# Dopers 40-ish and over: is your bladder a lot less patient than it used to be? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 21, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-40-ish-and-over-is-your-bladder-a-lot-less-patient-than-it-used-to-be/518439 "2009-11-21T19:52:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-40-ish-and-over-is-your-bladder-a-lot-less-patient-than-it-used-to-be/518439/21 "2009-11-22T15:08:02Z")
43 checking in - Thought it was just me - If I start to drink a bottle of water at the desk, I am usually headed to the bathroom before I finish it. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-40-ish-and-over-is-your-bladder-a-lot-less-patient-than-it-used-to-be/518439/22 "2009-11-22T17:35:03Z")
Early 40s here. Yes, it’s definitely less patient than it was before, even if I account for more fluid intake. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-40-ish-and-over-is-your-bladder-a-lot-less-patient-than-it-used-to-be/518439/23 "2009-11-22T18:17:40Z")
Well, it’s usually an enlarged prostate that is the culprit, not your bladder. I used to get up four times a night, and started taking saw palmetto (900 mg twice a day). Now it’s once a night. It’s the only herbal product that I have any trust in. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAlecCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SmartAlecCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAlecCat)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-40-ish-and-over-is-your-bladder-a-lot-less-patient-than-it-used-to-be/518439/24 "2009-11-22T21:39:03Z")
\>40 here. I have to go all the time. My 3-year old daughter can easily go all day without going. She used to go \>20 hours frequently (the doctor told us this is not good…). We have to nag her to go at all. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-40-ish-and-over-is-your-bladder-a-lot-less-patient-than-it-used-to-be/518439/25 "2009-11-23T00:17:19Z")
72 and I used to almost always sleep through the night and now I never do. I take a diuretic, but first thing in the morning and I wouldn’t think that would have that much effect. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-40-ish-and-over-is-your-bladder-a-lot-less-patient-than-it-used-to-be/518439/26 "2009-11-23T01:08:36Z")
45 here. The yellow alerts come more often but I can still put them on hold until a facility is conveniently nearby. Except for those time when my bladder knows I’m home… ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-40-ish-and-over-is-your-bladder-a-lot-less-patient-than-it-used-to-be/518439/27 "2009-11-23T14:00:34Z")
About a year ago (I was getting to 42), I was seriously losing weight and I added to my exercise program by riding my bike. Up to that point I was pretty normal, bathroom wise. Within a couple of weeks of starting the cycling (and about the stage where my perineum stopped complaining about the seat) I started to get the I-gotta-pee-and-that-means-RIGHT-NOW. I also started dribbling, double-voiding (pee, then have to go 10 minutes later), and had some “performance” problems. I did some obvious things - got a channeled bike seat (to reduce pressure on the nerves), padded shorts, and an appointment with the local urinary clinic. Eventually I got in for a flow test - I turned up in the morning with a full bladder having not peed at all since the previous night. I aimed in the funnel, and had a typical stop/start leak. Then the nurse told me the only output from the machine was “Sensor Failure.” She gave me a jug of water and sent me off to Pathology to give bloods. I queued for about 40 minutes, and by the time I got to a phlebotomist, I was fit to bust. I was scared that I wouldn’t make it, and when she missed the vein twice I was sweating. Finally I got out, walked uncomfortably back to Urology (not too fast, but not too slow either), found the nurse, into the booth, and damn near flooded the machine with relief. Then I had a quick ultrasound that determined that I was still holding a significant amount. It seems clear that my prostate is constricting things, but since the seat and pants changes did lead to a significant improvement, I have elected to not have a camera up my urethra yet - plenty of time for things to get worse than they are before I risk sensitive portions of my anatomy. I just put up with the nightly wake ups. Si ---
**Author:** ![rivulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rivulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rivulus)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-40-ish-and-over-is-your-bladder-a-lot-less-patient-than-it-used-to-be/518439/28 "2009-11-23T23:15:03Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Combine it with having your kids late in life, and you have a sudden understanding of why they sell diapers for grownups. Yup, me too. I don’t have leaks or accidents generally speaking, because I pay attention and go often enough to keep my bladder reasonably empty. I only had problems when I was pregnant (at age 40) and a couple of weeks ago when I had bronchitis. (That was fun. I managed to both piddle slightly and pop a button off my pants during one particularly bad coughing fit. The button then rolled under the car seat and I had to go digging for it.) However, I do notice that I have to go at least once at night. Problem is, my son (23 mo) still tends to wake up at night now and then. Especially when he’s got a virus or some other bug, which he often brings home from daycare. So my body is currently trained to wake up easily at night. And then, since I’m awake and/or up, I figure I might as well pee. I’ll be curious if I can still hold it through the night once my son is old enough to wake less often and I get to sleep through the night too! ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-40-ish-and-over-is-your-bladder-a-lot-less-patient-than-it-used-to-be/518439/29 "2009-11-24T00:40:58Z")
> [@rivulus](#): > > I’ll be curious if I can still hold it through the night once my son is old enough to wake less often and I get to sleep through the night too! Right here and now, my money would be on “no”. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-40-ish-and-over-is-your-bladder-a-lot-less-patient-than-it-used-to-be/518439.md?page=1)