Certain drinks and foods can worsen some bladder issues. Drinks or foods that contain caffeine, are very acidic or contain artificial sweeteners such as aspartame or saccharine can irritate the bladder. Fizzy or carbonated drinks and alcohol can also do this.
It can feel like cutting down on your fluid intake should help your bladder symptoms but this can make things worse by making your urine too concentrated and make your symptoms worse. You should aim to drink between 1.5-2L of fluid per day (6-10 mugs).
NHS Tayside have patient information leaflets on Caffeine Reduction and Foods and Drinks that Can Irritate the Bladder.
How to improve your symptoms of Urgency and Frequency
Please see below for advice on how to improve your symptoms and some additional links and resources we have picked out that may be useful
Drinking for a healthier bladder
Bladder Training
What is bladder training?
This is a first line treatment for Overactive Bladder (OAB). It can help teach your bladder to hold more urine and can help to reduce the amount of times you need to go to the toilet to pass urine. It can also help to control urinary leakage if you experience urgency (the sudden, uncontrollable need to pass urine)
How do I do bladder training?
When you first get the urge to pass urine try not to go immediately. Instead try to wait for at least one minute (you can increase this over time). There are many things you can do to try to help you control (suppress) the urge. Our Urgency & Frequency leaflet has lots of examples - try to find the ones that work best for you. If you can do this every time you get the sudden urge, you will find that this starts to improve. As the days/ weeks pass keep trying to increase the time you can delay going to the toilet
How can I tell if I am making progress?
It may be helpful to keep a bladder diary of how often and how much urine you are passing and your intake of fluid. You can buy a cheap plastic measuring jug (the 1 litre ones work well). We have a bladder diary linked HERE.
What do I do if I am not making progress or have questions?
Bladder training can be supported or supervised by a healthcare professional. Please discuss with your GP or other healthcare professional. Doing regular Pelvic Floor Exercises (Kegels) together with bladder training can help you find and develop the muscles that can prevent urinary leakage. Have a look at some of the resources and links below to help you with these exercises.
Please remember that your bladder is like any other muscle in your body. It may take several months to train your bladder to its full potential.
Understanding Overactive Bladder is a guide for people with overactive bladder. Bladder Matters is a similar but is a more comprehensive look at OAB and is also available in different languages.
This is a first line treatment for Overactive Bladder (OAB). It can help teach your bladder to hold more urine and can help to reduce the amount of times you need to go to the toilet to pass urine. It can also help to control urinary leakage if you experience urgency (the sudden, uncontrollable need to pass urine)
How do I do bladder training?
When you first get the urge to pass urine try not to go immediately. Instead try to wait for at least one minute (you can increase this over time). There are many things you can do to try to help you control (suppress) the urge. Our Urgency & Frequency leaflet has lots of examples - try to find the ones that work best for you. If you can do this every time you get the sudden urge, you will find that this starts to improve. As the days/ weeks pass keep trying to increase the time you can delay going to the toilet
How can I tell if I am making progress?
It may be helpful to keep a bladder diary of how often and how much urine you are passing and your intake of fluid. You can buy a cheap plastic measuring jug (the 1 litre ones work well). We have a bladder diary linked HERE.
What do I do if I am not making progress or have questions?
Bladder training can be supported or supervised by a healthcare professional. Please discuss with your GP or other healthcare professional. Doing regular Pelvic Floor Exercises (Kegels) together with bladder training can help you find and develop the muscles that can prevent urinary leakage. Have a look at some of the resources and links below to help you with these exercises.
Please remember that your bladder is like any other muscle in your body. It may take several months to train your bladder to its full potential.
Understanding Overactive Bladder is a guide for people with overactive bladder. Bladder Matters is a similar but is a more comprehensive look at OAB and is also available in different languages.
Pelvic Floor Exercises
The pelvic floor muscles are a group of muscles that sit at the base of your pelvis and help to keep your bladder, uterus (womb), vaginal and bowel in the right place. These muscles are like any muscles in the body and should be kept strong and active. For men please look at the Male Bladder Problems section of the website for more information on your pelvic floor muscles.
Strong and healthy pelvic floor muscles have been shown to improve bladder and bowel problems, vaginal prolapse and improve sexual function. NHS Inform have a section on Women's pelvic floor muscles which you might find useful. They also have a couple of videos which we have linked below.
It might be helpful to look at a 3D video of these muscles inside your pelvis.
The NHS Tayside patient information leaflet on Pelvic Floor Exercises for Women has useful information on how to do these exercises and other hints and tips.
Pelvic floor exercises need done regularly - usually this means 3 times per day. It can be challenging to remember to do pelvic floor exercises regularly so you might find using an App on your phone helpful Squeezy NHS is a really good option and only costs a few pounds.
Strong and healthy pelvic floor muscles have been shown to improve bladder and bowel problems, vaginal prolapse and improve sexual function. NHS Inform have a section on Women's pelvic floor muscles which you might find useful. They also have a couple of videos which we have linked below.
It might be helpful to look at a 3D video of these muscles inside your pelvis.
The NHS Tayside patient information leaflet on Pelvic Floor Exercises for Women has useful information on how to do these exercises and other hints and tips.
Pelvic floor exercises need done regularly - usually this means 3 times per day. It can be challenging to remember to do pelvic floor exercises regularly so you might find using an App on your phone helpful Squeezy NHS is a really good option and only costs a few pounds.
Other Lifestyle Changes that can help
Please look at our Lifestyle and Physical Activity Section for lots of advice
Other Resources
We have linked some other information that you might find helpful below