Healthy Living Solutions

What is Frequent Urination?

Frequent urination (also known as urgent urination or urinary frequency) means needing to urinate more often than normal. Urgent urination is a sudden, compelling urge to urinate, along with discomfort in your bladder.

If you need to urinate frequently at night, that is called nocturia. Most people can sleep for 6 to 8 hours without having to urinate. Middle aged and older men often wake to urinate once in the early morning hours.

Causes

A common cause of frequent urination and urgent urination is a urinary tract infection. Since inflammation reduces the bladder's capacity to hold urine, even small amounts of urine cause discomfort in this case. Diabetes, pregnancy, and prostate problems are other common causes of these symptoms.

Other causes include:

Interstitial cystitis
Medicines such as diuretics
Overactive bladder syndrome
Prostatitis
Stroke and other neurological diseases
Urinary incontinence

When to Contact a Medical Professional

Call your doctor right away if:

You have fever, back or side pain, vomiting, or shaking chills.
You have increased thirst or appetite, fatigue, or sudden weight loss.

Also call your doctor if:

You have urinary frequency or urgency, but you are not pregnant and you are not drinking excessive amounts of fluid.
You have incontinence or have altered your lifestyle because of your symptoms.
You have bloody or cloudy urine.
There is a discharge from the penis or vagina.

Source: U.S. National Library of Medicine