13 Causes of Frequent Urination and How to Treat It

If you have to urinate a lot, you know that it can get in the way of your day-to-day activities. Getting up to run to the bathroom during a meeting can be annoying. But frequent urination can also cause larger disruptions. You may lose sleep at night if you’re constantly waking up to urinate. 

Frequent urination may also be a sign of a serious medical condition, so don’t write it off as just getting older. Evaluating your symptoms can help you figure out why you’re peeing so much and get you on the path to treating it.

Let’s look at the most common causes of frequent urination.

1. Urinary tract infection

A urinary tract infection (UTI) can cause the constant feeling of having to pee. A UTI happens when there’s an infection in the organs of your urinary tract. UTIs are common. In fact, up to 60% of women report having a UTI at some point in their lifetime.

Besides frequent urination, other symptoms of a UTI include:

• Blood in the urine, cloudy urine, or a strong odor to the urine

• Burning with urination

• Lower belly pain

• Fever

• Back pain

• Having to pee urgently, sometimes with very little urine

• Nausea or vomiting

Treatment for a UTI includes antibiotics and medications to help with pain and fever.

2. Diabetes

Diabetes is a common cause of frequent urination. If you have diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use the insulin it has. This leads to increased blood glucose (blood sugar) levels and serious complications for your kidneys and other organs. 

Your kidneys have many jobs including filtering blood to remove toxins from the bloodstream. 

EXPERT PICKS: WHAT TO READ NEXT

• Is my medication causing me to pee too often? Some medications can increase your urinary frequency. Find out which medications can make you pee more as a side effect. 

• Overactive bladder medication: If you’re looking for overactive bladder treatment, there are many different types of medications you can try.

• Wondering if your bladder habits are normal? Learn more about just how often you should pee each day.

Normally, glucose in the blood is filtered through the kidney and then reabsorbed into the bloodstream — so it stays inside the body. But if your blood glucose levels are very high, the kidneys can’t hold on to all the sugar. Excess sugar leaves the body in the urine. This results in increased urination (polyuria) and increased thirst (polydipsia). 

Over time, diabetes can lead to damage in the blood vessels that keep the kidneys healthy. About 1 in 3 adults with diabetes has chronic kidney disease. 

In addition to peeing often, other signs of untreated diabetes may be:

• Increased thirst

• Hunger

• Blurry vision

• Fatigue

• Weight loss

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3. Pregnancy

Frequent urination is common in pregnancy. In early pregnancy, hormonal changes can give you the urge to pee more often. Urinary frequency can be one of the earliest signs of pregnancy. 

Other signs of pregnancy include:

• Missed period

• Vaginal spotting

• Nausea and vomiting

• Breast tenderness and swelling

• Fatigue

• Headaches

You may also have frequent urination in later stages of pregnancy. That’s because the growing uterus can put pressure on your bladder. While pregnant, you’re also at an increased risk of developing a UTI. Sometimes this may be another reason for urinary frequency in pregnancy.

4. Appendicitis

An inflamed appendix from appendicitis may lead you to pee more often. Appendicitis is a common surgical emergency. In fact, it’s the most common reason people have surgery on their abdomen. Appendicitis happens when stool and other debris get trapped in the appendix, causing it to swell. 

Because of the location of the appendix, swelling of it can irritate your ureter or bladder. This can cause you to have urinary frequency. Some common symptoms of appendicitis are:

• Right lower belly pain

• Nausea or vomiting

• Loss of appetite

• Fever

• Constipation

In severe cases, the appendix can rupture and lead to a serious infection in the belly. That’s why appendicitis most often requires surgery for treatment. So it’s important to recognize the signs early. If you’re concerned that you may have appendicitis, get medical attention right away.

5. Medication

The medications you take can sometimes be the cause of your frequent urination. Some of the more common ones include:

• Diuretics like hydrochlorothiazide, furosemide, and spironolactone

• Calcium channel blockers like amlodipine and diltiazem

• Beta blockers like metoprolol and carvedilol

• Mood stabilizers like lithium

• SGLT2 inhibitors for diabetes like Farxiga and Jardiance

If you start a new medication and notice that you have to pee more, let your medical professional know.

6. Drinking too much

What you drink can cause you to pee more often. If you take in lots of water, you’ll likely notice that you urinate more. Alcoholic drinks and beverages with caffeine can also cause urinary frequency. This is commonly the issue if you’re urinating often at night. 

If you find yourself peeing too much (especially at night), you can try to:

• Decrease your fluid intake several hours before bedtime.

• Avoid caffeine after midday.

• Avoid alcoholic beverages.

7. Constipation

Sometimes constipation causes urinary frequency. If you have fewer than three bowel movements in a week, you may have constipation. This can cause the rectum to swell with stool and push on the bladder. The enlarged rectum leaves less room for the bladder to fill and creates an urge to pee more often. 

Constipation has many causes. These include:

• Diet (like a lack of fiber or water)

• Lack of exercise 

• Medications like opioids or antihistamines

• Medical conditions like hypothyroidism

• Pregnancy

Treatment for constipation depends on the cause. A healthcare professional can help you figure out why you aren’t having many bowel movements. Sometimes increasing your water and fiber intake helps. In some cases, medications help. Common over-the-counter (OTC) medications for constipation are:

• Stool softeners like docusate sodium

• Suppositories like Bisacodyl

• Laxatives like Senna and Miralax

• Enemas

8. Fibroids

Uterine fibroids can also make you pee more often. These are growths that can happen either inside or on the outside of the uterus. Fibroids are common. In fact, half of women will develop fibroids by the age of 50.

Sometimes fibroids grow large. When this happens, the uterus can put pressure on the bladder and cause urinary frequency. Other symptoms of fibroids are:

• Heavy or long-lasting periods

• Painful menstrual cramps

• Irregular bleeding between periods

• Pelvic pain or pressure

• Pain with sex

Treatment for fibroids can range from medication to surgery. So, if you have any of these symptoms, let a healthcare professional know. If you have fibroids, they can create a treatment plan that works best for you.

9. Overactive bladder

An overactive bladder (OAB) can cause bladder spasms that lead to urinary frequency. This happens when the bladder muscle contracts suddenly, giving you the feeling that you have to pee urgently. This can lead to accidents if you aren’t able to make it to the bathroom in time. 

OAB is common and affects about 12% of people. There’s a misconception that this is a normal part of aging. But OAB is actually a condition you can treat. 

Some factors that may put you at risk for OAB include:

• Nerve disorders that interrupt the signal between your brain and bladder

• Hormonal changes

• Pelvic floor weakness or spasms

• UTI

• Certain medications

• Medical conditions that affect the brain (like stroke and multiple sclerosis)

If you are concerned about OAB, talk with a healthcare professional about getting checked for this condition.

10. Prostate enlargement

An enlarged prostate can make you pee a lot, often through the night. It’s commonly recognized as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The prostate is a gland that sits underneath the bladder in men, and it helps to make semen. This gland gets bigger as you age, and half of people who have a prostate develop BPH by age 60.

As the prostate enlarges, you can have trouble emptying your bladder completely. This can trigger urinary frequency.

Other symptoms of BPH are:

• A strong urge to urinate

• Difficulty when starting to urinate

• A weak urine stream

• Urinating many times at night

• Painful urination

• Pain after ejaculating

• Not emptying the bladder after urinating

• Passing urine unintentionally

If you have any of these symptoms, talk with a healthcare professional. They’ll need to evaluate you and figure out the cause of your urinary problems.

11. Cancer

Cancer anywhere in the urinary tract can cause urinary frequency. Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men. Symptoms of bladder cancer can include:

• Hematuria (blood in the urine)

• Dysuria (painful urination)

• Back or flank pain

• Swollen lymph nodes

• Weight loss

• Feeling of fullness or mass in the abdomen

If you have urinary frequency and notice blood in your urine or have any of these symptoms, you should talk with a healthcare professional immediately. You might have an easily treated UTI, but it could be something more serious. Either way, the earlier you get treatment, the better the outcome.

12. Kidney stones

Kidney stones (urinary calculi, urolithiasis, or nephrolithiasis) happen when crystals start to form anywhere along the urinary tract. If they irritate or partially block the bladder, they can make you feel like you need to urinate. Some of the other symptoms that happen with kidney stones are:

• Pain

• Nausea 

• Vomiting 

• Blood in the urine

• Chills and fever

13. Pelvic organ prolapse

Risk factors like older age, being overweight, multiple vaginal births, and chronic straining (constipation) can weaken the supporting structures around the bladder. When the tissues are weakened enough, the vagina or uterus can collapse and put pressure on the bladder.

Compression of the bladder or urethra can make you feel like you have to pee frequently. Other symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse include:

• Incontinence

• Urinary retention

• Urinary urgency

• Pelvic organs bulging into the vaginal canal

• Feeling of pressure or fullness in the pelvis or vagina

• Pain with sex (dyspareunia)

How many times should you pee a day?

The number of times you pee throughout the day varies. But if you need to pee more than six times a day, you may have urinary frequency. You should also talk with a healthcare professional if you notice a sudden change in your urinary habits.

What causes frequent urination at night?

Frequent urination at night (nocturia) is a common occurrence. About 1 in 3 people older than 30 years wake up two or more times to urinate at night. Nocturia can disrupt sleep and affect your quality of life, so it’s important to find out what’s causing it and get treatment. 

Any of the conditions that cause you to urinate frequently during the day, can also cause nocturia. The most common causes of nocturia include:

• Drinking too much: Water, caffeine, or alcohol right before bedtime can cause you to pee at night.

• Bathroom habits: You’ve trained your body to wake up to use the bathroom, even if you don't need to go.

• Medications: Treatments like diuretics (water pills) and seizure medications can increase your nighttime urge to pee.

• Sleep disorders: Conditions like insomnia or sleep apnea may cause you to get up at night to pee.

• Overactive bladder: This condition can cause frequent urination throughout the day and night.

Treatments for frequent urination

Treatments for frequent urination depend on the cause. Once a healthcare professional has ruled out serious medical conditions and infections, treatment is focused on reducing the number of times you have to urinate during the day or night. Some of the treatment options for overactive bladder include:

• Behavior modification: This can include changing the timing of medications or reducing your fluid intake.

• Bladder training: This involves waiting longer periods between bathroom visits.

• Antimuscarinic medications: Medications like hyoscyamine (Levsin), solifenacin (Vesicare), and oxybutynin (Ditropan XL) reduce muscle contractions in the bladder.

• Sacral neuromodulation or percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation: Minimally invasive surgery is used to implant a small device that delivers electrical current to stimulate nerves and relax the bladder.

• Botulinum toxin (Botox): Botox is injected into the detrusor muscle, which relaxes the overactive bladder.

A healthcare professional can work with you to find the treatment option that gives you the best results to fit your goals and lifestyle.

When to get medical care for frequent urination

You should see a healthcare professional for frequent urination if you have symptoms of an infection such as:

• Pain with urination

• Fever

• Chills

• Abdominal pain

• Flank pain

You should also get care if you have:

• Blood in the urine

• Trouble passing urine

• Incontinence

• Urinary frequency that interferes with your normal activities

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Written by:

Karla Robinson, MD

Karla Robinson, MD, is a medical editor for GoodRx. She is a licensed, board-certified family physician with almost 20 years of experience in health through varied clinical, administrative, and educational roles.

Edited by:

Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH

Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH, is a medical editor at GoodRx. She is a licensed, board-certified pediatrician with more than a decade of experience in academic medicine.

Reviewed by:

Christine Giordano, MD

Christine Giordano, MD, is board-certified in general internal medicine. She received her medical degree from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and completed residency at Thomas Jefferson University.

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