Anxiety about urinating in general

[BubblegumUK]

Hi

I've had a fear now for a long time of not being able to urinate. It happened in May this year after a medication reacted badly with another medication which meant i had to have a catheta for a week which is awful.

In the following 2 months i had again, twice, once after starting citalopram whilst still on the medication, and once whilst on the normal medication.

Eventually the doctors realized it was the medication i was on which was the problem, even though i had been on it for over 4 years. i stopped taking it and it went back to normal, and have never had it since.

But every so often, i get intense fear that something isn't right and it takes too long to pee, that i'm going to get urine retention again, i've had this fear on and off ever since.

Yesterday i was going to the toilet fine, i went to tesco and went to the toilet. Before i went to the toilet, my manhood just felt a little bit sensetiv eon the shaft if i pushed it with fingers, so when i went to the toilet at tesco i had this in the back of my mind i had a little bit of difficulty starting and maintaing the flow, just a tiny bit, but i had this fear of urine retention in the back of my mind so maybe i was concentrating on it too much.

I got home and started worrying and obsessing over it and timing how long it takes, and the same this morning, right up till now. I am going okay, it doesn't sting, its normal colour, good flow, but its taking me about 4-5 seconds to start, i am very anxious about it and i'm trying not to think about it, but if it takes longer than 2 seconds i start worrying which maybe makes it worse?

Can anxiety, and actually thinking about going to the toilet make it take longer for anything to happen? I'm getting paranoid again, and getting really depressed and worried about going to the toilet again :(

I've had tests in the past, end of August in fact, and everything is fine, bladder normal, prostate normal size, nothing inflamed, no blood in urine, i empty the bladder fine, and its all been fine. I'm just getting myself into a state now that its not okay and i have something seriously wrong with me :(

Is it just anxiety thats the issue? can anybody relate?

Please anybody?

thankyou

[missybct]

I'm sorry to hear you are suffering.

Yes, anxiety can stall the act of urination. It's a bit like performance anxiety - when men go to urinals and are faced with other men at the basins, they find it hard to pee. Anxiety can cause an awful lot of symptoms!

I can't relate, but I am sure there are others who can. It is also good that you've had tests and that everything has come back fine. Please take comfort in that.

[ricardo]

Bubblegum

I can fully relate to your post and have had nearly identical symptoms you describe.
As a general rule of thumb as men get older the flow does weaken,but you have had all the tests and certain medication does give urine retention or disrupts the flow.
It happened to me when on Prozac and it drove me mad that eventually I had to stop taking it,and as missybct says one has the added problem of anxiety which then plays on your mind and one nearly forces oneself to go when not really necessary.
I know it's difficult but just try not to think about it.

My doctor did an extra test after I had been off Prozac for 3/4 weeks and that was to see how much urine I passed in 24 hours. The average range varies between 800 to 2000 ml and it doesn't matter what time of day it is. mine was 1700 ml.
I hope that helps.

[BubblegumUK]

Thankyou for your replies.

I'm still totally convinced i'm going to get again, or that i have a serious illness with my urine/bowels.

I feel like i'm screaming to my therapists and family, they all keep saying i'm fine, and i just don't believe it, i know something isn't right, but when i've had this belief in the past regarding this issue, its never been the case.

I got in yesterday and was bursting to go, i went after about 1.5 seconds with a strong flow of urine, later that day i needed to go albeit not bursting, took me about 4 seconds, possibly 5.
I woke up this morning, went to the toilet, that took about 2.5 seconds.
Before i went out to therapy this morning at 8.30am, i had one cup of tea about 30 mins before i went, maybe 45, and i had a big mug of tea at therapy, which i finished at 8.25am. I got home, felt like i needed to go, or that i should go cause i drank 2 cups of tea, it took me about 4 seconds to start and i don't feel like i've emptied my bladder enough, it wasn't as strong a flow as this morning, and not as much as i thought i would have produced considering i had 2 cups of tea.

I also woke this morning with a bit of diohrea, i went again when i got in and it wasn't so bad, this was just after i urinated standing up. I tried peeing sat down, did a little bit, but it took ages to start, i'm not sure wether needed to go, wether i thought i should go, or wether i wanted to go. Could it be like a phantom sensation? does that make sense? I'm thinking about peeing so much, that i'm actually convicning myself that i need to go when really i don't?

This same situation has happened in the past on a number of occasions, and after i have drunk so much its always fine, but now this time i'm convicned (like the last time) that i'm right, and that there is a problem, i'm too scared to drink too much incase i won't be able to pee and i have to have a catheta again, or that i won't empty my bladder and i'll get an infection :(

I'm so sick of this worry all the time :(

My therapist is emailing the psychologist today, so i can have some therapy with her dealing specifically with health anxiety. Hopefully that will help with stuff.

I really don't know what to think any more, part of me is thinking i am totally right, i do have a problem, the other part is thinking back to when the same thing happened before and it was fine, therefore meaning it must be anxiety.

Urghhhhhh

I need a hug :(

[ricardo]

Bubblegum

I still think you are letting this play on your mind and regardless of what your doctor has said to you and done various tests, I feel that anxiety is the main cause.
I would consider seeing a urologist if it sets your mind at rest and worst way they may describe some mededication which helps regulate the flow. Best of luck

[BubblegumUK]

Thankyou

I hope it is just anxiety, i really do. I had meds before for urine flow called tamsulosin, but it gave me sexual functioning issues and very bad aches and pains, which i in turn had thought was kidney failure and liver problems, stupid brain :(

It turned out i didn't even need them, the walk in clinic did an examination and said my prostate was enlarged, so i took them, went to see another doctor a few weeks later and said it was fine and there was no problem and that the problem was the olanzapine medication i was taking.

Naturally i'm fearful of taking any medication now for fear of getting horrible side effects such as urine retention etc.

So sick of it, i'm sat here now, wondering wether i should try and go, or if i need to etc arghhhhhhh

thankyou

---------- Post added at 10:48 ---------- Previous post was at 10:45 ----------

Now i just opened up yahoo news, the first story i see is about bowel cancer, now i'm seeing it as a sign :(