Overactive Bladder

If you have to urinate eight or more times a day, you may have an overactive bladder. Getting up to urinate two or more times each night is another sign of overactive bladder. With an overactive bladder, you feel strong, sudden urges to urinate, and you also may have urge incontinence.

Overactive bladder occurs when abnormal nerves send signals to the bladder at the wrong time, causing its muscles to squeeze without warning. Voiding up to seven times a day is normal for many women, but women with overactive bladder may find that they must urinate even more frequently.

Specifically, the symptoms of overactive bladder include:

Urinary frequency – bothersome urination eight or more times a day or two or more times at night
Urinary urgency – the sudden, strong need to urinate immediately
Urge incontinence – leakage or gushing of urine that follows a sudden, strong urge
Nocturia – awaking at night to urinate