Title says it all.
I’ve experienced several in the past few days. Going to my PCP to get a blood test and leave a urine sample. Sepsis is nothing to mess around with. Put me in the hospital in 2024 and again in July, 2025.
I had Lithotripsy procedure twice and that’s helped with UTI’s.
What causes a piss Shiver? Does it happen to women too?
Piss shiver wouldn’t bother women if the prostate is restricting urine flow.
The syndrome seems to be experienced more often by men than women
There has yet to be any peer-reviewed research on the topic.[2] The most plausible hypothesis is that the shiver is a result of the autonomic nervous system getting its signals mixed up between its two main divisions:[4]
- The sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which controls bladder function, preventing urination.
- The parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), which relaxes the urethral sphincter and contracts the bladder, causing urination.
Part of the SNS response to a full bladder is the release of catecholamines (including epinephrine, norepinephrine and dopamine), which are dispatched to help restore or maintain blood pressure.[1] When urination begins, the PNS takes over, and catecholamine production changes. It may be the change in chemical production which causes the shiver, or the switch from SNS to PNS itself which is the cause.[4]
And I just noticed when I hit post that it references a 30 year old Cecil article. And, apparently, Cecil coined the phrase “post-micturition convulsion syndrome”
A Historical Perspective in Honor of Our Board:
(Should this therefore go to Cecil’s Columns? Seems an independent question on the same topic)
[SIMULPOST]
Makes a Doper proud. 
And as a female person, let me say that I do know the piss shiver.
I don’t get piss shivers but I do get shit shivers which I assume are the same idea.
I hope it’s not the PCP.
One presumes systems close to each other with common nerves occasional send mixed signals.
Is it true this has not been researched? Hard to believe… But I could not find anything on a very quick PubMed search.
Sorry, I forget our International readers.
PCP, primary care physician
It’s an insurance requirement. PCP is the gatekeeper to seeing a specialist. PCP offers treatments and referrals when needed.
I read the Cecil column. Weĺl written and a little informative.
More research is needed.
Why doesn’t it happen everytime we pee?
I agree with others (Cecil article) it’s connected to a slight, ejeculation.
As a female person I have pee shivers and I don’t pee. Ever.
I know this is a bit of a hijack, but that’s very much specific to your insurance policy. I don’t need a referral from anyone to see a specialist. I can make an appointment with any doctor I want and my insurance company’s coverage of it will be the same, whether or not I have a referral.
When my business’ health insurance plan is up for renewal, I generally don’t even look at the options that require referrals (PPO VS HMO).
Like phantom pain? But shivers?
The human body is just fricking weird.
Same here, and I’ve had them since I was a kid. I was well into adulthood before I knew it had a name.
Never experienced nor heard of such a thing.
Anecdotally mine seems to always occur when I’m slightly chilly. Usually in Winter but could occur under heavy air conditioning.
That’s why I liked the theory of “heat loss”, as it fit my experience.
This might explain a shivering fit that hit me a few years ago, after or as part of a stomach upset (maybe instead of vomiting?) Just a couple of times (and quite frightening at the time), but never since.
My old Granny called it “floating teeth”.
I always thought that was a good way to describe the feeling.
Uh, no. Cecil credits the phrase to Peter H. M. Brooks. I’ll just correct the Wiki article.
Never happens except in the middle of Winter when my bathroom is freezing cold, then I’m shivering the whole time. Other than that I have never experienced this.
So are you saying you have actual piss shivers? Or are you saying you have cold bathroom shivers that happen when you get undressed enough to piss?
I hate cold bathrooms!