If you ever ask yourself why am I peeing so much you may have problems with frequent urination, which is the urge to pee at any time, day or night. Your bladder will usually feel full and you may feel a strong urge to pee, which can cause you to lose control of your bladder. Frequent urination is also called overactive bladder and many people suffer from this condition. The key to treating an overactive bladder is addressing the underlying cause.
The Causes of Frequent Urination
It is normal to need to urinate frequently if you are drinking large amounts of fluids like water, alcoholic or caffeinated beverages or taking diuretics, which are medications designed to remove fluid from the body. Consuming some foods, such as chocolate, spicy food and drinking protein shakes may also trigger the need to urinate.
However, if don't drink an excessive amount of fluids or take diuretics and you are still peeing eight times a day or more or waking up in the middle of the night needing to relieve yourself, then you may gave a condition known as polyuria. People who have this condition may produce an excessive amount of urine, at least 2.5 liters in a 24 hour period.
Polyuria can be caused by:
- Pregnancy - the growing uterus puts pressure on the bladder resulting in frequent urination.
- Diabetes - polyuria is often an early symptom of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes as the body tries to get rid of unused glucose through the urine.
- Medical Conditions - polyuria is a symptom of several medical conditions like chronic diarrhea sickle cell anemia, urinary tract infections and interstitial cystitis. Less common causes of polyuria include a dysfunctional bladder or bladder cancer, liver failure, and cushing’s syndrome (high levels of the cortisol in the body which can sometimes lead to diabetes).
A Closer Look at Some of the Causes
If you ever wonder ‘why am I peeing so much?’, you may have one of these conditions and knowing the additional symptoms can help you identify the potential cause of your frequent urination.
1. Urinary Tract Infection – UTI
UTIs can develop anywhere in the urinary tract, from the kidneys to the bladder, but they usually develop in the bladder and urethra. They are caused by bacteria and women get them more often than men because their urethra is shorter, which easily exposes the bladder to bacteria. The main symptoms of a UTI is the need to urinate more frequently, burning or pain while urinating, urine that has a strong or foul odor and lower abdominal pain. If not treated right away, a UTI can worsen and you may experience a fever and chills, nausea and urinary incontinence.
2. Diabetes
People who have either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes often have issues with frequent urination. Polyuria is one of the main symptoms of the disease. The kidneys are responsible for filtering the blood to make urine and when you have diabetes, the amount of sugar in your body is abnormally high, which is hard to completely filter out of the bloodstream.
When the kidneys try to filter your blood, they reabsorb some sugar, but they cannot reabsorb all of it and the unused sugar ends up in your urine. This causes it to draw water and produces large volumes of urine. Another symptom of diabetes is being frequently thirsty, which will add more fluid to your system as you try to satisfy your thirst.
3. Kidney Failure
The kidneys are the organs that filter waste products from the blood and help to remove them from the body through urination. The need to frequently urinate can be a symptom of kidney failure, but initially, kidney failure doesn't have any symptoms. When kidneys start failing, they cannot filter waste products effectively and the buildup of waste products in the blood causes other symptoms like lethargy, weakness, shortness of breath and confusion.
There are many causes of kidney failure, but it can usually be successfully treated if caught early enough. However, if they fail altogether, you may need to be placed on dialysis or have a kidney transplant.
4. Sickle Cell Anemia
Sickle cell anemia is an inherited form of anemia that prevents the formation of healthy red blood cells. Since red blood cells help carry oxygen throughout the body, people with sickle cell anemia do not get enough oxygen because their red blood cells are not healthy enough to adequately supply it.
The red blood cells in those with this disease are crescent moon shaped or "S" shaped and sticky, which often leads them to getting stuck in smaller blood vessels. This will block the flow of blood and oxygen to the rest of the body. Symptoms of sickle cell anemia include:
- Anemia
- Fatigue
- Pain episodes
- Edema
- Bacterial Infections, including UTIs
- Leg ulcers
- Eye damage
- Liver congestion
One of the complications of this condition is frequent urination because it can cause kidney problems.
When to Contact a Doctor
If you are wondering ‘why am I peeing so much?’ and it has lasted for several days with no known explanation, you should make an appointment to see your doctor. Excessive urination can lead to dehydration, which can further complicate any condition causing your frequent urination. If you are concerned about how much you urinate, you can monitor it by recording how much fluid you are drinking, how often you are urinating and how much urine you are producing, and by weighing yourself every day.
What Can You Do By Yourself to Prevent Frequent Urination?
If there is no medical condition causing you to question why am I peeing so much?, you can help prevent episodes of frequent urination by limiting the amount of alcohol and caffeine you drink, maintaining a healthy diet and, if you smoke, quitting the habit. In addition, include plenty of fiber in your diet as being constipated can increase the pressure on your bladder causing you to urinate more. Also, learn Kegel exercises to help strengthen your pelvic floor.