• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Is urinating small amounts a symptom?

L

Languagelearner

Well-Known Member
Messages
143
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi, I had a blood test at the end of January showing A1C of 48 (equal to 6.5%), which is in the diabetes range. (I was tested in 2018, and the result was an H1AC of 35 then.) Now the doctors want me to do another follow-up blood test at the end of February to confirm the diagnosis.

My main symptom, and why I went to the doctors, is urination. But I've read on the Internet how diabetics urinate a lot, whereas I mean that when I go to bed I feel the need to go to toilet even if I have hardly drunk anything all day. It can be: urinate 1 drop, go to bed, 2 mins later get up again to urinate 1 drop, go to bed, 2 mins later 1 more drop. And it can carry on for hours - when the bladder is basically empty anyway.

I wonder if I need to drink more, and if dehydration (my urine is dark orange) leads to overconcentrated urine that irritates the bladder? Or have I got another condition entirely?

So basically in addition to trouble getting to sleep because of feeling like I need to urinate small amounts, I also wake up many times in the night to urinate properly. And during the day, I didn't use to need to urinate a lot, but this has now become a problem - good job I work from home and can go to the toilet when I want.

The only other problem is constant problems with swollen feet, for no real reason. I have to avoid hot baths for that reason. Do my symptoms sound recognisable?
 
Last edited:
Ideally urine should be pale straw coloured. Why not drink more water, say a couple of litres a day, for a day or two and see if it makes a difference. Enlarged prostate can cause problems with urination but so can a lot of other things so you need the doctor to diagnose the problem.
 

I'll try drinking more. I've had a prostate test, and it's not that... Let's see how I get on with more water.
 
Kind of sounds like a UTI... Having to go with nothing to show for it, and it being dark... Might want to take a morning urine sample to the doc's for testing...
 
JoKalsbeek said:
Kind of sounds like a UTI... Having to go with nothing to show for it, and it being dark... Might want to take a morning urine sample to the doc's for testing...
Click to expand...

Well, I've had a couple of UTIs over the past year, and they cleared up with medication. But this problem of feeling like I need to go when I've had little drink persists, although the UTIs were cleared up. I'll see what the doctors say next month when I get my next test back. Thanks.
 

Not generally a symptom. The need to urinate a lot and frequently from diabetes comes from the body trying to rid itself of high glucose any way possible, including peeing it out. So, often, a symptom of high blood glucose is peeing a lot and more frequently than normal, which is also why excessive thirst is a common symptom.

Good luck figuring out what it is, but if you think you may not be drinking enough then drinking more is a good idea regardless.
 
Hi Have you got to the bottom of your problem I'm very much going through the same now which I can't understand to why I'm getting this when I need to pee its coming out little bits at a time just like yourself
 
Hi, when a friend was diagnosed with MS she was having a similar problem. Although it is counterintuitive, her specialist told her to drink much more water. This was so that she retrained her bladder and re-set the pressure sensors in the bladder walls. This worked effectively and quickly!
 
Arsenal79 said:
Hi Have you got to the bottom of your problem I'm very much going through the same now which I can't understand to why I'm getting this when I need to pee its coming out little bits at a time just like yourself
Click to expand...

I can't get much sense out of the GP on this, and so, no, I don't know what it is. But as it is not an enlarged prostate or kidney disease, I think it may be an overactive bladder. This is a self-diagnosis in the absence of any interest from the GP. I'm trying 1. only having one drink a day, in the morning. 2. no carbs, which I think encourage water retention. 3. Kegel pelvic floor exercises (squeezing the muscles that control the bladder). Have you been to the doctor's where you are? And is your problem being taken seriously?
 
You really need to drink more than once a day - at least 2 litres - as you are storing up more problems not just dehydration but bladder damage, UTIs, kidney damage - it’s a fallacy that we think drink less pee less, your body will be working like crazy to do it’s job without the fluids it needs and doing damage you cannot see. Being dehydrated can actually cause over active bladder rather than help it. I have an overactive bladder and found out the hard way that restricting fluids isn’t the way to go
 
Around half of men aged 50 have an enlarged prostate, 90% by age 80. I see that posters say they have been tested but the tests are very unreliable so I wouldn't discount that as the problem. Having said that, I would still advise drinking plenty of water, just not late at night.
 

Yes, I was wondering about the reliability of the test. I had a PSA antigen test , but not a scan to see if the prostate is enlarged. And I'm not sure about the PSA test. I will try to do a private test later this year. I'm assuming at present it may be an overactive bladder and trying Kegel pelvic floor exercises.
 
I've now seen the doctor, and while he hasn't ordered an ultrasound, he has started me on Tamsulosin tablets for an enlarged prostate - to see if symptoms improve if I take this for a month. I'm letting the forum know, as Arsenal79 said he had the same symptoms, and so I hope he argues for this prescription with his doctor too...
 
I have been taking Tamsulosin for about a year, not a miracle cure but they certainly help and I haven't had any side effects.
 
All my doctor have said to me is it all depends how much we eat is how much we pee and no months down the line I still can't get to the bottom of it hope your safe and well.
 
When you say a drop do you mean a Drop? The reason I am asking is I have enlarge prostrate. When I wanted to go I go, but after 5-10min I need to go again sometimes again. I only find out when Dr called me in after a blood test to tell me my levels were high, I ask to see d/n. because of the above after another blood test one finger diagnosed enlarge prostrate. One thing you try is to drink a mesure emount and pee into a container to see what the difference is. They do it in clinic but more scientific.
 
The PSA test is an indication..If the reading comes back over 20 on two occasions it is not good news.
Over 10 you may be ok?
Under 5 perhaps you have no problems.

But the PSA is not definitive.
I had a PSA of 22 c.17 years ago and it turned out had a st3 bilateral carcinoma of the prostate.
I eventually had almost 8 weeks radio therapy at Newcastle, else I would be dead now. I have no doubt Newcastle saved my life,

The MRI which my local hospital would not do and I paid for, showed 11mm and 8mm tumours breaking through the capsule.

The local hospital would not agree to radical treatment.

If in doubt, dont be fobbed off, get checked out.


For non malignant hyperplasia usually an alpha blocker helps.

The fact you have swollen legs is not good news and you perhaps need to take a diurectic, but no doubt your GP has this in hand.
D.
 
Last edited:


Same symptons here and thats what my doctor has prescribed even though I dont have enlarged prostate.

TBH I not really sure the Tamsulosin has had much effect
 
I started with Tamsulosin now on Finasteride I find it better. Also if you are on Doxazoosin for blood pressure it's in the same group as Finasteride
 
I want to give an update on this. I have been going to the GP for four years trying to get a diagnosis as to why I have to urinate dozens of times a night, one drop each time. They first thought 1) UTI. It's not that, as I've had urine tests. 2) enlarged prostate, for which they prescribed tamsulosin. But an ultrasound scan shows it is not that. The tamsulosin helps a bit - I can get away with urinating 4 or 5 times a night, but I think tamsulosin can also help a bit with overactive bladder. 3) no kidney stones or bladder stones. 4) no kidney disease. 5) they suggest it could be linked with diabetes (I am now a confirmed Type 2 and started metformin today), as the body could try to flush out sugar, but I explained that that would be reflected in large volumes of urine, not tiny drops. I find most health professionals don't know what they're talking about. 6) So i have taken steps myself to work out if this is a overactive bladder. I found patches on line that need to be worn for 3 or 4 days that contain chemicals absorbed through the skin of the abdomen that stop the bladder from contracting so often (Kentera oxybutynin transdermal patch). I paid £42 for them, but then the online pharmacy said they needed a prescription (this is a huge bottleneck deliberately built into the system - too many drugs are prescription-only), and so I paid £45 for an online consultation with a private doctor, and the patches arrived today. I have drunk one litre today while wearing the patch and still have no urge to urinate, and I think this may be it. But apparently, the NHS, if they agree to prescribe it, will only prescribe the oral version, not the patch, and that can lead to dry mouth side-effects. I'll have to see how that goes. If I get a medical exemption certificate for the Metformin, then that would also cover payment for the oral version of this bladder medication too. I might get the first full night's sleep for about five years tonight...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…