This frequently happens to me in the night. I’ll wake up with the feeling that I need to go to the bathroom but I find that if I lay there long enough, the feeling will go away even though I haven’t actually relieved myself. If the urge to urinate comes from feeling pressure in the bladder (that’s an assumption on my part, feel free to correct it), how can the feeling go away without actual urination?
I’m not asking for medical advice. Just wondering how the body works.
There are receptor nerves on the inner wall of the bladder somewhere that respond to pressure. There’s an interval of time in which a change in posture or even just ignoring it can cause that alert to switch back off. Given enough time things will fill up to the point that it won’t go away.
There’s a second pressure switch farther down that results in a far more emphatic alert, sort of the difference between “I can pee, if I choose to” and “I can still refrain from peeing but it takes an active effort at this point”.
Nars, you’re a guy, right? If so, go have a blood workup done to check if your prostate is swollen and putting pressure on your bladder.
If you live in the USA, do not tell the doctor you have these symptoms, just say you want to do a routine check of your PSA. This is because insurance will pay for routine screenings but not for diagnostic lab work. That sucks, but that is how it is.
Not to violate SDMB rules on a amateur medical advice, but if your PSA does come back high, don’t freak out. It may be a bladder infection, not cancer.
Ironically, I had my annual physical last week. They drew blood but I haven’t received the results yet. In the past, my PSA has always been well within the “good” range.
Thanks @AHunter3. That’s very interesting.