For various reasons I stopped drinking 3 weeks ago. To be honest I didn’t quit completely, I have 1 beer about every other night after dinner but that’s it. This is a fairly drastic change and so far I’m pleased with the results it’s having.
However I noticed that while I used to urinate maybe 3 or 4 times a day I now have to go every 90 minutes. This doesn’t seem right. I feel like I’m spending ½ my day in the john.
Is this normal?
Booze dehydrates you and causes water retention. Your body is just enjoying it’s new hydrated state, and shedding some of that water you’d been retaining.
Just my opinion, but I would say that having a beer every other day does not constitute not drinking. I wouldn’t call it problem drinking per se, but it isn’t not drinking any more than beating your spouse only twice a month constitutes not being a domestic abuser.
I don’t know the situation, but a more correct analogy may be this:
One drink every two days is ‘not drinking’ in much the same way that going from beating your spouse to talking things out is ‘not being a domestic abuser’.
Edit: MADD called, they want their rhetoric back.
It’s a little disingenuous and entirely tangential to equivocate over definitions of drinking, not-drinking, alcoholism, and not-alcoholism. It’s not like there is any confusion over what **zoid **is doing, and it doesn’t have any bearing on the question she asked.
Yeah, it’s IMHO and that’s your opinion. But it’s almost-kinda-sorta-threadshitting.
Was your drinking before this beer? Or something harder? Liquor dries you out.
Beer is a diuretic.
Are you drinking more caffineated stuff now eg coffee?
Thank you - and BTW I’m a dude
Liquor.
I always got a medium coffee each morning but I do notice that in the past I would only drink 1/2 but now I finish it.
Let me be the first in this thread to say ‘good for you’ . I used to drink very heavily up until I was about 45. I came to my senses as to what sort of damage I was doing to my heart and other internal organs and cut back drastically. I didn’t quit altogether, but now weeks (or even months) can go by without having so much as a glass of wine or a beer. You’re doing the right thing and hopefully you’ll find the that urge to have alcohol dies out almost completely with time. You’re saving yourself a lot of problems down the line, my friend.
I don’t know if it’s normal, but if you were drinking heavily before, and now drinking only an occasional beer, your body is going to go through some adjustments. You don’t say how much you were drinking before, but often you may not have noticed a frequent need to urinate previously. I think there are all sorts of ways that your body or your awareness of it may change. But if you are still urinating frequently after some time to adapt, it’s good idea to see a doctor, because drinking may have hidden a problem you already had.
Anyway good luck. A beer every other night probaly isn’t much of a health risk. It’s pretty moderate drinking. Among the people I know that I would categorize as ‘drinkers’, one beer every other night wouldn’t even count as ‘drinking’.
Thanks for the correction. Why did I totally think you were a chick for ever? 
My girlish figure?
Thanks Chefguy, thanks TriPolar.
Without going into too much detail I’d say that by any sane standard I was drinking “heavily”.
I’m not under any illusion that I’ll never drink again, frankly that’s not my goal. Going to the doc is probably a good idea anyway seeing as I’m in my mid-40s and haven’t had a checkup in at least 5 years.
Got a big belly? Any liver damage?
Water retention is common when someone consumes a lot of alcohol. It’s even more common, more water and more dangerous when your liver starts to go kaput. There’s a condition called ascites, where a whole bunch of fluid accumulates in your abdomen, and it can put pressure on your internal organs and is generally Not Good. It gives you the look of a hard, protruding pregnant looking belly, even if your arms and legs are really skinny.
But, ascites or not, alcohol consumption causes water retention. Less consumption, and your body is finally able to dump some of that excess fluid.
Make sure you’re drinking a lot of water and getting some salt and potassium in your diet. A daily multivitamin with minerals in it might not be the worst idea right now. You run the risk of electrolyte imbalance, and that can potentially be pretty serious. If you feel any muscle twitches or if your heart starts to race or you feel dizzy, lightheaded or any of the symptoms of a heart attack, get to the ER right away. Let them know you’re cutting way back on alcohol - it’s REALLY important that they know that if you need medical attention.
You are doing a really great thing, but please be aware that quitting alcohol is no small thing, physically speaking. Lots of people need medical supervision when they quit alcohol. Alcohol is one of the very few drugs that the detox can kill you. If you feel at all “off”, please seek medical attention!
No big belly.
Liver damage - who knows?
I’m drinking plenty of water and getting enough salt (and unfortunately fat) has never been a problem. I’m actually hoping to start eating better and more regularly as well.
First week was kind of rough - I slept a LOT - but I’m actually feeling much better now.
Hopefully this is just a detoxing symptom, and everything is OK, but increased urination can be a symptom of some other conditions, like bladder problems, prostate, diabetes, etc. So if it keeps on, or gets worse- you might want to get a doctor to check into it.
Frequent urination can be a sympton of diabetes. Of course, IANAD, but look over the following link and see if you can rule it out.:
Also, get your prostate checked. I’ve personally noticed that alcohol can hide BPH symptoms.
That on its own would not cause the excessive urination so I suppose the other theories are more likely; but if you do find you are drinking a lot more caffeine on reflection then it could be a factor.
Urinating every 90 minutes isn’t exactly what I’d call very frequent if you are drinking a good amount of water.
Perhaps you had been drinking so heavily that this is the first time that you noticed that you were going every 90 minutes!