnea stimulates blood flow to the kidneys, Mensch said, and simply being awakened may also make people more aware of the need to pee.” (Source)
- Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI).
- Urinary Tract Infection (UTI).
- Overactive bladder. This is the most common culprit. It’s marked by the need to urinate more than eight times during the day, waking up more than once a night to pee, and frequently losing bladder control before reaching the toilet.*
- Enlarged Prostate. This may occur in men as early as age 30 and may be accompanied by a slow urinary stream and the inability to empty the bladder completely.*
- Diabetes. Elevated blood sugar can increase thirst, causing you to drink often and, consequently, void frequently.*
- Stroke. The bladder is controlled by the brain, so it’s very common to see a stroke’s side effects manifest through bladder frequency.*
- Interstitial Cystitis. This condition, which affects women, is marked by a frequent need to urinate that is accompanied by bladder pain and a distended bladder. Relief often occurs following urination.*
- Bladder Cancer. This is rare, so don’t panic if you find your trips to the bathroom are increasing.*
What Helps You Stop Peeing A Lot?
Go to your primary care physician, They may suggest a urologist or another specialist eliminate other medical conditions like the ones listed below. If you are in luck and it’s not caused by a medical condition then from there your doctor may recommend doing non-invasive treatment options like physical therapy, bladder training, and/or performing pelvic floor exercises (Kegel exercises) coupled with an OTC like Rejoice Plus® or Rx medicines while you have to avoid or at least reduce bladder irritants like spicy foods, tomato-based products, carbonated drinks, coffee, tea, etc. Invasive options like surgery will be the absolute last resort.
Bladder training can help improve your time between bathroom trips to urinate, increase the urine amount you can hold, and controlling the urge to urinate. Keeping track of your daily trips to use the bathroom to urinate can help see your progress and adjust accordingly.
American Urogynecologic Society (AUS) created this guide for Pelvic Floor Exercises & Bladder Training: Download
National Institutes of Health (NIH) created this downloadable & print-friendly Daily Bladder Diary: Download
Already doing Kegel exercises? Why not try an OTC bladder strengthening supplement called Rejoice Plus®?
Are you peeing a lot at night or peeing more than usual? Urinating a lot may be due to overactive bladder (OAB) aka urge incontinence. Reducing leaks, frequency, and urge is possible through diet changes, Kegel exercises, and bladder strengthening supplements such as Rejoice Plus.
Rejoice Plus® is clinically proven to help strengthen your bladder and pelvic floor in order to reduce leaks and reduce frequent urination episodes. It provides 24-hour protection in both men & women using its 5 active natural ingredients in Rejoice Plus® are pumpkin seed extract, vitamin D3, prebiotic fiber, L-Arginine & L-Citrulline.
Check out our video about the Rejoice Plus®
What is urinary incontinence? (Video by Osmosis on YouTube)
For 15% off Rejoice Plus®, use code REJOICE15 at checkout.
*Source for this bullet point: https://www.uhhospitals.org/Healthy-at-UH/articles/2017/12/8-reasons-you-are-peeing-so-much
Please note if you have overactive bladder at night then that is known as nocturia. If you cough with urine leakage then that is stress incontinence.
More Sources:
https://www.livescience.com/60524-why-do-you-pee-when-nervous.html
https://www.webmd.com/urinary-incontinence-oab/ss/slideshow-incontinence-frequent-pee
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/70782
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/urinary-incontinence/symptoms-causes/syc-20352808
https://www.webmd.com/urinary-incontinence-oab/types-of-urinary-incontinence
