OAB patients with anxiety reported more severe OAB/incontinence symptoms, worse quality of life, and more psychosocial difficulties compared to OAB patients without anxiety. There are positive correlations between the severity of anxiety symptoms and OAB/incontinence symptoms.
Stress and anxiety affect the bladder in several ways. Both cause muscles in your body to tense up (mostly due to increased adrenaline), and the bladder is essentially a muscular sac that also tightens with stress. Additionally, your pelvic floor is comprised of muscles that can tighten, compressing your bladder.
Frequent urination, when you need to go to the toilet more than usual during 24 hours is a common symptom of anxiety disorder.
Prior research has linked anxiety and OAB: up to 40% of women and 30% of men with OAB also have generalized anxiety disorder. The link between stress and OAB is less studied. In animals, experimental stress can cause OAB-like symptoms and behaviors as well as bladder and somatic hypersensitivity.
Frequent urination when you need to urinate more than usual during 24 hours is a common symptom of anxiety disorder. Since most people release urine 6-7 times a day, frequent urination is usually considered to be urinating more than 7 times in 24 hours, as long as 2 litres of fluid has been consumed that day[v].
However, there is mounting evidence that the relationship between these two factors is bidirectional and that chronic psychological stress itself can result in the development of symptoms such as urinary frequency, urgency, incontinence, and pelvic pain.
Anticholinergic medicines help relax the muscles of the bladder. They include oxybutynin (Oxytrol, Ditropan), tolterodine (Detrol), darifenacin (Enablex), trospium (Sanctura), and solifenacin (VESIcare). Beta agonist drugs can also help relax the muscles of the bladder.
If you suffer from high stress levels or anxiety, you might also develop a urinary tract infection. Can stress cause a UTI? Not directly. However, stress can increase your cortisol levels, which can affect your immune system and make you more prone to infections.
It's possible that anxiety is tensing the muscles around your bladder, causing urinary urgency. Water Use While unlikely, stress does have some unusual effects on your body. Your body may be processing liquids faster, and possibly requiring you to urinate more often to relieve yourself of the excess water.
Stress may be directly causative or exacerbate the symptoms (i.e., urinary frequency) seen in disorders of the urinary bladder, such as interstitial cystitis and overactive bladder.
No, overactive bladder doesn't go away on its own. If you don't treat OAB, your symptoms can get worse, the muscles in your bladder that help control when you pee can become weak and your pelvic floor tissues can get thinner.
Overactive bladder is caused by a malfunction of the detrusor muscle, which in turn can be cased by: Nerve damage caused by abdominal trauma, pelvic trauma or surgery. Bladder stones. Drug side effects.
You may not necessarily be able to tell the difference between anxiety or UTI as the cause from pattern of urination alone, but with anxiety some people may find they have frequency during waking hours and at times of heightened stress only.
stress. Feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC) is a condition of the bladder that is thought to occur in connection with stress and anxiety. There may be factors in the home that are causing stress and anxiety, but these may be subtle, or unexpected, as FIC cats often have a low tolerance for even the smallest stressors.
Vitamin C found in foods.
A study done on vitamin c intake in 2060 women, aged 30-79 years of age found that high-dose intake of vitamin c and calcium were positively associated with urinary storage or incontinence, whereas vitamin C from foods and beverages were associated with decreased urinary urgency.
SUMMARY: Anxiety, especially chronic anxiety, causes more than nervousness alone. The fight or flight system can overwhelm the brain and body, leading to excessive urination, frequent urination, and many other urinary challenges.
Bladder irritants
Coffee, tea and carbonated drinks, even without caffeine. Alcohol. Certain acidic fruits — oranges, grapefruits, lemons and limes — and fruit juices. Spicy foods.
FEAR + FRIGHT. Fear is the emotion of the kidneys and the bladder, organs associated with the water element. It is a normal adaptive emotion, but can become chronic when ignored.
The most common symptom is a sudden, uncontrolled need or urge to urinate. Some people will leak urine when they feel this urge. Another symptom is the need to pass urine many times during the day and night.