www.incontinentsupport.org

Hello. I have been dealing with increasing urinary frequency. While I try to keep my liquids as low as decently allowed, I am still using the restroom anywhere to once an hour or more frequently. Being chained to a bathroom is pretty frustrating, so I'm wondering if anyone with similar issues has ever had luck using any techniques to mitigate or reduce how often they need to go? I haven't had any luck finding a good strategy yet.

Anything such as medicine, diet, timed voids, weight loss or other strategies to help reduce an intense and frequent urge to go? What works for you ?

I have daytime urge incon as well as bedwetting tendencies. I wear a trim-fit absorbent panty during the day and also take advantage of restroom opportunities throughout the day.

Wetters

Matthew,

I have about the same frequency as you. I have tried timed voiding and some bladder retraining to try to exercise control against the frequency. However, despite my efforts, I have had little success. I have some control but not enough to risk going long without a diaper. I have more control in the morning, but as the day goes on my frequency increases and I have to go about every 45 minutes. At other times when my bladder has a mind of its own and goes on "automatic" I can pee every 10 minutes. This varies and I have more good days than bad. As I also am bowel incontinent, I never risk going without a diaper when I leave the home.

Have you practiced Kegel exercises? While they will not affect the frequency per se, at the moment that you feel a strong urge, do a strong Kegel contraction. This sometimes is called "quick flicks." It temporarily will reduce the urinary urge and, hopefully, give you enough time to make it to a toilet.

--John

I also have extreme urinary frequency. I began noticing it when I was going about a dozen times a day. Slowly it increased to 15 then 18, then 20, then 25. Currently I'm anywhere between 20-30+ times a day. It gets worse as the day progresses for me. In the morning I may only go a few times but as the afternoon wears on and close to bed time it really ramps up, going every 10-15 minutes is not uncommon. I also suffer from post mucturation dribble which can be as small as a silver dollar or as large as a lemon (sometimes bigger) it's usually a slow dribble for 15-20 minutes. I can get away with a pullup and pad and do at work. At home I wear a regular diaper. I have had zero luck getting the frequency to abate. My solution is a Foley catheter, my wife is an ER nurse and puts them in for me when I have a stretch of days off from work. This has been my solution for almost 2 years. My insurance company pays for the catheter supplies as I have a prescription for them. It looks like my new healthcare plan (an HSA) will cover the diapers too, so I'm pretty excited about that!!! Anyway, I've tried a bunch of the pills and they didn't work either. I'll stick with the catheters and diapers, they haven't failed me yet. 2 UTI's in almost 2 years, I'd say my regimen is working ok.

Sorry to say but I have a very high frequency, going ever 30 minutes or less now. Even back when it was only every hour or two I had tried everything possible with no luck. Eventually I learned the best way to manage it is with diapers.

Don't look at this like a bad thing though. This unties you from being anchored to the bathroom and allows you a greater deal of social freedom. Diapers can actually be a good thing for you life, it's just how you perceive them that makes the difference.

I've been working on this recently, and the answer is, "No." I have had chronic prostatitis for many, many years (I'm 38). It used to be a minor irritation, but it has slowly worsened. I have truly painful, intense urgency only a couple times each week; however, the prostatitis now causes an almost incessant, low-level urge to urinate. It is ignorable, but ignoring it gets pretty uncomfortable. For me, the worst time is the morning from around 6AM until noon. When it's really acting up, the sensation is comparable to what happens when you bang your elbow on something. Urinating very frequently helps to relieve that sensation. "Frequently" used to mean once every 45-90 minutes, and around 100MLs. Now, "frequently" can mean once every 5-10 minutes, and less than 10MLs. I lose track of how many times I have to hit the bathroom. The prostatitis causes dribbling every time I go, so increased frequency causes chronic dampness. Last summer, I switched to an ultra-thick, cotton brief, but even these become annoyingly damp.

I have experimented with reducing or eliminating caffeine. I found that this had almost no effect on my frequency. On the flip side, increasing my intake from 1-2 cups of tea to 3-4 definitely makes it worse. Diet soda, for some reason, causes more problems than regular soda. Alcohol is the worst. I have cut way, way back on alcohol. Alcohol exacerbates prostatitis, and I notice it for some time afterward.

My urologist -- whom I really like -- tells me candidly that medical science does not know what causes chronic prostatitis. The treatments for it are "hocus pocus." I tried Flowmax, but was allergic. That's frustrating, because Flowmax is the most direct way of treating prostatitis. After that we switched to bladder medications. I am on Oxybutynin on an as-needed basis, and it does help, but the side effects are rough.

From mid January until early March, I experimented with phasing out my usage of incontinence underwear. For over a month, I relied exclusively on Oxybutynin and timed voiding. This really didn't work, but it was worthwhile as an information-gathering exercise. The timed voiding thing just makes me uncomfortable all the time, and about once a week I would have accidents because of the periodic urgency I mentioned above. I noticed during this experiment that my stream is now almost always quite weak. Personally, I found the side effects of constantly using the Oxybutynin to be worse than the incontinence: headaches, depression, difficulty remembering things, scratchy throat. I can't take it everyday because the side effects (especially the mental health ones) are cumulative in ways that the benefits are not.

I have really struggled with accepting myself as a 38 y/o man who has to wear incontinence underwear. This experiment was messy and uncomfortable, but at least it convinced me that the problem is not in my head. At least I know that I am definitely not over-reacting. My father is almost seventy, and has had prostate-removal surgery. I remember when he started using guards and incontinence underwear. It's weird to be about half his age and have a similar problem.

Noe

I'm sorry to hear that no solutions worked for you all. Its quite funny, as most of the other help sites and stuff talk about these solutions as if they are the end-all be all, and avoid the d-word like the plague. I feel a bit better about not finding success with some of these solutions.

I have tried these and they do help to temporarily reduce the urge so I can make it to the toilet. A legitimate accident for me is very rare. But thank you for the tip!
I also notice that when I wake up, outside of initially having to go very badly, the freqeuency increases throughout the day. I think its simply because I went 5-8 hours without drinking anything. I'm fortunate to not have any accidents in bed. I hope it never comes to that.


From your other posts, I can tell it seems as if you have exhausted every option available to you. I am sorry to hear nothing worked for you. How did diapers wind up helping you manage frequent urination. What is the best way to perceive them that makes the difference?

It is good to know that I am not alone with this. Though I've cut out soda entirely and drink a small amount of coffee, I still wind up having issues. I struggle to accept myself as a 28 year old with issues or wearing incontinence products. Its really surreal, and very difficult to really let myself buy into the fact that its an uphill battle and I can't really change that. I hope that makes sense. Having to use the toilet every 5-10 minutes sounds absolutely frustrating. After conducting your experiment, what is your plan going forward?

Also, has weight loss ever helped anyones symptoms? Thank you for your responses.

Decades ago when I first began to have bladder challenges, I strongly suspected that carbonated bevs exacerbated both my daytime accidents and nighttime wetting episodes, so I don't drink them and haven't for many years. Over the years, I've had more and more feedback from both men and women that have validated my suspicions. However, I had a stroke 5 years ago that made everything worse, and I also have Diabetes, so dietary aspects have become somewhat moot for me.

Wetters

Matthewmeto, it's simple; diapers helped with my urinary frequency by ensuring I didn't end up with wet pants every hour or so. Sure diapers did noting for the frequency its self, but they have helped me manage it better than any other option out there.

I completely agree.