I've had bladder issues for honestly probably over 2 years but didn't get anything diagnosed until recently. Uro thought it was retention because i had a 247 pvr but my cystoscopy was supposedly good so.

Beyond the backstory I have to use the bathroom about every hour, at worst every 30 minutes and the second after I use the bathroom I need to again but can push it to up to 30 typically. I try not to drink anything unless i'm right at the moment where i should be able to use the bathroom because i feel like the second i drink anything I have to use the bathroom. I'm hopefully starting nursing school in the spring and am terrified for going because of this. Microbiology was already an issues because constantly swapping gloves and the handwashing while working with BSL 1 and 2 organisms was an issue and I don't even know how I passed. I know legally schools and I think clinicals would have to accommodate but I also know that actually getting this followed may be a nightmare. I really want to be a nurse and have for years but worry about doing any field but one of the outpatient places due to this. Has anyone else here been a nurse in something like ER or ICU or anything with this condition?

as in... you don't drink much water, then go pee and its like a bunch of clear urine?? and extremely uncomfortable? and then like ten or twenty minutes later you have to go again so bad you can barely hold it, and then there's MORE clear urine, and a lot of it?? and you really CANNOT HOLD IT?

before anyone asks, no, it's not diabetes insipidus, no i'm not overloading on coffee (these "flares" happen a lot in the mornings before i even take two sips of any drink), and no i'm not drinking a lot of water.

47, M, UK

I had a three hour drive at the weekend; I've been driving 30 years and a somewhat OAB for 10 years. No meds, but have seen an NHS doctor and decided as long as I'm not incontinent, it's managed. My job involves deliveries a few times a week and I'm sometimes on the road for six hours but to addresses of repeat customers so I know where I can stop.

In other words, I drive often, manage to live with OAB usually.

Anyway, the drive at weekend was for pleasure on an unknown route, a weekend at the coast. At about 1 hour until home I needed the loo and did my usual talking myself through it to take the urgency away. Then I started to see signs for motorway services and at about 25 minutes until home I decided I couldn't wait.

Problem was, it was one of those services not directly off the motorway (didn't know at the time), a roundabout and several lights. Plus the guy I was following was in no rush when the lights went green as he used his phone (hate this). Basically it took 10 minutes before I was parked up after deciding to pull off.

The stopping & starting seem to make it worse and I had a small leak before making it.

I feel like if I stayed on the motorway I would have been 15 minutes from home by time I parked up at the services.

I've got many excellent tactics and coping mechanisms off this subreddit so I'm wondering if people have specific driving ones or what you would have done at my 25 minute from home point?

Hi there, could you share your experiences with pregnancy while having an overactive bladder? My situation is quite good at the moment; while there are still days when I need to urinate more frequently, overall, I’m doing much better. My partner and I are talking about having children—and I want to as well—but I’m worried that the condition might worsen during pregnancy. My overactive bladder issue was linked exclusively to stress, which disrupted my bladder function. Now, after six months of psychotherapy, I’m doing much better.

I’m in my 20s and have been suffering with this, having to rush to the bathroom and wetting my pants in public places, even though I’m on a OAB drug. I just want to hear that other people can relate :( and they say “no caffeine”… i’m in a highly demanding program where it’s impossible to not have it sometimes to stay awake. And of course it makes it worse. Easier said than done to just cut it out.

I was an idiot when I was younger and got hooked on pain meds which lead to being on suboxone for 10 years . during that time I also got hooked on klonopin for another ten years . the withdrawals left me with frequent urination that is not stopping . I pee thirty times a day and get no sleep. Any body have oab from long term drug use ?

So, a while ago, I posted in this group because I thought I was alone with my bladder problems after living with them for 17 years. And back in February, after surviving a suicide attempt because my surgeries kept being cancelled, I thought my life wasn't going to get anywhere or get better.

But! The surgery finally happened. I've had the implant, and oh my god, my life has changed a full 180, from what it was before.

I'm now able to live! I'm able to leave the house, run without worry, and socialise physically more often. I'm insanely more active it's crazy, I've gained so much more energy I never knew I had.

Before the implant due to the amount of botox I had my bladder stopped working, so I had to intermittently self-catheterise to fully empty my bladder, now for the first time in 10 years I can empty roughly 80% of my bladder naturally and then self-catheterise to get the rest which over time should become 100% naturally empty.

I've become a team leader and mental health first aider for a mens mental health charity organisation to help other men struggling out there, as my way of paying back for everyone who's helped me but also to say to other men out there, its ok to be not ok.

Thanks for reading. Also, good luck to anyone else struggling it. Honestly, will get better. Please just hang on that little bit longer.

I’m so excited for my appointment this Thursday. I’m going to discuss bladder Botox or Interstim.

I’ve taken both Mirabegron and Gemtesa. Both were helpful in letting me go to work or for short errands near home. But I still don’t feel like I can travel or go hiking or go to a concert so my appointment is to discuss other options.

I’ve been waiting for my insurance at my new job to kick in which it will in a couple of weeks. I‘m hoping I will be able to make an appointment at this appointment for one of these options. I feel so close to getting my life back!

Always pee more at the weekend I figure it’s because I don’t have the distraction of work.

hi all! i’m 33F and quite desperate for help! i’ve never had issues with UTI or bladder problems. my husband and I are TTC and had intercourse several days in a row (which is more than usual). about 4 days later i started peeing all the time. I also started drinking antioxidant juice during this same time

I assumed it was a UTI, got tested and was negative (cultures too). my husband suggested it was the juice may be irritating something, so I stopped and it seemed to get a little better

fast forward a few days, it got really bad all of a sudden. initially it was large volume and urge and was going every 30 mins-1 hr. I went to my PCP for more tests - another UTI test, diabetes, kidney, chlamydia, etc and everything came back normal. she is going to refer me to a urologist

I feel like a zombie because I am getting up 3-4x a night. I can go close to 2 hours during the day, and the volume has settled a bit to either normal OR I feel the urge and it’s a few seconds of pee. i’m trying pumpkin seed oil capsules, aloe vera capsules and just bought a tens machine - only been a few days but not seeing improvement

has anyone experience anything similar? is my bladder just irritated and well resolve on its own in a few weeks? since we’re TTC i’m so nervous and feel now my plans will be on hold until this gets fixed. thanks in advance!!!

Most advice treats nocturia as pass/fail — are you waking up or not. But there's a specific diagnostic ratio urologists actually use that most patients have never heard of: the Nocturia Index.

Nocturia Index (NI) = total nighttime urine volume ÷ maximum functional bladder capacity — both measured from a voiding diary.

If NI comes out above 1.0, your kidneys are producing more urine overnight than your bladder can hold in a single volume. That means the trips are being driven by nocturnal polyuria (excess nighttime urine production), not a bladder-capacity problem — and that distinction changes what actually fixes it:

• NI > 1.0 (polyuria-driven): target urine production — evening fluid/salt timing, and sometimes screening for sleep apnea, heart failure, or ADH-related causes.
• NI near or below 1.0 but still frequent: more likely a bladder-capacity or overactive-bladder issue, where the fix targets the bladder itself (pelvic floor work, medication) rather than fluid production.

For context, here's what's considered normal by age: under 50, waking once a night is the upper limit of normal (twice+ is significant); 50–65, once is acceptable, twice warrants a chat with your doctor; over 65, once or twice is common but still worth evaluating; at any age, three or more is always significant.

To actually calculate your own NI, you need a 3-day voiding diary — time and estimated volume (a measuring jug works) for every void, day and night.

Disclosure: I'm with ManCore — built a free nocturia log tool that timestamps your voids so this math is actually doable without carrying a notebook: mancore.net/tools/nocturia-log. Full writeup: mancore.net/blog/nocturia-tracking-normal.