If you’ve found yourself planning your day around your next bathroom break or waking up in the middle of the night to pee, you might wonder whether you’re going too often. The answer depends on the individual, but doctors say there are established guidelines. Frequent urination can also signal an underlying health condition that needs attention.
Here’s what doctors want you to know if you’ve been experiencing this symptom.
How Much Is Too Much?
“The dividing line, physiologically, is most of us who have no pathology or abnormal bladders go eight or fewer times daily during our waking hours to urinate. If you go more than eight times during your waking hours, that is defined as increased frequency of urination,” says Dr. Nathaniel Barnes, a urological surgeon at Memorial Hermann Health System in Texas.
Barnes considers nighttime urination a separate issue, called nocturia. “It may be associated with urgency and frequency, but if a patient shows up in the office and their only complaint is, ‘I go three to five times at night,’ then the No. 1 cause would be obstructive sleep apnea,” he says.
Common Causes of Frequent Urination
Some simple, more obvious causes include overhydrating during the day, says Dr. Patrick Fratellone, an integrative medicine doctor in New York City and Fairfield, Connecticut. Drinking too much caffeine, which is a diuretic, can also contribute. Burning or blood in the urine can be a sign of an infection.
Other potential causes include:
- Overactive bladder. People with this condition might experience both urgency and increased frequency. “They’re both in the constellation of overactive bladder. Urgency is the overwhelming sense that you have to urinate, and if you don’t make it to the bathroom immediately, you have a fear of leakage. It’s a sensation. Frequency is the number of times you actually go during your waking hours,” Barnes says. Overactive bladder affects 33 million adults, according to Cleveland Clinic.
- Neurological conditions. People with Parkinson’s disease, CIDP, who have had a stroke or who have multiple sclerosis might experience this issue, Barnes says.
- Poorly controlled diabetes. “Patients with poorly controlled diabetes go to the bathroom frequently because glucose acts as an osmotic diuretic. Each glucose molecule attaches to two water molecules in the kidney and causes increased urinary output, leading to frequency,” Barnes says. Fratellone says diabetes should be taken seriously when it causes urinary symptoms and advises seeking medical attention.
- Muscle or bladder weakness. This can happen as women age and may be treated with medication, herbs or pelvic floor exercises, Fratellone says.
- Enlarged prostate. This is the most likely cause of increased urination in older men, Fratellone says, though inflammation can cause it in younger men.
- Medication side effects. Medications such as Lasix and hydrochlorothiazide, taken for high blood pressure or congestive heart failure, can increase urination, Barnes says.
When to Talk With a Doctor
If urinating too frequently is affecting your life, Barnes says it’s time to bring it up with a urologist. Burning or blood in the urine, or symptoms that persist or worsen, also warrant medical attention.
This article is for informational purposes and is not a substitute for medical advice. Reporting by Alexandra Frost, USA TODAY.
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