Need to pee when I stand up: prostate trouble?
 

Doc, every time I am finished on the toilet, I stand up to pull up my pants and suddenly have to urinate again. I pee a little bit while I am seated, but obviously its not all coming out, because the flow is significantly more when standing. I wonder if something could be blocking the urine flow while seated but not while standing. Any ideas? Could it be a bad thing?

I think this has more to do with the shape of your bladder than any obstruction, but you may have an enlarged prostate too.

http://www.clarian.org/ADAM/doc/grap...s/en/19312.jpg

If you look at the picture above, imagine it sitting down. See how the relationship between the "bottom" of the bladder and the urethra changes? I've always assumed that when you sit, there is urine that falls to the back of the bladder and just sits there. When you stand up, gravity pulls it out of its perch and down into the main part of the bladder and you feel the need to pee again.

Symptoms of an enlarged prostate can be:

1) decreased urinary flow (can't "take the bark off a tree anymore")
2) urinary hesitancy (trouble getting the flow started)
3) urinary stuttering (trouble keeping the flow going once it starts)
4) frequent need to urinate, especially at night
5) overflow incontinence (when the bladder fills up to the brim and "overflows")

if you have any of those symptoms, see your health care provider and get a prostate check

if you're over 50 you need a prostate check anyway.


your pal,



steve