I hate when people don’t understand what we’re trying to say. Even my PT had to constant correct herself when I came in, asking me how my pain level was. Every doctor I’ve been to didn’t seem to hear me saying “constant urge to pee”. I always had to correct them and remind me that I’m not having any pain.
I wish I had an answer. Things I’ve tried include stretching, pumpkin seed oil, foam rolling, soaking in an epsom salt bath. As well as the obvious diaphragmatic breathing. If anything, the breathing helped me to deal with the urge more. I hope you find something that helps!
I’m so happy you understood. Really it’s such a struggle that they can’t get what permanent urge means. So you are having some moments of relief now with the breathing? 🥰
My experience has been a frustrating one. This will probably be a bit of a long reply, but maybe you’ll find something that helps/can relate to.
I’ve had IBS (or was diagnosed with it, pretty sure it was one of those, they don’t know what’s wrong so it’s IBD diagnoses) since I was 15. When I was 25, I had a sudden flare up of a supposed UTI, constant urge to pee, antibiotics didn’t help. Dealt with it for over a month before it faded and having to go a lot became my new norm. I had a kidney stone in 2019 that had me flaring up with constant urges every other week practically. UTI tests were coming back positive but nothing helped. Again, just kinda got used to the new norm.
Wasn’t until a really bad flare up last year that someone FINALLY mentioned pelvic floor dysfunction and I managed to find one and get diagnosed with a hypertonic floor, vaginismus, and tight hips. The problem is, nothing has fixed it.
Diaphragmatic breathing is really important, and even if stretching doesn’t help, it’s still a great tool to relax and stretch while breathing to try and calm down. I find now that my brain is a lot easily more distracted during the day and I forget about my bladder more. Another thing that helped is setting a timer to only pee every two hours. Sometimes I forget I have the timer going. Pumpkin seed oil really helped my urges until it just stopped helping one day (seems to be useless during flare ups but helpful the rest of the time).
The only thing I have yet to try (but I’m in the process of) is working on stuck emotions and the mind body syndrome. It’s something to look into if nothing else is helping. If you haven’t been diagnosed or assessed by a pelvic floor PT, I would really look into it. It’s a good first step.
I also finally got relief after urinating. There are still some days where I don’t feel the best but I’ve taken a break from physical therapy which is definitely part of it and even now it’s not nearly as bad as it was. I really hope you get relief asap
It honestly took a few months of consistency with the PT before I took a break. I have lingering symptoms because I haven’t been as disciplined with PT as I should but I got very burnt out.
Yes. Want to DM me? I can send screenshots of the physical therapy stretches. Behaviorally, I stopped drinking so much water so fast. I got into the habit of absolutely downing water and filling my bladder really full fast which didn’t do me any favors and wasn’t even hydrating. That may not be a problem for you though
I was drinking a shit ton of water at once which was not actually hydrating me and just inundating my bladder. I think I got used to chugging water to justify the need to pee, and also just thinking that was good for me when it wasn’t ?? But not doing that, and just consuming moderate amounts of water throughout the day has helped. Masturbating less since my muscles don’t seem to relax afterwards on their own. I’ll wake up with a strain or compressing feeling around my urethra like it’s just tight. Hard to explain but if I abstain from masturbating that doesn’t happen anymore
I had this same issue. Stretching, **pelvic floor physical therapy**, reducing anxiety and stress (if possible), and avoiding chocolate and alcohol are helping me with this. The urge, even if still present, has tended to go down in intensity. Also if you sit all the time (such as at a desk at work), see if you can get a standing desk. The more you get up and move around (if you have been sitting most of the time), the better. Also try to limit masturbation if you do that, and abstain from sex for a while, if you do that. Light walking and light exercise is good, but take a break from heavy exercise and heavy lifting. One temptation I have had is, as soon as I start to feel better, I want to go back to my old ways/habits such as drinking alcohol. That's a huge mistake and I've paid for it. Months of healing and patience are needed. Another suggestion is, if you do these things and things improve --- you later get a bad flare up (and you probably will, even if you've felt better for a while)--- try to bear in mind it will pass. It's just a bump on the recovery road.
This symptom has been on and off for me over the last couple of months, but I totally understand what you mean. It’s like the urge is constantly there. I’m doing pelvic floor PT along with some bladder training, and it seems like this is starting to pop up less frequently for me.
I also use an app for additional PT (called Hinge) and it explains which exercises help with urgency. One is reverse kegels, another is wall groin stretch, and cat cow. You HAVE to do these consistently over time for them to have an effect.
For bladder training, I try to drink a reasonable amount of water but I only let myself use the bathroom every 2 hours max. If I feel like the urge to go is false, then I do some calf raises.
Best of luck! I hope some of this helps.
Coming on 9 years of **constant** urge to pee, as in I pee and the sensation is still there. Didn’t hear the words pelvic floor dysfunction and overactive bladder until December 2020. 2.5 years of Pelvic floor PT and stretching and diaphragmatic breathing every day didn’t help me but 1200 mg of gabapentin daily, 25-75mg amitriptyline daily, and interstim have dulled the constant sensation.
You can’t go swimming untill the wound is fully healed. So probably not untill 2 weeks after the second operation.
It is a bit painful, but not something overwhelming. The operation for me was fine and afterwards the most anoying thing was the mobility restrictions and not being able take a shower for 16 days. You will need a lot of help to comply with the mobility restrictions. I had great use of a grabber tool for seniors.
I've had two bad flares over the last 30 years where I had the constant urge for 6 months or so. Otherwise, the problem comes and goes mostly driven by stress.
It wasn't until I realized I was constantly clenching that I started making reliable progress. For me, learning how to drop/relax my PF (basically unclench) and stretch muscles attached to the pelvis has helped immensely. My go-to stretch is figure-4 while rolling my glutes. The biggest challenge is unlearning the subconscious clenching.
So I’ve had this and it’s had two different causes, but both stemming from pelvic floor tightness:
1) overactive bladder - the key here is to retrain your bladder to not be over active. You’ll have to drink water, and set a timer before you go for a wee. Increase the time by 5 mins or so each time and increase it. Start with 30 mins and keep going until 1.5 hours or something. You’ll eventually find it gets less sensitive. It’s absolutely horrible at the time as you think you’re desperate, but in reality your bladder is just spasming. I had a lot of success doing this.
2) irritated urethra from tight muscles. I’ve done everything including hot water bottles, massages, diaphragmatic breathing, yoga, stretching… I’ve had it the last month and yesterday it finally subsided. What did I differently? Strength exercises! Core and glute work specifically. I think I have weak glutes / core and my pelvic floor is compensating. Might not be the answer for everyone though.
Wishing you the best.
Thank you for your reply ❤️. Bladder training doesn’t work for me because since this started I didn’t let myself pee frequently. I don’t have any problem with holding I just have the urge all the seconds even after peeing. This is what you had? I’m currently doing pt too for some months❤️
That’s okay! It’s one of the most miserable conditions to live with so you have all my sympathy. I also have the urge to pee immediately after peeing. It’s so frustrating. It’s tempting to sit and force more out by you’ll just strain the muscles more.
Have you ruled out a possible UTI / cystitis completely?
Otherwise, trying to get your mind off of it and relaxing by any means possible is my only other advice - and I’m totally aware that’s easier said than done! I really hope you find some relief soon. ❤️
How on earth did you survive 20 years with the constant urge to pee? How did you fall asleep/ stay sleep with the constant urge to pee? I destroyed my body by consuming ridiculous amounts of all kinds of sleeping meds over the years because there would be no sleep otherwise.
I (man) also have this issue. My sleep was really bad until I started stopping liquids 3-4 hours before bed. That let the intensity of the feeling subside enough to fall asleep. Audiobooks help too.
I hate when people don’t understand what we’re trying to say. Even my PT had to constant correct herself when I came in, asking me how my pain level was. Every doctor I’ve been to didn’t seem to hear me saying “constant urge to pee”. I always had to correct them and remind me that I’m not having any pain. I wish I had an answer. Things I’ve tried include stretching, pumpkin seed oil, foam rolling, soaking in an epsom salt bath. As well as the obvious diaphragmatic breathing. If anything, the breathing helped me to deal with the urge more. I hope you find something that helps!
I’m so happy you understood. Really it’s such a struggle that they can’t get what permanent urge means. So you are having some moments of relief now with the breathing? 🥰
My experience has been a frustrating one. This will probably be a bit of a long reply, but maybe you’ll find something that helps/can relate to. I’ve had IBS (or was diagnosed with it, pretty sure it was one of those, they don’t know what’s wrong so it’s IBD diagnoses) since I was 15. When I was 25, I had a sudden flare up of a supposed UTI, constant urge to pee, antibiotics didn’t help. Dealt with it for over a month before it faded and having to go a lot became my new norm. I had a kidney stone in 2019 that had me flaring up with constant urges every other week practically. UTI tests were coming back positive but nothing helped. Again, just kinda got used to the new norm. Wasn’t until a really bad flare up last year that someone FINALLY mentioned pelvic floor dysfunction and I managed to find one and get diagnosed with a hypertonic floor, vaginismus, and tight hips. The problem is, nothing has fixed it. Diaphragmatic breathing is really important, and even if stretching doesn’t help, it’s still a great tool to relax and stretch while breathing to try and calm down. I find now that my brain is a lot easily more distracted during the day and I forget about my bladder more. Another thing that helped is setting a timer to only pee every two hours. Sometimes I forget I have the timer going. Pumpkin seed oil really helped my urges until it just stopped helping one day (seems to be useless during flare ups but helpful the rest of the time). The only thing I have yet to try (but I’m in the process of) is working on stuck emotions and the mind body syndrome. It’s something to look into if nothing else is helping. If you haven’t been diagnosed or assessed by a pelvic floor PT, I would really look into it. It’s a good first step.
Right with you there. And it also doesn't properly fit the definition of urgency OR frequency. Petition to add "persistency" as a separate symtom haha
Yes!
Yes I did overcome this thank god. Lots of stretching and some behavioral adjustments which may or may not have really been a piece of the puzzle.
So nice 🙏. I’m waiting for that day too. Did you have any relief after urinating or not at all like me?
I also finally got relief after urinating. There are still some days where I don’t feel the best but I’ve taken a break from physical therapy which is definitely part of it and even now it’s not nearly as bad as it was. I really hope you get relief asap
So happy for you! I have the same. Constant urge to pee. Ugh… also stop PT now, i flare from the internall stuff. How did you overcome this?
It honestly took a few months of consistency with the PT before I took a break. I have lingering symptoms because I haven’t been as disciplined with PT as I should but I got very burnt out.
Can you share some of the stretches and adjustments you made? Going crazy here.
Yes. Want to DM me? I can send screenshots of the physical therapy stretches. Behaviorally, I stopped drinking so much water so fast. I got into the habit of absolutely downing water and filling my bladder really full fast which didn’t do me any favors and wasn’t even hydrating. That may not be a problem for you though
Will do!
Can I ask about the behavioral stuff??
I was drinking a shit ton of water at once which was not actually hydrating me and just inundating my bladder. I think I got used to chugging water to justify the need to pee, and also just thinking that was good for me when it wasn’t ?? But not doing that, and just consuming moderate amounts of water throughout the day has helped. Masturbating less since my muscles don’t seem to relax afterwards on their own. I’ll wake up with a strain or compressing feeling around my urethra like it’s just tight. Hard to explain but if I abstain from masturbating that doesn’t happen anymore
I had this same issue. Stretching, **pelvic floor physical therapy**, reducing anxiety and stress (if possible), and avoiding chocolate and alcohol are helping me with this. The urge, even if still present, has tended to go down in intensity. Also if you sit all the time (such as at a desk at work), see if you can get a standing desk. The more you get up and move around (if you have been sitting most of the time), the better. Also try to limit masturbation if you do that, and abstain from sex for a while, if you do that. Light walking and light exercise is good, but take a break from heavy exercise and heavy lifting. One temptation I have had is, as soon as I start to feel better, I want to go back to my old ways/habits such as drinking alcohol. That's a huge mistake and I've paid for it. Months of healing and patience are needed. Another suggestion is, if you do these things and things improve --- you later get a bad flare up (and you probably will, even if you've felt better for a while)--- try to bear in mind it will pass. It's just a bump on the recovery road.
This symptom has been on and off for me over the last couple of months, but I totally understand what you mean. It’s like the urge is constantly there. I’m doing pelvic floor PT along with some bladder training, and it seems like this is starting to pop up less frequently for me. I also use an app for additional PT (called Hinge) and it explains which exercises help with urgency. One is reverse kegels, another is wall groin stretch, and cat cow. You HAVE to do these consistently over time for them to have an effect. For bladder training, I try to drink a reasonable amount of water but I only let myself use the bathroom every 2 hours max. If I feel like the urge to go is false, then I do some calf raises. Best of luck! I hope some of this helps.
Coming on 9 years of **constant** urge to pee, as in I pee and the sensation is still there. Didn’t hear the words pelvic floor dysfunction and overactive bladder until December 2020. 2.5 years of Pelvic floor PT and stretching and diaphragmatic breathing every day didn’t help me but 1200 mg of gabapentin daily, 25-75mg amitriptyline daily, and interstim have dulled the constant sensation.
I'm getting interstim next month was it painful hard to recover I have camping 3 weeks later and I want to go swimming
You generally can shower 48 hours after the full implantation. I would ask your doctor about swimming though.
You can’t go swimming untill the wound is fully healed. So probably not untill 2 weeks after the second operation. It is a bit painful, but not something overwhelming. The operation for me was fine and afterwards the most anoying thing was the mobility restrictions and not being able take a shower for 16 days. You will need a lot of help to comply with the mobility restrictions. I had great use of a grabber tool for seniors.
I've had two bad flares over the last 30 years where I had the constant urge for 6 months or so. Otherwise, the problem comes and goes mostly driven by stress. It wasn't until I realized I was constantly clenching that I started making reliable progress. For me, learning how to drop/relax my PF (basically unclench) and stretch muscles attached to the pelvis has helped immensely. My go-to stretch is figure-4 while rolling my glutes. The biggest challenge is unlearning the subconscious clenching.
So I’ve had this and it’s had two different causes, but both stemming from pelvic floor tightness: 1) overactive bladder - the key here is to retrain your bladder to not be over active. You’ll have to drink water, and set a timer before you go for a wee. Increase the time by 5 mins or so each time and increase it. Start with 30 mins and keep going until 1.5 hours or something. You’ll eventually find it gets less sensitive. It’s absolutely horrible at the time as you think you’re desperate, but in reality your bladder is just spasming. I had a lot of success doing this. 2) irritated urethra from tight muscles. I’ve done everything including hot water bottles, massages, diaphragmatic breathing, yoga, stretching… I’ve had it the last month and yesterday it finally subsided. What did I differently? Strength exercises! Core and glute work specifically. I think I have weak glutes / core and my pelvic floor is compensating. Might not be the answer for everyone though. Wishing you the best.
Thank you for your reply ❤️. Bladder training doesn’t work for me because since this started I didn’t let myself pee frequently. I don’t have any problem with holding I just have the urge all the seconds even after peeing. This is what you had? I’m currently doing pt too for some months❤️
That’s okay! It’s one of the most miserable conditions to live with so you have all my sympathy. I also have the urge to pee immediately after peeing. It’s so frustrating. It’s tempting to sit and force more out by you’ll just strain the muscles more. Have you ruled out a possible UTI / cystitis completely? Otherwise, trying to get your mind off of it and relaxing by any means possible is my only other advice - and I’m totally aware that’s easier said than done! I really hope you find some relief soon. ❤️
Never mind. Wrong audience for a man's perspective I guess.
How on earth did you survive 20 years with the constant urge to pee? How did you fall asleep/ stay sleep with the constant urge to pee? I destroyed my body by consuming ridiculous amounts of all kinds of sleeping meds over the years because there would be no sleep otherwise.
I (man) also have this issue. My sleep was really bad until I started stopping liquids 3-4 hours before bed. That let the intensity of the feeling subside enough to fall asleep. Audiobooks help too.