Anxiety = Urge to Urinate?

[dan1234]

I had this problem a few years ago and was prescribed oxybutin, it solved the issue totally.

[Insane]

I hope this helps you guys-

Firstly I was mentally stressed for 1.5 years due to career, studies and specially health...took anti depressant pills for 7-8 months....which help me fight my negative thoughts..i was almost fine and got out of this.....and stop taking these pills.

But this time when it came back, it came back with revenge and i was trapped with my Obsessive compulsive negative thoughts and urgency to pee was a bonus package with it ...

The more i think about peeing the more intense it gets....and its been mre than a year fighting this....

Solution to this or what helps me the most or wt doctors had advised me-

- If you are getting all these thoughts (negetive & peeing) dont fight...the more you fight and avoid thinkin about these thoughts it will backfire you with more force....just give up fighting these thoughts...it helped me.....

- Meditation does help but there are long term side affects....so i dnt want further tension thinkin abt these side affects...

- Doctor advised me to laugh and laugh like a crazy person...i do it when i am driving in a car with music on or under a swimming pool or either alone in my house..though i was caught doing couple of times

- Force yourself to do something other than your regular schedule like any indoor game or outdoor game and make it a habbit.(1-2 hrs daily)

- Also pray to GOD which helps you A LOT as its an appetite for your soul to be in peace.

- Accept it like this was your destiny...which had to happen...

-Always look at people who are more miserable than you are and thank GOD for not being one of them..

[Stesshead]

i also suffer from this urinating problem its been going on for about 8 months now more or less constantly, im ok in my own comfort zone but when i leave the house the urge of needing a pee comes, ive hardly left the house, im only 21 and feel like i dont have a life rite now ive started to see a hypno therapist and i think it could be helping time will tell, i used to go to raves and take ecstacy and made me feel like i needed to pee and i couldt but i think thats what could of triggered this plus my mate died and lots of other crappy stuff that effected my life, the only thing keeping me going is family and friends but hopefully hypno therapy wil help me if not maybe one of u guys could give me some advise ?

Hi, I've been suffering with the same problem for about 4 years now. It's getting in the way of things I want to do now and I hate it. Am curious to know if you tried hypnosis and if it worked for you? I'm willing to try anything.

[jayjoe18]

I have been suffering similar for a few years now too. Mine seems to be more a fear of loosing control of my bowels but most definitely it can be bladder too when anxious! It really is my worst anxiety symptom and has left me housebound with piles at 20 years old!!! I've had social anxiety since my early teens but I think this particular problem was triggered when I went on holiday on a coach with a broken toilet and the worst stomach bug I have ever experienced. Think this would be enough to give anyone a phobia, let alone someone with existing anxiety! It's plagued me throughout the years but got really bad about 3 years ago. I've had 6 sessions of CBT for 'toilet phobia' to no avail. I'm getting on medication soon and plan to try hynotherapy once I can get a hold on the SA. If anyone knows any other tips to cure this please share!

[Chet]

Hi,
I have this, and, boy has it affected me. Bottomline, I think we are scared of not being able to make it to a bathroom in time and consequently end up wetting ourselves in public. The trigger is social anxiety, the symptom is urination.

I have a solution and I genuinely hope it helps all of you. It did give me relief, so I guess it works. Like asthma or any other lifestyle disease, this symptom needs to be managed. For long journeys, drink less water, make sure you pee before you start the journey and take an anxiety releiving tablet like Zapiz or Epitril (in India). This should help you out for plane, train or long distance travel.
For short journeys, do nothing. Thats right. More often than not, it is the fear that is getting to us. How many of us really ended up peeing on ourselves? Probably none or very few. Thats because the bladder takes 2 hours to fill up, which is enough time to locate a toilet in the other part of the city So when you get the feeling, use reverse psychology and let go. Believe me, nothing will happen. Just the fact that you are not tense will help you out and ease the anxiety, which in turn will relieve the urge to urinate. If "letting go" is a too big a leap, use an incontinence pad for a few days. When the anxiety center in the brain gets a message that you dont care if you pee on yourself or not, it lets go. And that in turn works.

This worked for me. Hope it works for all of you.

I do hope that you get back to being the real you and enjoy life, vacations and family time again.

[Chet]

Hi,
This is Chet again. I am writing this because I have hopefully found a solution to this problem and this is my way of paying it forward. I hope my post helps someone out there to get back their lives and feel normal again.

Like I mentioned in my earlier post, this weird anxiety related symptom had pretty much destroyed my social life and self esteem. It had come to a point, where even if I was running a 30 minute errand, I would start feeling weird and begin to look for places too pee, like a 3 year old. Before this symptom started, I was a fairly confident guy who used to speak in public and had a general sense of confidence about him. There was one trigger incident for this symptom to begin. This happened when I was 32 in a long distance public bus. For some reason, I felt a massive urge to urinate and I forced the driver to make an unscheduled stop. Following this I had an altercation with the driver and shortly thereafter this problem took hold.

Even small joyrides with my kids became a no-no. My public speaking stopped.If I did venture out, I was constantly on the look out for toilets. Public transportation became a taboo. I used to literally be holding my crotch when planes used to taxi because you cannot use the lavatory then. I skipped client meetings if it meant I had to take a subway. I used to go to events early with the hope that I would get an aisle seat. Every journey became a horror and slowly my family started paying the price for my phobia. We stopped going out, we stopped doing fun things because Daddy always needs to go to the loo. I know that a few people also made fun of me behind my back.
I endured this torture for close to 4 years and it completely took over my life. It was funny how a small incident had a domino effect on my life and ended up virtually paralyzing me socially. I tried therapy and it kinda worked (see my earlier post last year). I tried positive re-inforcement, meditation, muscle relaxation, anti-depressants, the works. Nothing worked.
Last year I finally fought with myself and decided to "come out" to myself about this weird phobia I had. Weird because I could not share it with anyone, not even my wife (though everyone knew about my condition by then!). I mean, c'mon, grown ups are not meant to have bladder issues.
So in April this year, I had enough of this and I went to the super market and secretly bought an incontinence pad. Now, I wear it whenever I know I am going to get into a situation which triggers my anxiety. The incontinence pad worked!!
Since the last two months, I have taken one vacation where I finally got into a bus (woohoo!) , spoke in public for half an hour and went on three weekend joyrides with my kids.
This phobia had made my life hell and I dont know the science behind what causes this and whats the cure. I scoured the net, consulted doctors, etc for four years but did not find any help. Now thankfully, I am getting my life back, one day at a time.

This summer I presented my Dad's poems in front of a crowd of a hundred people. When I was done, I went backstage and cried to myself. Only those going through this weird anxiety symptom know what this feels like.

I hope someone out there reads this and my post helps you.

God bless!

[MissBee]

I can totally empathise with this as I suffer from a similar thing except instead of weeing it's the other, less pleasant bodily function. Having suffered from IBS I live in constant fear of having an accident when I'm out and over time I have become steadily more obsessed about it. Whenever I go anywhere new or have to go on a long car journey the anxiety starts and the urge for the loo follows soon after. It is very hard and more often than not I do have to find a toilet urgently to relieve myself. But I have also found that in times when it's not possible I have been able to control it because it is all in my mind.

Yes anxiety does put the body into fight or flight mode and one of the symptoms of this is going to the toilet (it makes you lighter and more able to run away from danger) so although the urge can be real, it is controllable through distraction, breathing techniques and just basically trying to avoid the panic. I have been stuck in places literally thinking I was going to poo my pants, that's how desperate I was. Then I have become distracted or removed myself from the situation and the urge totally subsides. Does this sound like you?

At the minute I am starting CBT to try and change my thought process in regards to the toilet. I don't want to be fixated on it. I don't want to be fearful of doing certain things. I wish you luck, don't let your life be ruled by this x

[Soulcatcher71]

This particular issue (worrying whether or not I would be able to go to the toilet if I needed to) was the bane of my life in school, and was the issue that started off all the subsequent problems.

I developed this one in my first yr of senior school (aged 11) and then went through every single class for the next 5 yrs worrying about this.
Absolute nightmare, that sent my life down a totally different direction.

However, now I'm in my 40's, all I can tell you is that I haven't even thought about this issue in yrs - it just went away in time & replaced itself with different issues.
I hope it gradually drifts away for you too.

[ricardo]

It's amazing how many people have this weeing problem in one form or another.

As a man of course we have the tiny walnut that grows into a beachball, I give you the prostate.

I am now 55 + VAT and many of my friends have been diagnosed with prostate cancer and in several cases they didn't even know they had it.They had none of the regular symptoms but fortunately like with most cancers if caught early it can be cured or at worst kept at bay.

I have had a stinging feeling for over ten years that comes and goes and I and the various urologists I have seen have all said anxiety and stress can cause a stinging burning sensation and hesitency as well as going to the loo when you don't have to.

I have had all the procedures available done and nothing comes up therefore it can't be treated but it was interesting that when I was recently in hospital after my heart attack I had none of those symptoms I have mentioned above as I am sure my mind was distracted and I felt in safe hands,being in hospital.

Now I am home with a number of personal issues raising their ugly head yet again, the stress levels go up and then the weeing every 45 minutes and stinging returns. it's bloody hard to deal with as well as being rather uncomfortable.

By the way cranberry juice is NOT recommended as it is acidic.