Is it bad to do a "just in case" pee? - and update

[Kylecantholdit 12]

I have been doing it since I was a kid, I always pee before a road trip or anything even if I am home alone I pee just in case, I don't want to end up in a situation where I need to pee but can't.

Am I conditioning my bladder to feel full sooner and not hold as much?

[Loller 399]

I guess it's okay to do occasionally. For road trips etc.

But not all the time, the bladder gets used to it.

[Vassal 1,471]

It shouldn't be doing anything, an old adage is centered around how you should take any opportunity to eat, sleep or piss when given the chance in various situations, travel being one of them.

[Bacardi 10,131]

I do them often, before bed and before I leave the house. Depending on where I'm at in my cycle water can either sit in my bladder for hours without feeling like I need to pee or run right through me as soon I drink it, so going and letting out just a little bit is good for me, and I've never noticed any negative side effects.

[Sexismygod 1,782]

The body becomes accustomed to normalised behaviour, but this sounds like an occasional event so is unlikely to "train" the bladder.  However, it may train you to think a pee is needed when it really isn't, so would there be any real difference between a trained bladder and a trained awareness?

Sounds like some proper experimentation is needed.

[GenericUsername 1,108]

I always do those. Holding and desperation aren’t my things when I’m not home.

[Rewdna 782]

I often do.Sometimes,just as I'm leaving work or if I am going to be driving for longer than normal.Even if I think I don't really need.

[busbus 58]

I never do a just in case wee before leaving the house however will always do a just in case wee at the last layby before leaving the motorway

[Spectator9 304]

The experts in treating incontinence will tell you that if you frequently take precautionary pees you are training your bladder to hold less.  Sometimes it's necessary out of convenience, but you shouldn't make it a daily habit.  

[Kylecantholdit 12]

I feel like I need to pee as soon as I sit down in a car if I don't do a "just in case pee". I am trying not to do "just in case" pees as often. How can I increase my ability to hold it?

[gldenwetgoose 21,486]

14 minutes ago, Kylecantholdit said:

I feel like I need to pee as soon as I sit down in a car if I don't do a "just in case pee". I am trying not to do "just in case" pees as often. How can I increase my ability to hold it?

I know exactly what you mean, and I'm convinced it's entirely driven by my brain more than my bladder.

It's that situation where I know when I last had a drink, and went for a pee - so my brain is doing the sums of how quickly I'm going to fill up and when I may need to pee.  Then my brain also thinks ahead...   If I'm driving home from work and know it's going to be 30 minutes then no issue at all.  If I'm setting off on a longer journey then it'll start pinging the alarm bells.

One of the worst is if I'm travelling with my wife - who will never ask to stop and would just hold.  And for me to stop for a pee, it either has to be at a toilet stop or it comes with all sorts of unhelpful 'can you not wait...'   'make sure nobody sees you...' type cautions.  So in the situation I was driving solo then I wouldn't bother, I'd just find a layby or rest stop when needed (whether or not it was a toilet) and pee there.  Even a supermarket car park on occasion.  But as soon as I've got company in the car then the extra logistics add that complication - and the red flag as I get into the car in the first place just as you've said.

And I must admit I'm the same on a flight.  Anything over an hour and a half and I'll most likely be peeing half way through the flight.  I'll usually get an aisle seat because I know I'll be getting up, and there's the thoughts of 'what if the seat belt light comes on for the rest of the flight' and then that long queue at passport control.

In both cases - I think the key is mind over matter, but at the same time I am aware that I'm not trying for a hold here. If I've got liquid in my bladder and I don't want to break the journey then it does make sense to release it first.   If not then I just need to tell my brain not to be so silly and stop worrying.

[GenericUsername 1,108]

On 3/8/2023 at 8:44 AM, Spectator9 said:

The experts in treating incontinence will tell you that if you frequently take precautionary pees you are training your bladder to hold less.  Sometimes it's necessary out of convenience, but you shouldn't make it a daily habit.  

This concerns me. Heard about this before…

[Havelock 1,526]

On 3/4/2023 at 10:30 PM, Kylecantholdit said:

I have been doing it since I was a kid, I always pee before a road trip or anything even if I am home alone I pee just in case, I don't want to end up in a situation where I need to pee but can't.

Am I conditioning my bladder to feel full sooner and not hold as much?

When you mentioned this, my first thought was being a kid. I remember often being told to do a just in case pee. Often before getting in the car or leaving some place. If we were not at home, I was often asked right before getting in the car and I could then pee in the parking lot, street etc. by the car. I also remember this happening with my cousins growing up in the EU. It would be group pee time wetting down the parking lot. 

The nannies would often have us do a just in case pee upon getting to or leaving the park. I remember once getting to the park and wanting to go play, but the nanny said I should pee. I was lead to the side to help water a tree. I also remember going to the farmers market and being lead behind a truck to pee before we left. 

These days I try to go and encourage everyone else before leaving the house. 

  

[gldenwetgoose 21,486]

I'm just going to follow up to my post just above, about the effect of nerves on the need to pee - or more the feeling of needing to pee.

This weekend I've been away with my wife in our caravan - basically a big white box 7.5 metres / 25ft long and weighing 1500kg pulled by my car.  Now, it takes a lot of concentration towing it - different lines on the road and cornering, lots of thinking ahead and planning.

Last night suddenly got very gusty and windy, shaking the van all night to the point of waking us up and in the light of dawn it was apparent how bad it was - 40-50mph gusts.  I checked out a few weather websites and knew it was going to be a rough ride, risky in fact.  The first part of the journey pretty much into the wind which would be ok but then the majority of the journey on the motorway with gusty crosswinds.

Anyway, I went about packing up all the cables, hoses and the like, and then went to the toilet block which was closed for cleaning.  Not a big problem, I could stop at the services.   So we set off, with me being conscious that I could do with a pee.  Not desperate, but I that feeling I needed to pee.

We got to the motorway and turned into the crosswind, expecting to be buffeted about and have a handful of problems - and as it was, my car handled it brilliantly.  No issues, a lovely smooth drive.  And within a mile or so of that part of the journey my feeling of needing to pee had completely disappeared.   Nerves, simply nerves.