My bladder is driving me nuts!

[sebinkent]

Can anyone relate to this?

Over the course of three days I developed urinary frequency. This has been caused by anxiety, in my case in the past but nothing as bad as this.
I had my urine tested for infection - all clear.
The doctor thought I might have an inflamed prostate. (Prostatitis) but he said infection there was unlikely. I'm only 38 so my prostate can't be giving me too much grief - yet.
I have become really anxious about my bladder and whether I need to go or not. I think about it all the time. It has taken over my life and I'm seriously depressed.
Honestly, if it's not one thing I'm worried about, it's another!

Can anyone relate to bladder/prostate issues brought on by anxiety/stress?

Thanks.

[damo123ie]

Hi There.

I'm in the exact same situation as you. Same age as well. In January I noticed an increase in urinary frequency. As I took more notice of this it got worse and I got very anxious about my health. I went to doc. He did tests for inflammation, diabetes, infection. All clear. He examined my prostate and he said it did not seem tender nor enlarged. I have no pain, no excessive thirst, urine colour is normal and my urine stream is strong. Energy levels are normal.

I gave it 4 weeks but no improvement. So I followed up with my doctor. He patiently re-did my tests and even did a urine culture this time. All were clear. He classed it as overactive bladder and gave me a bladder relaxant med and I took this for 3 weeks. It did improve symptoms of frequency. I came off the med 3 weeks ago and while things are better I'm still not back to normal and very frustrated.

It's not a frequency-volume issue for me per say - I've measured my daily output and it's actually below normal. It's just that I get an urge to use the bathroom when my bladder is nowhere near full.

Most people have said to me it is all caused by anxiety. Sometimes I think this is true whereas other times I get the feeling something is physically wrong. But I am obsessing over this - I have OCD at the best of times and I'm now planning my day around nearest bathroom. It's very frustrating.

If you or anyone else has suggestions I'd like to hear them.

[sebinkent]

Hi damo123ie,

I have sent you a pvt message.

[Holds1325]

Hi,

I had this recently and I'm still very young to have prostate problems. Doctors did test from UTI to prostate check. Everything came back fine.

What I did find was that I ate alot of salt and had alot of water retention. I exercised, sweated it out and found that it cleared up.

How often do you go? Average person goes up to 8 times a day. Someone with bladder, kidney, prostate problems goes 8 times per hour.