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In a medical word: micturition frequency
Good question! In this section Plus goes in search of answers to nagging questions. This time: How often peeing in a day is ‘normal’?
One runs to the toilet every hour, the other wonders at the end of the working day whether she actually went to the toilet today. Are you a ‘frequent urinator’ or do you keep it up for hours? How many times a day is peeing normal?
Half a liter of space
The discharge of urine is called micturition in medical terms. Doctors also call the micturition frequency how often you urinate in a day. Your bladder holds about half a liter of urine. As soon as 150 to 200 milliliters of urine have been collected, you will first feel the urge to go to the bathroom.
drinking behavior
How often you have to urinate depends, among other things, on how much you drink. If you get very little fluid in (or if you already lose a lot due to heavy sweating, diarrhea or vomiting), you also have to urinate much less. If you drink a lot, you will probably have to urinate more often.
8 times
With an average fluid intake of about 1.5 to 2 liters per day, adults urinate 5 to 8 times a day. If you urinate 8 times or less in 24 hours, it is considered normal.
If you regularly have to go out twice or more often at night for a pee, we speak of nocturia. In other words, pee at night. This is more common in seniors. It can be very annoying if you keep waking up from the urge and therefore sleep badly.
Causes of frequent urination
Do you pee very often? That’s called polyuria. This can have several causes, such as:
- get a lot of fluids
- diabetes insipidus
- an overactive bladder
- bladder infection
- diabetes
- pregnancy
- enlarged prostate
- use of diuretics (diuretics)
Causes of little urination
Very little urination is called oliguria. This may be related to:
- a urinary tract disorder
- a kidney problem
- dehydration
pee diary
If you have urinary complaints, such as having to go to the toilet extremely often or rarely, consult your doctor. They may ask you to keep a pee diary for a while. If people just estimate how often and how much they urinate, this often turns out to be incorrect. In such a pee diary you enter, for example, for three days and two nights when you drink and how much. And how often you have to urinate and whether that is just a splash or a normal amount of urine.
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