Sudden urge to urinate – causes, treatment and prevention

Sudden urge to urinate

Sudden urge to urinate describes an urge to urinate that occurs unexpectedly and, in the worst case, ends with the affected person not making it to the toilet in time. It is to be distinguished from the sudden urge to urinate in young children who have not yet learned to go to the toilet on time.

What is sudden urge to urinate?

In infancy, people learn to go to the toilet when they need to defecate or urinate and, above all, to do so in good time. This learning process has a lot to do with noticing the signals of your own body. As a result, every adult knows how much time they have to go to the toilet when they start to feel the urge to urinate. However, physical or psychological changes as well as external influences can lead to the urge to urinate deviating from this normal, familiar and learned pattern.

In infancy, it is still completely normal for the child to suddenly have to go to the toilet quickly, because they are still working on their body awareness. In an adult, a sudden urge to urinate is rather uncommon when it occurs repeatedly. In certain phases of life, such as pregnancy , a sudden urge to urinate can also be normal – as a rule, however, it only occurs in adults when lifestyle habits are changed or a physical or psychological cause causes a change. Recurring, regular, sudden urges to urinate should therefore be examined more closely.

causes

Older children, teenagers and adults are able to assess their urge to urinate well. You know exactly when it’s time to go to the toilet – until something changes in the usual normal state. A sudden urge to urinate can result from the fact that a person is cold or has drunk an unusually large amount of liquid at once. Diuretic drinks such as coffee or black tea are also triggers for a sudden urge to urinate. In pregnant women, this symptom is also normal and healthy. The child presses more and more on the bladder, which is thereby restricted in its capacity. The fact that the woman feels this as a sudden urge to urinate is due to her hormonesbecause she is used to having more time before she urgently needs to go to the toilet when she feels the urge to urinate.

A similar mechanism is also set in motion when something else is pressing against the bladder, such as a tumor – albeit one of the rarer causes. In the case of a bladder infection or stones in the urethra, the urge to urinate is also more sudden than usual. Taking diuretic drugs has the same effect on the patient’s body. If the sudden urge to urinate occurs more often at night, there could be a problem such as high blood pressure. It becomes a permanent condition when there is an underlying disease such as multiple sclerosis, a stroke, a surgical or accidental injury to the bladder or other damage to the central nervous system .

Diseases

When to the doctor?

A sudden urge to urinate after consuming diuretic food and drink is completely normal, and may even be desirable, and does not require medical attention. During pregnancy, the hormone progesterone relaxes the bladder muscles, and at the same time the expanding uterus presses on the bladder, which also leads to a sudden urge to urinate. Affected women should always consult a doctor if the level of suffering is great or pain occurs when urinating.

Frequent strong urge to urinate combined with severe pain when urinating indicates a urinary tract infection. Those affected should consult a doctor, since at least severe forms of cystitis cannot be treated with home remedies alone. Even those who regularly suffer from a sudden urge to urinate for no apparent reason should definitely consult a doctor as soon as possible.

If the sudden urge to urinate is accompanied by pain towards the end of urination and uncontrolled loss of urine, the patient is probably suffering from an irritable bladder. A doctor should investigate whether these symptoms are due to bladder or kidney stones . In addition, a doctor can also clarify psychosomatic causes of urge incontinence.

diagnosis and course

In the case of harmless causes such as drinking unusually large amounts of liquid quickly or pregnancy, the sudden urge to urinate is clearly related to this cause. It occurs in connection with its cause – for example, after taking a drug with the side effect or a noticeable kick from the baby in a pregnant woman. With such causes, the person affected can sometimes influence it by drinking the same amount of liquid more slowly the next time.

On the other hand, in severe diseases affecting the CNS, the problem is more likely to be permanent and the patient needs to be treated for it. A diagnosis of sudden urge to urinate can be made primarily on the basis of medical history . The urge to urinate itself is not an independent disease, but a symptom or a side effect. Since the doctor probably does not have data on how often the patient had to go to the toilet in a healthy state, he relies on the subjective feeling of a sudden urge to urinate and investigates other symptoms to find the cause.

complications

A sudden urge to urinate can occur, for example, with an irritable bladder or bladder weakness. This incontinence can lead to psychological problems for those affected. This can lead to depression, which in the worst case can lead to suicide. In addition, there is always a certain amount of residual urine in bladder weakness due to incomplete emptying. Pathogens, especially bacteria, can multiply there and cause a bladder infection that worsens the symptoms. There is also a risk that the pathogens will get into the bloodstream and be distributed throughout the body, leading to sepsis , i.e. blood poisoning. This can end in septic shock, the drop in blood pressure of which can lead to multi-organ failure.

Stones in the bladder can also trigger the urge to urinate. The urine builds up due to stones, which can lead to the kidneys. This can ignite as a result. In the worst case, kidney inflammation can lead to failure (renal insufficiency). Diabetes often leads to a sudden urge to urinate in the early stages. This also clogs small vessels with sugar compounds, affected organs are no longer supplied with sufficient blood and fail. These include the retina and the kidneys. This leads to retinopathy, which can lead to blindness, or nephropathy, which can result in kidney failure.

treatment and therapy

Provided the sufferer can control the sudden urge to urinate or there is a temporary, non-medical explanation such as pregnancy or an unusual amount of fluids, the condition does not need to be treated. Because of such problems, the person concerned will not usually go to the doctor anyway. However, if the sudden urge to urinate is to be regarded as a permanent condition due to its trigger, there are ways to prevent it. In these cases, it can progress to uncomfortable urinary incontinence, which should be avoided and treated if it has already happened.

Various active ingredients can be used. Some can cause the muscles to become more tense , making the patient less incontinent and allowing them to better control their urge to urinate. Other substances have a targeted effect on nocturnal or general sudden urge to urinate. These are also often prescribed when the patient feels a constant urge to urinate, even after he has been to the toilet for a long time. In these cases, the medication against the sudden urge to urinate must be taken permanently by the patient. In addition, incontinence products from the medical supply store can be prescribed to prevent the person concerned from not making it to the toilet in time.

prevention

Every adult should know their own body, and a sane person can tell what causes sudden urges to urinate. Under normal circumstances, care should be taken not to freeze, to have a toilet nearby when consuming diuretic beverages, and to drink fluids regularly throughout the day rather than in large quantities at one time. If little can be done against the sudden urge to urinate due to illness or pregnancy, the person concerned should make sure that there is always a toilet nearby.Women can wear panty liners for safety during this time until they can appreciate the changes in their body. Sick patients who have difficulties with a sudden urge to urinate due to an underlying disease should take their medication against this condition and against possible incontinence consistently and according to the doctor’s prescription. Unfortunately, these do not lead to a cure, but they help to prevent a sudden urge to urinate – which they cannot do if they are not taken.

Dorothy Farrar

Hello and welcome to my Health Guide & Encyclopedia! My name is Dorothy Farrar, and I'm the founder and main author of this platform.
My passion for health and wellness started at a young age when I became interested in the connection between the food we eat and the way we feel. This fascination led me to study nutrition and dietetics in college, where I learned about the importance of a balanced diet and the impact of various nutrients on the body.

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