Frequent urination during pregnancy | Frequent urination

Frequent urination during pregnancy

Since during pregnancy there are various hormonal changes and an altered metabolic situation, it is possible that during this time, due to the pregnancy, urine flooding may occur, which can be considered a special form of diabetes insipidus. This is because an enzyme is released from the placenta, the so-called vasopressinase, which causes the ADH (=antidiuretic hormone or vasopressin) to be broken down more quickly. This means that the ADH, which prevents increased urination, is relatively less present.

As a result, urination can occur more frequently. During pregnancy, the kidneys also react less to the antidiuretic hormone, which is known as ADH resistance. Further all causes, which otherwise come into question for a urine flood, can lead to an increased urinary excretion in a pregnancy.

Frequent urination after a birth

In the course of the hormonal changes after a birth, there are numerous changes that aim to return the body to its normal state. This process is called postpartum. This results in a loss of the hormones that were produced by the placenta during pregnancy.

During this time, water retention increases due to increased production of aldosterone, a hormone that affects the mineral balance and leads to increased sodium and water retention in all tissues. These water retentions are noticeable as oedemas in the body, which are visible and palpable swellings. After birth, these oedemas are flushed out of the interstitium (intercellular space), firstly through increased sweating, but also through a flood of urine.

Frequent urination with cardiac arrhythmia

A distinction is made between bradycardic rhythm disorders, i.e. those with a slowed pulse, and tachycardic disorders with an accelerated pulse. Particularly in the latter case, the increased stretching of the atrial wall can lead to a flood of urine. This is because a hormone is released, the so-called ANP (=atrial natriuretic peptide), which has a diuretic effect and causes increased fluid excretion, in order to relieve the heart retroactively.

A very common tachycardic heart rhythm disorder nowadays is atrial fibrillation, which affects about 1.8 million people in Germany. Atrial fibrillation causes the heart to beat too quickly and irregularly, and the patient experiences symptoms such as heart stumbling, tiredness, exhaustion, dizziness, loss of consciousness, shortness of breath and occasionally chest pain. However, these symptoms are not typical of atrial fibrillation but can also occur with other cardiac arrhythmias. Other relevant common tachycardic disorders are reentry tachycardia, e.g. AV node reentry tachycardia, in which recurrent circular excitation occurs between the atrium and ventricle.