Could dehydration be the cause

Brian1

I'm 53 and reasonably fit rider. Recently I noticed I had the urge to pee (sorry) after about an hour and would have to go after about 3 hours. I've been to the doc who has done all the usual blood tests- Blood glucose,PSA,liver and kidney function all of which have come back ok. I have noticed now that this seems to happen more after a hard ride. I know I dont drink enough on the bike and yesterday felt a bit dehydrated when I got home and pee was dark in colour. Is it possible that this(dehydration) could be causing the urge to go to the toilet although I would have thought that it would have had the opposite effect. Sorry for the detail! Thanks in advance

MountainMonster

I pee a lot but I drink tons of water every day. I can't imagine the timings are dehydration related, and I can't say I've ever had to pee when dehydrated. Maybe it has more to do with getting ready to ride, having a big glass before hand?

JayKosta

Having dark urine does indicate inadequate hydration.

I don't 'pre-load' water before riding, and I drink about 24 ounces during a 2 hour ride.
And then about another 16 ounces with whey protein immediately after the ride.

Perhaps saddle position is causing pressure.... try lowering the front just a very little and see how that feels.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

ut_och_cykla

I doubt dehydration would cause increase in need to pee but it might leave you open to infection (bacterial) or equally allow any gathering of potential irritants in the bladder to be more irritating! Some people go mad about keeping hydrated but being constantly dehydrated is probably not very good for you. Any discomfort or burning sensation suggests an infection whjich should be easy to check adn treat. (I'm a girly BTW and not a medical person...)

diamonddog

Did the doc check for an over active bladder?
Dark urine is a classic symptom of dehydration.

gavt0333

You drinking coffee or consuming caffeine? It's a bladder activator as well as a diuretic and so has a double effect in making you want to go. I use rehydration drinks with caffeine and sure enough I need to more than others but the positive effects outweigh the negative in terms of energy maintenance and endurance.

Brian1

Thanks for the replies. I do drink a lot of coffee(6/7cups a day) but only the first one and one in the afternoon have caffeine the rest are decaf. I understand that it is the caffeine that causes the diuretic effect.

ric/rstsport

the dieuretic effect doesn't occur in habitual drinkers.

Cosmicbike

Did you have the CK levels checked in your blood tests? If your urine is very dark (like the colour of coca cola) then worth getting tested. Elevated CK levels are normal after exercise, but excessive levels are bad news for muscles and kidneys from personal experience...

Brian1

Hi cosmic! No it would nt be that dark. Had to google to see what ck levels were. Thanks

Herbsman

I p*ss a lot after rides too. I think it could be that you are pedaling so hard, you're literally rupturing your leg muscles and causing them to liquefy slightly, and as a result you end up p*ssing out the broken down leg muscle fibre.

Brian1

Herb now I know YOU are taking the p!ss!

Herbsman

I'm serious! I can't stop going to the toilet after a hard session. This is not very scientific but when you ride hard, all sorts of stuff happens in the body, chemical reactions and stuff, the products of which need to be expelled from the body, and what better way than via the urine?

ut_och_cykla

You might have a point Herbsman- when you ride hard and use glycogen stores the glucose in these is stored with four times their weight in water and if this water is not used for cooling /sweating you will have to pee it out. Which would probably make the effect more noticeable on cold days.

onumnos

+1 on the glycogen water loss possibility except the OP indicates it's a recent development?

I'm nearly 50 (+ rep for "iron" bladder syndrome ) and find that if I'm well hydrated before exercise (that is after consuming sufficient fluids to have a need to urinate immediately prior to riding) that after an hour or so of moderate/hard effort I usually need to "go again" quite badly. However I'm fine for hours after that point (this is without consuming any food/liquids during exercise).

I low carb (actually VLC) so this isn't likely to be glycogen/water. I would ask about salt intake as I noticed particularly in the warmer weather I would get a very strong urge to urinate after about an hour after salt loading in the morning (part of the VLC deal to avoid hypotension - I only eat once/day so have to consume salt outside of meal times). I put this down to losing electrolytes in sweat causing a concomittant shedding of retained fluid through urine. I Don't notice this so much now the weather's turned cooler of course.