The "Three Minute Pee"!

So I am sitting here, curled up on the sofa with yet another UTI. I'm so sore and feeling utterly sorry for myself! About two weeks before I was diagnosed with MS, I had my first ever UTI that wouldn't shift with anti- biotics. I have had many since! MS can encourage UTIs (Urinary Tract Infections), due to the positioning of certain lesions on the brain. I think that the culprit lesions are around the spinal cord area. My Copaxone nurse told me the reason- the lesion is preventing my brain from telling my bladder (correctly) that it is empty. When you go to the loo, and fail to get rid of all the urine, it starts to breed bacteria and can result in an infection.

I think most of us drinkers are familiar with "breaking the seal" on a night out. You can go to the pub, and spend two hours happily drinking... then you go to the toilet (and break the seal), and then every 10- 15 minutes, you need to go to the toilet for the rest of the night. A very good friend of mine called Joy, (a perfect name for her, as she is truly joyous) told me about the concept of the "three minute pee", where when you go to the loo on a night out, you need to stay on the loo for three whole minutes. You will pass urine when you first go to the loo, but your bladder will nearly always expel more urine the longer you sit there, therefore allowing you a longer break before you need the loo again. This leads to more drinking and dancing time!!!

I found this concept to be truly revolutionary! I would always do it on a night out, but never realised how useful it may be to my MS. So from now on, I shall be occupying the bathroom for three minutes at a time... I'm sure the time spent on the loo will prevent time being spent in the doctor's surgery!