Question:
I know you aren’t a doctor but I was wondering if you knew what medical issue I have if I have a frequent urination problem during the day. I do drink a lot of water and coffee. I got tested for diabetes and it wasn’t that. However, the test was 2 years ago, and I have had this for a long time. It doesn’t cause me to wake up at night and sometimes I don’t even need to urinate frequently. I’m not sure whether I should get tested again but I don’t think it’s diabetes as I have no other symptoms. It’s around every 1.5 hours if I’m in school.
Answer:
The average person pees about 6 to 7 times during the day, which comes out to be roughly once every 2 hours or so. The frequency at which you pee is affected by how much water you consume. Thus, if you drink more liquids during school, you would tend to pee more often. Since you are not frequently waking up at night to pee, we can rule out most causes.
Consuming too much salt will increase the frequency at which you pee because your kidneys are trying to get rid of the excess salt. Caffeine also causes you to pee more often. Therefore, drinking a lot of coffee or soda, which has both salt and caffeine, will send you to the restroom more often.
Question:
It wouldn’t be diabetes or cancer, would it? I’ve had this problem since I was 12 so I surely would have been affected in other ways by now. I was also tested for diabetes as I said so I’m wondering what else it might be since I’m peeing far more the 7 times a day.
Answer:
Would you describe your pee as being light, medium, or dark yellow in color?
Question:
It’s either quite light yellow or clear.
Answer:
That typically indicates that you are drinking a lot of water.
Question:
I think I drink around 3-4 liters, but I’ve never recorded it. I think I do eat a lot of salt according to my mother, which might be why I drink water and thus pee more. But apart from drinking too much, would there be any other condition that would cause me this problem? I’m wondering if I should go to the doctor again.
Answer:
Everything you’ve mentioned doesn’t indicate a medical problem. You would be better off cutting back on the amount of salt and caffeine that you consume for a month and see what impact it makes.