Having to push to pee?

[gandalf456]

For the past week, I have noticed I am having to push to pee. My stomach is also very bloated. I have pre-booked a GP appointment but it's for nearly 3 weeks' time. Any ideas?

Walk in centre? Take a first morning sample with you. Are you having to push the whole lot out or just push to get started?

Have to push all of it really

Have you had vaginal births? What you have can be caused by a bladder prolapse when the bladder bulges below the level of the outlet, so the pee can't flow 'uphill'. You need a referral to a gynae I think unless you have neurological problems that are affecting other bits of your body too. Have you had a 'feel' to see if there is a bulge and if it helps to insert a finger to lift it all back?

Have a look at you tube videos by Michelle Kenway, a pelvic floor physio. Leaning forward may help. It is important to completely emptuy your bladder if you can, as otherwise infection is likely.

I had two vaginal births. My youngest is seven now. I did feel as f my pelvic floor was shot with my first. Second birth was better in that respect.

I do have a bulge. Pushed it back and it feels better now. I have been leaning forward too which helps

As for neurological symptoms, I do have problems with my cervical spine but they're mild and only affecting my arms

The other reasons for inability to wee etc are things like MS - and you don't seem to have that.

I can't believe you have to wait 3 weeks for an appt- doesn't your GP do emergency or same day appts? I thought they had to keep some aside. Phone and make a fuss and say you need an earlier appt.

I'd call the GP back and explain. Urinary retention can become pretty serious quite quickly. If you're not emptying your bladder completely you can end up with a UTI. You need this sorting ASAP.

Sounds like a bit of a bladder prolapse. Is it easier to wee after you have been lying down (like first thing in the morning)?
Whereas by evening times it has had time to 'sag' so weeing may be more difficult later in the day...if it's the bladder position which is the problem.
I have a bladder prolapse (repaired now which has helped a lot) but I never had to push wee out in the way you describe. If it were me, I'd push for an earlier appointment just because if it suddenly got even slightly worse, an inability to get the urine out could put you suddenly into hospital which'd be a right pain in the ass. So better to put more effort into investigating it sooner.
Kind of standing up and leaning forward to wee as if you are skiing, see if that makes it easier. These things will tell you if it's a positional thing.
Hormones can make the ligaments slightly more lax also. So if you are peri-menopausal so you may start to see a worsening of symptoms. If you can get to a specialist women's physio, she will help you do the right exercises to hopefully help somewhat. You might get a very good result after a few weeks/months of proper pelvic floors.
Otherwise at some point you may need a bladder prolapse repair to lift it up a bit (I had this done). Called an anterior repair.
Takes a bit of time to recover, but your kids are that bit older and don't need lifting etc. In the meantime:
don't ever lift anything weighing more than about 6kg (less if possible), so divide your shopping into smaller bags.
Don't lift suitcases etc. Don't turn mattresses or push the sofa around etc. Don't carry a full load of wet washing to the line, break it up into smaller portions.
Try to minimise pushing as in hoovering, so if you have a hoover that you really need to exert a pushing motion, change your hoover to something that glides more easily. Or just don't hoover! Don't do exercise involving running, or jumping or pressing down on the pelvic floor. You might also find that clothes that are very tight around your tummy make it worse, like tight jeans. Constipation may have a knock on effect, as the full rectum may be distorting the shape of the bladder. Good luck with it.

Thanks I am feeling bloated and breathless as well -like something is pushing on my lungs. I will try to get seen sooner if it doesn't improve

gandalf are your ankles swollen? Press the fleshiest part hard for 4 seconds, if it takes more than 2 seconds to return to normal, you're retaining water. Coupled with the difficulty to urine, you really will need checking.

They are a bit but they have been for years so it's difficult to tell. I sprained both of them years ago and they've never been right since but I don't think they're massively up. The water retention sounds about right, though. I remember my mother having the same at my age (45) and she was given diuretics. She still has a big stomach now

You need a more urgent appt. Not wishing to scare you but bloating and pressure around the tummy can be a sign of something innocuous like IBS but more serious things like large ovarian cysts. No one retains fluid unless they have a serious chronic illness (like kidney disease.) or heart failure. It's not 'normal' to retain fluid.