# New info on "piss shiver" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [April 10, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-info-on-piss-shiver/618396 "2012-04-10T18:54:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-info-on-piss-shiver/618396/1 "2012-04-10T18:54:54Z")
[Relevant column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1044/what-causes-piss-shiver) [New info](http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/09/11101199-pee-shivers-you-know-youre-curious?lite) Turns out Cecil was “right.” It seems to be a parasympathetic nerve issue. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-info-on-piss-shiver/618396/2 "2012-04-10T19:05:58Z")
Cecil is right. The sun rises. Somethings just always happen. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-info-on-piss-shiver/618396/3 "2012-04-10T19:37:41Z")
That site is hardly new or definitive information. It’s just some random quotes from a doctor, who probably doesn’t know any more about it than any other doctor, and has never done any research on it. Doc Sheth says, “No one knows for certain…” and includes some wild speculation like “One leading _theory…_” and "the body is \*theoretically \*flushed with catecholamines … But the microscopic energy bullets ‘_may_ also trigger the shiver reflect.’” (Italics mine) No references, no answers, just weasel words. Cecil still rules. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-info-on-piss-shiver/618396/4 "2012-04-11T21:11:57Z")
OTOH, that article is right up there with some of the pun-laden threads we’ve had around here. What I want to know about this - is this different from the random shivers that you get where you might say “A goose just walked over my grave”? And if it’s not any different, has anyone actually studied whether these truly are more common while pissing, or is the more obvious effect of shivering while peeing make it more memorable? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-info-on-piss-shiver/618396/5 "2012-04-11T23:36:47Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > OTOH, that article is right up there with some of the pun-laden threads we’ve had around here. > What I want to know about this - is this different from the random shivers that you get where you might say “A goose just walked over my grave”? And if it’s not any different, has anyone actually studied whether these truly are more common while pissing, or is the more obvious effect of shivering while peeing make it more memorable? I’m sure I"ve never thought, while pissing, “Hey! A goose just walked over my grave.” YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-info-on-piss-shiver/618396/6 "2012-04-12T18:10:51Z")
**Zyada** , I’ve never heard that expression involve a goose before. As for the shivers, they are the same in the way they feel, starting in the small of the back and running up the spine. What appears to be different is that the random shiver has no observable cause (thus the need to attribute it to future waterfowl), whereas the piss shiver seems to have the cause of taking a big piss. (It could be a correlation = causation error, but the consistency suggests there’s something to it.)