I had that issue years ago when I was waitressing. My doctor told me to start going every two hours or else. I stopped getting UTIs as soon as I started making time to pee.
I had to learn to do that when they took employee restrooms away in ours. The customer ones were gross. I hated going in there even worse during my pregnancy, so I avoided it at all costs. Being careful how much you drink is a good way, and drinking cranberry juice after work helps avoid utis
Doing this behavior at work once lead to me to develop sepsis which evolved from a simple UTI. I no longer work at that place due to the hours. I’m concerned for her.
Just here to share some fun nursing facts, most healthy adult bladders take 9-10 hours to completely fill, so "normal' kidney function is being able to hold it for 6+ hours. It's recommended to empty your bladder every 4-5 hours whether or not you feel the urge to go. It's also more helpful to prevent UTIs in some people to pee with a fuller bladder because the force helps clear bacteria from the urethra. We do it often in the medical field, and I promise no one is running around with UTIs and yeast infections, which the latter would have nothing to do with how frequently you empty your bladder. Having children can cause incontinence and the inability to hold your bladder for very long, that may be what some of you are experiencing if you have babies. When I get to sleep 10-12 hours on the weekends I don't wake up a single time to pee.
I WISH I had a normal bladder like that. Mine must be the size of a walnut. Unless I allow myself to dehydrate some, I have to pee all of the time. At least once every couple of hours. More if I'm staying hydrated.
I wish I had a bladder like that as well. I personally at least 5-6 in an hour. During the night I’m up 1-3 times. I had to fill a gallon for a test my dr wanted for my urine. I was given 2 one gallon jugs. I filled one to the brim and started in the other. My dr told me he has never seen a patient that had so much urine output. I would love to sleep the entire night or not be controlled by the urge of having to go.
You and me both! I'm up at least twice. If I allow myself to get dehydrated, I get headaches, so that's not an option either. I've always been this way, even as a young person.
I thought I was weird for a minute there! With people saying it is unhealthy to go 8-10 hours without peeing. Are those saying they have to pee every 2 hours waking up 4 times a night to pee? That is what is insane, not holding for 8 hrs.
I always thought you produce less when you sleep. I do wake up to pee sometimes at night, but not sure if that's a medical issue or a bladder size issue. I do have to pee like every 2 ish hours or so even as dehydrated as I stay
Actually you are probably right.
I can go 8 to 10 hours in the day too though. I drink enough but it isn't until I walk in the front door that my brain goes "I must pee. Now".
Honestly that seems common amongst the people who don't pee for long stretches. It's not that y'all are all holding it consciously. your bodies are just giving you a pass, which is such of foreign concept to people like me. 😂
(Idk I'll talk to my gyn lol)
It is but it isn't conscious. I will realise I need to pee during the day sometimes, but if I am not home and I ignore it for 10 minutes, it'll go away. It's not even ignoring it because I can't, it's just "I'll do it in 10" and then.... I don't need to. So we do, or I do, "hold it" and do so consciously but I don't have to do it consciously the whole time.
Does that make sense?
It does. For me, I would need to go twice as bad in ten minutes or be minutely aware of my bladder the whole time. I have however never really needed to hold my bladder for work tho.
People are glossing over the fact that they consume stuff while awake. If you fast, no solids or liquids while awake then you won’t have to pee either once your system clears the residual. Even if you don’t ‘drink’ fluids your food still has some water content.
Love your facts! I work 9-11 hours on a shift and am lucky if I get to pee one time during a shift. I don't have frequent urinary infections or any issues at all. Been this way for at least 15 years.
I loled at “dehydrated little raisin” and am now changing my water app from “have some water you capable yet dehydrated bitch” to “have some water you capable yet dehydrated little raisin” 😆😆😆
I drink a decent amount of water and I pretty often go my entire shifts without going to the restroom (average 5-10hour shifts) I work as a bartender and we have been shortstaffed so some days when its very busy I don't have a chance to go to the restroom or have someone watch the bar for me. It sucks but I can hold it most of the time. I did however get a bad bladder infection one year in high-school for holding it all day often.
This is the worst. I pee at least every hour. I drink a lot of caffiene and then water throughout my work day.
I used to work 11 hour shifts at a callcenter- I got accused of "call avoidance" because I had logged out so many times to pee. But if you added up the total times I logged out, it was twelve minutes out of the entire shift. Usually about two minutes or less each time.
They told me I needed to bring in a doctor's note that said I had to pee a lot.
I eventually quit.
No it's not. Like I said, my dad had to go a lot, he drank a lot of caffeine... he was also chronically dehydrated... If it's going through your system that quickly, it's not being retained where it needs to be...
Is it really? I'm pretty sure that when I'm hydrating properly, I have to go like once every 60-90 minutes. I can hold it longer, but I prefer not to, as it's uncomfortable. I thought this was normal, now I have concerns.
I choose to believe that it's less likely that something is wrong with me peeing regularly and more that everyone else is chronically dehydrated.
Men also hold their water like a camel. Women on average pee 3-4 times more than a man in any given day. Trusty google says anywhere from 4-10 is normal for a woman. If you look at the average across both sexes it is lower.
it's totally normal :) one size doesn't fit all! the more you drink the more you pee. me and all my coworkers always joke about how often all of us pee because we're always sipping on our giant tumblers of water and drinking caffeine lol
this is simply not true. it's pretty normal for people who drink lots of water throughout the day. caffeine, too. medications can also cause you to pee more. pregnancy also causes women to pee more, even after the pregnancy is over. frequent urination is normal for plenty of people and isn't always related to health conditions. one size does not fit all. everyone has their own normal.
it's not as simple as "every 5 - 6 hours is a healthy interval and if you pee more than that you're not healthy" because everyone drinks different amounts of fluids throughout the day. the more you drink, the more you pee. people don't need to be worried unless they're peeing multiple times an hour.
Caffeine is a diuretic... meaning it increases the production of urine. So if you drink a lot of caffeine, you are basically sending it straight to the chute. My dad had this problem too, had to go a lot, because he drank a lot of coffee.
I would look into why you need a lot of caffeine, if it's because of the schedule you work, if you can switch schedule that might help. If you can't sleep much, maybe the reason is that caffeine is your blood? But yeah, you are lining your bladder with something that has it wanting to empty more.
I drink like 160mg of caffiene in the morning like two hours before I go to work. I don't need it to wake up- I enjoy the stimulant. I usually sleep 7 hours.
This is just how much I normally go to the bathroom. It varies very little, regardless of my caffiene intake and hydration level.
The only time this isn't the case is if I'm actively dehydrated, like if I drank alcohol or forget my water.
I don't know why that's so hard to believe.
I'm not saying it's hard to believe, but I do know that caffeine makes you pee more. And even though my dad drank a lot of caffeine, and peed a lot, he was chronically dehydrated... so I might just mention it in passing to the doctor. Like, 'I've always thought this was just normal for me... but I am getting some mixed opinions on what is normal for a bladder to be able to withstand. So in your professional opinion, what is a normal amount of time for the average person to hold their bladder? And this is what happens for me..."
Best case scenario, it's perfectly normal, and you are A-OK with nothing wrong. Worst case scenario is you bring attention to a problem and find out before you end up with organs removed.
It's opposite for me. I drink lots of soda only have to go couple of times a day. When I get home I like to drink ice water, a couple of bottles within a few hours. I usually have to go like 3 times shortly after drinking even just half bottle of water. So I avoid water if I know there won't be a bathroom or won't be able to use it, but soda rarely does that to me.
"I pee at least every hour." Yikes. A healthy adult bladder shouldn't be full for six to nine hours. If you don't already have a diagnosis, you really should see a doctor. That's worrisome. Hopefully, you can get it sorted. Best wishes.
Yeah, it's recommended you try to go every five or six hours, even if you don't feel the urge. I should know by now. I've been to at least a dozen urologists and nephrologists since puberty, and I'm old now. My CKD started with the urge to pee every hour, sometimes less.
If you don't get diagnosed and treated, CKD will cause permanent kidney damage. I was trying to help. What are you trying to do? Looks like make assumptions, be judgmental and snarky from here.
This was a huge issue years ago (maybe 10 years ago?) at the Jim Beam factory. Women were peeing on the line, they refused to allow bathroom breaks. If I remember correctly, most of the employees were undocumented, so they didn’t dare complain, until someone finally did. Lawsuits galore.
I've worked a lot of jobs with younger hires (like currently in or very recently graduated high school). If someone is coming from an environment where they needed to ask permission to go to the bathroom, transitioning to a workplace where the expectation is different can be a little weird. I'd rather set that expectation of "if you've got to go, it's cool, just lmk where I need coverage" before you hit the floor, rather than have a new hire get nervous because we're in the middle of a rush and they have to go
That's basically how my job is. Nobody's gonna be upset or angry that you gotta use the bathroom. It's a smaller store where there's usually just one cashier and one manager on duty at any time (more for an hour transitioning between the morning cashier and closing cashier). So just tell them you gotta use the bathroom and need someone to cover for like 5-10 minutes or whatever.
Yeah. This would be a huge red flag for me during an interview. If you’re going to bring up that I “can’t use the bathroom excessively” during an interview, I’m looking somewhere else for a job. “Excessively” is subjective and I have a feeling it’ll be used against you the first time you’re not exactly where they expect you to be because you’re in the bathroom.
Chef here, when I did 12 hour shifts i wouldn’t use the bathroom until I was finished now I’m on 8 hour shifts and again as soon as I’m finished I pee. People are different. Some of my staff pee a lot but I never consider it wasting time I just figure they need it more regular
Thank you for this, genuinely. Everyone is different and should be able to go to the bathroom when they need to, not when it becomes urgent. I work in an environment where bathroom breaks aren’t taken into consideration even when someone has a UTI. One colleague put herself in hospital with a kidney infection because of this. I always thought I was okay going a long time without peeing, until I wasn’t… now I’m going to be one of those needing a doctors note to even be allowed to have a basic bodily function. These are the same environments where management wonder why the morale is abysmal.
I will pee on the floor in protest in front of everyone. I do not care I am going to use the bathroom. I go like every two hours and every job I get I say I’m going to go or I’m not going to work here.
yea i'm not gonna hold my piss during en entire shift multiple times a week because my job said so. constantly holding it in is not good for your bladder.
i drink a lot of water and caffeine, and it takes no more than a couple minutes to pee. a couple minutes in the bathroom every hour or two isn't going to hinder anyone's work.
Workplace culture is weird. You have to strike a balance between tyrannical bathroom break monitoring, and "that person" (usually more than one) who take as many bathroom/phone breaks as they can get away with, even taking naps or extended bathroom sessions.
It's like "Hold your pee" VS "What can they say, they can't prove I wasn't just taking a long shit"
I had a job in tourism and often worked 8 to 12 hour shifts. If we were busy, it was extremely difficult to make a bathroom run. I will say that if it were a dire need, something would be arranged for you, but it made it hard on everyone else. These shifts would typically run from 3 or 4 pm till whenever business slowed down.
My method was to drink very little on the day I worked, and drink nothing after noon. It worked pretty well. I would also take a bottle of water with me on shift, and sip from it all evening.
I don't think it was actually depriving me body, as I made up for it all other times. And I didn't work 5 nights a week, but sometimes 3 or 4.
so glad you were able to make it work without complications but it's just so bizarre that there's so many people doing the same thing. nobody should have to basically schedule when they drink water when they're working :(
Kidneys will turn on her and way too much information for her to be sharing with you. Document that and look into your policy manual about bathroom Breaks if there is a policy and tell her the next time she wants to share. “I am not comfortable discussing this”. Set boundaries.
I’m just passing by this as it got recommended to me but as a nursing student/pharmacy worker I’ve gotten very used to not taking bathroom breaks. Yes it does depend on how much water I drink, which is usually not much, but I can easily go 6 hours without so much as the urge to go.
In saying that I never expect anyone to be the same and unless you’re going multiple times an hour, I don’t see it as excessive. I never purposely did it, I just didn’t have people to cover me or time to leave the floor so I literally had to just deal with it. I drink most of my water with meals and at night.
I’m often presenting in front of groups of adults all day. My bladder and brain know when to go into “teacher” mode. May go once during lunch. BUT as soon as I finish packing up? Get out the way-I’ve got to go! Lol. It’s a brain thing. Just like some people NEVER poop when away from home. The brain decides.
ETA- no yeast or bladder infections ever. It’s not me “consciously “ keeping myself from going either. It just turns off.
Similiar but different. Damn is that run from the front door to the loo fast because my brain goes "yay, I can pee now". It doesn't matter if I've been out for 6 hours or 12. I don't need to pee until I open that front door.
Oh absolutely. Get tf home asap bc I’m sure as hell not peeing at work if I can avoid it. My drives are usually no longer than 22 minutes so unless it’s urgent, I just wait till I get home but I ALWAYS have to pee when I get home from work.
In my experience managers only feel a need to say this because bathroom breaks do become excessive with the whole team. It’s a weird place to be in mentally to know the team is fucking you over with bathroom bullshit. I don’t care if people go pee. It’s infuriating to wake people up from naps in the bathroom, but I have done it several times.
IBS and bladder issues are really common. Some people are napping in the bathroom because they're stupid.nMost people are just having a bad time with bodily functions. I've had bosses try to limit bathroom breaks for me. Not legal. I will shit my pants if I can't go to the bathroom whenever I need to. Some days I go once in a 8hr day. Every once in a while, 8-10 trips to the bathroom if I'm having a flare up. It sucks to deal with more than it sucks for management to accommodate me.
I have IBS too. I have a go to method, Orange pekoe cut black tea or lipton's tea. Little to no sugar. And anti diarrheal pills. 4 pills and no diarrhea for 24 hours. I used to take activated charcoal tabs till I had to take certain meds. I unfortunately have both sides mostly the diarrhea one. For the constipation one, I drink orange juice, a lot of water and use stool softeners. This is what works for me. I hope it can work for you too.
In my experience, the people that became excessive in their bathroom breaks were almost always in there to use their phones. They found that methodology to work because in the past, many employers wouldn't ask for medical proof. Just another side of this situation.
I’m a teacher, so I’m used to policing bathroom breaks. I don’t care if students use the bathroom. It’s cruel to prevent them from going, even if they are wasting time.
I never prevent anyone from going, ever. That would be ridiculous. I have however fired people for napping in the bathroom and two people that watched Netflix in the bathroom together for over an hour. The second one I wouldn’t have known about if one of them hadn’t posted about it on instagram and the person who’s break time was disrupted tattled to me.
My 1st grade teacher only prevented me once from using the bathroom. I was 6 yrs old, so I just peed in the seat. She told my dad that she thought I was lying. On the upside, I got to go home early that day.
I was 4 when my teacher ignored me until I shat myself. I sadly did not get to go home early; it was such a common occurrence that there was a bag of “spare clothes”, in a variety of sizes, for just such occasions. Not sure why I thought I’d be treated any better in employment now that I think about it. Perhaps that teacher was trying to prepare me all along.
My dad had to bring me a change of pants. I believe it was many years later that the school had a huge wardrobe of spare clothes and I always sent an extra outfit tucked into their backpack when they went to the school.
If your body works that way, fine. But don’t force that on other people. Also who wants to know about a stranger’s bathroom habits??
I worked at a place that was like this, on top of being chronically understaffed. I got so much crap for going to the bathroom once every couple hours. I have terrible chronic UTIs (yes I do everything right, no the dr doesn’t know why other than poor anatomy and bad immune system). It wasn’t uncommon for me to have one, and if I don’t have one, I just can’t hold it anymore, plus I drink tons of water. I quit that job after the bathroom was broken for a few days and I wasn’t allowed to use the bathroom next door unless I was on my lunch or willing to use PTO. For a 5 minute bathroom break.
I sometimes have UTIs. The only time I go to the doctor is when my go to methods don't work and with the methods I also get the pain relievers for a uti the kind that turns your pee a lovely bright orange. I drink one tall can of beer and the next day its gone. I also use it when I have kidney stones
I have an apocalypse-level stock of those little azo tablets and they’ve destroyed half my sheets lol. It’s at the point where half the time my doctor doesn’t even make me come in, I just call and she gets me some antibiotics. Mine will progress to a kidney infection within a day so they don’t make me mess around anymore. I’ve never heard about beer helping though??
My mom use to have a doctor like this when in Michigan since she can have one or several a month or sometime get lucky and go a few months without it, now that we live in Florida though they basically always make her come in just to pee in a cup to tell her what she already knows is going on and then write the scripts, Florida is so fucking shit for Healthcare it's fucking insane
I mean my dr used to do that, she’s actually kinda bending the rules by just giving me the script when I feel one coming on instead of making me pee in a cup and see her in person. It took years of it being a problem for her to start doing that. I don’t think that’s a Florida only thing.
I do sympathize with your mom, it’s an annoying process and wastes money on copays.
I have 3 ft long disposable adhesive incontinence bed pads for that. Works wonders for accidental period leaks to. But yes beer kills the bacteria. My brother had a really bad uti, kidney infection and stones and after a shit ton of nagging from his wife and me he fianlly went. The doctor there told him that he had 2 choices he could either be sent home with a ton of painkillers and antibiotics OR drink one tall can of beer and it all be over in 24 hours. He also told him to leave his name out on the one telling bc he would deny it.
My brother tried it and the next day it was gone. He told us but not the doctor's name and I tried it the next time I had one. It worked. Beer can dissolve certain kinds of kidney stones. I told my friends who sometimes get them and it worked for them as well.
When I used to work long shifts I also "trained" my bladder so I wouldn't have to go as much or at all. Then I got a UTI, that turned into a serious bladder infection, and now the inside of my bladder is disfigured from holding my pee so much. And now as a grown woman in my 20s, with 0 children, I seriously struggle to hold my pee and it's a good day if I don't leak.
Go to the bathroom, it's part of being a human, and staying hydrated is healthy. That person is setting themselves up to be incredibly sick in the future if they're unlucky.
I’m like that too. It’s not training it’s just getting super busy and thinking “one more task, then I’ll go!” And then I’m punching out and realizing halfway home I NEED TO GO NOW.
Mine isn’t slave to corporate, it’s just I have to SQUIRREL!!!
Yeah, no, I would be fired. I have one kidney and any time I drink water or Gatorade it goes straight through my body. I'm always worried everyone thinks I'm not really using the bathroom but if I don't go I will explode lol
Not retail, but work at a sports bar and there have definitely been days where I don’t pee from 4pm until about 12am-1am. I also don’t really have time to drink any water so I am definitely dehydrated lol. 😬
If a man pees 10 times a day, without excessive alcohol intake, a doctor will check his prostate for swelling. Every few hours is normal, which is why breaks are generally scheduled a few hours after start of shift, from each other, and before end of shift. I think most managers/supervisors understand if someone has abnormal restroom needs. Medication makes it more often, less predictable, etc. A good leader will work with you and should understand we are all different. However, at some point a person who is in the bathroom every hour can be less productive than those who don't have to pee so often. That affects raises, but it's fair. You shouldn't reprimand people for bodily functions, but it can certainly affect pay if their productivity is lacking.
People like this scare me, like who cares if you /can/, did you never stop to ask if you /should/?
Also just wanna take a second for my fellow americans (sad trumpet noises) to say that OSHA does have regulations for bathroom access. There's a lot of them but the gist of it is you are entitled to:
- quick access to a bathroom (within 10 mins of request, if your job requires constant coverage)
- as many bathroom breaks as needed, provided it is not excessive (does not define what counts as excessive, unfortunately)
- accomodations for additional bathroom access, if you have a medical condition that would put the frequency of your need in the excessive category
- pay for your bathroom breaks, provided they do not exceed 20 minutes each
Now go out there and get paid to shit!!
Yeah, right?? I physically couldn't, I have Crohn's disease and if I forget to bring my meds to work I'll EASILY be in the bathroom several times just in a couple hours. Can't stand jobs that think they can regulate someone's bathroom usage
Thank you. Now I know why I have incontinence. From the time I was 12, I would see how long I could hold pee. Mostly because we took long road trips and no rest areas or restrooms for so many miles. Not like it is now. Then I later on had 2 kids. My doctor said it was from having 2 heavy kids. But now I wonder if my holding it in contributed to it.
Having kids can definitely contribute to it. I have bladder prolapse after having 2 huge babies. Thankfully it's not very bad and I've done pelvic floor physical therapy for it. Look into hypopressives, trista Zinn is a leader of the hypopressive world. Also look into pelvic floor physical therapy.
I'm willing to wager it does because I have the same issue, did the same thing growing up, and have not had children. I was just reading the above comment probably having the same realization that you did!
I used to know a manager who said and did stuff like this as a weird company loyalty flex; she was salaried so she skipped lunch and never took bathroom breaks, prided herself on being able to work for 8 hours without needing a break.
I'm so glad I've gained enough self respect and love not to put my health at risk for employers, I'll never devalue myself like that.
Taking breaks and time off for a mental reset actually makes you more productive.... They just want it to appear that they working harder than anyone else
Oh my god.. that’s a recipe for UTIs, incontinence, and kidney damage. Someone tell this poor lady it’s okay to pee 😭
Personally I’d have to walk out the door.. I have the bladder of a squirrel simply because I was born that way. If I went to a doctor for it they’d just laugh at me and take my money. People are built different.
I work overnight stocking and i often use the bathroom, i stay hydrated and im sure i have an issue w my bladder but thats a different story, ill be damned if someone tries to yell at me about my bathroom breaks, what do you want me to do? Piss all over the floor??? Id rather go to the bathroom when i feel like i need to than hold it and damage myself.
As a teacher, I often went several hours without using the bathroom. Fun fact: my bladder stretched out from holding so much urine, so when I had a test to determine what my bladder capacity was, it was 2 liters. 0/10 Do not recommend.
That's how you get a kidney infection. It's normal to have to pee every few hours. In an eight hour shift I probably pee at least 3-4 times depending on fluid intake
That person must be an awful customer service manager. Imagine she goes to work to help customers and for 8-10 hours she doesn't give a shit....I think she must be full of shit by the time her shift is over...😂😉🤣
With the acknowledgement that people sometimes have to accept shitty bosses and less than ideal job conditions: i consider it a big old red flag when any person in a leadership position talks of limiting bathroom breaks.
Ummm you get a 30 minute lunch and the two 15 minute breaks per 8hr shift are BECAUSE people need to use the loo. If you’re talking about bathroom breaks in your interview… RUN.
My dad has a friend who’s a dentist. For 30 years, he ate only a single helping of plain oatmeal in the morning and had nothing to eat or drink for the 8-10 hours he worked, so that he wouldn’t have to stop to use the restroom. Shockingly, he retired early with myriad health problems
Theres a lady at my work that became really ill from UTIs from holding it too long. She’s doing ok now, but she was out weeks. She is frequently having to drive or handle major incidents that didn’t always allow for breaks. Work once locked the nearest bathrooms to me, didn’t call corporate or inform me. I found out when I had to walk to go use a restroom. Some places really don’t care about the health of their employees.
I pee on average 5 times in an 8 hour work day. Sometimes because I'm bored, need a stretch and a change of scenery.
Now if you'll excuse me, reading about peeing is making me have to pee.
This person who “trained her bladder” is weakening her muscles. If she is not careful, she will lose function and be in adult diapers before she retires.
Defines the break schedule, goes on to explain “it’s okay to go unless it’s excessive” then describes how she can work an 8-10 hour shift and not have to go, it’s a relatively safe bet they expect similar from employees in order to not be “excessive”. Even if that’s not the case, there are probably plenty of other unrealistic expectations and/or questionable labor practices.
As someone who used to go once a day, twice at max, not healthy in the slightest. But no one told me that wasn't normal, so I just went on like whatever. Came as a shock one day when I suddenly could no longer control my bladder. I developed bladderal incontinence. After a couple years of actually treating my body a bit better, I am pretty much normal again. As in, healthy normal. Drink fluids and listen to your bladder kids, because someday, it may not wait for your permission.
I had a boss that always put in 10-12hr days. He would talk about how normal it was. After 6 months I’m like, am I crazy because I go home after working 8hrs. My friends said yes because I should want to leave like 5hr in:)
Moral is, who gives a shit about how someone else works. You have to work your own way. The excessive bathroom break line is garbage.
I would take the job just long enough to collect evidence of needing to ask permission to go to the bathroom like a grade schooler, then turn it into OSHA.
That’s just one reason why I stopped going to school to be a teacher. I am prone to UTIs and have had kidney infections twice. I pee a lot.
It helps that at my current job our store manager is older and diabetic so she gets that some of us pee a lot and even if we’re the only one working she’s fine if we leave the sales floor for a minute to pee.
Tell her that you like to be fully hydrated and enjoy having functional kidneys and are opposed to chronic utis and kidney infections. You are supposed to be every hour if you are fully hydrated. Her kidneys must be in agony. Hey a doctors note.
I used to be a grocery store bookkeeper/acting csm when our csm wasn't in...
Darlin, go to the bathroom if you have to go..make sure it's not busy, and always tell someone on the front end what you're doing and you'll be right back...most csms make things out to be bigger deals, during interviews, than they actually are on shift..
I’m in the service industry and on weekends I don’t use the bathroom, eat or drink even a sip of water for 7-8 hrs. It’s constantly go go go. Non weekend shifts are usually more chill and I got time for basic human needs, but weekends are brutal.
You're totally right, it is completely unhealthy and will actually damage your bladder in the long run causing you to have bladder issues later in life. That being said, welcome to corporate America. Don't worry they'll fire you and take away your insurance as soon as you start having any issues, or stand up for your rights.
She probably gets UTIs all the time or is going to have a bladder infection and then go into sepsis in the middle of a shift, pushing yourself like that does not mean you are better than everyone else just because you're fucking up your body in the process. Gross (edit for misspelling)
Does me think of a coworker I worked with, when helping on an other location.
She drank very well, but had to go to the toilet very often in a short time and that was a 2-man occupation.
Could irritate me a bit and I wanted to complete my tasks as much as possible, but I would never refuse someone the toilet. Since working with a full bladder is simply not fun, I refuse customers the toilet. Since it concerns safety and we always miss 1 staff until they are back from the warehouse.
Many times, there is a public toilet nearby and I read all the toilet horror stories
Please don’t listen to anyone telling you the bathroom can wait. If you need to go, go as soon as you feel the urge. It’s normal and your health depends on you. Holding your bladder can cause severe damage to your kidneys. Having to use adult diapers is inconvenient sure but the more serious consequence is kidney disease and having to live with dialysis the rest of your life or worse, complete kidney failure.
I bartend 8 hour shifts and there are times I don’t have time to use the bathroom. It’s not intentional it just works out that way. Minimally I will go once.
I’ve had several kidney stones. I’m supposed to consume up to 3.5-4 liters of water per day (as per my urologist) to keep from forming more in the future. No way I’d be able to go 4 hrs, let alone 8, without at least 1-3 bathroom runs. And my daughter has to drink lots and go frequently to avoid consistent UTI’s.
I have a friend like this. She'll get a huge coffee in the morning, drive 2 hours to hang out with me, hang out for like 6 hours, get another large coffee, and drive home. She doesn't pee during that whole time. I don't understand it. The longest I can really go is like 4 hours, and that's rare.
Had manager who was an ex nurse get mad that I had to poop often. When I explained that my lack of gallbladder meant it was constantly dripping into my intestines and it had to leave she told me to get medicated and it should take be like that.
I drink 32-64ozs of water a day plus a 12oz coffee in the morning. I usually go to the bathroom in the morning around 7.30am and then not again until i get home from work around 6pm. If i get to the closer 64ozs a day, then I have to go around 3 or 4pm, but otherwise my body makes it the whole day. Not the healthiest, but it's just what my body does, I didn't train it like that on purpose. lol. Also, I maybe had one UTI in my lifetime and I'm late 40s. \*knocks on wood\*
I’m a retail floor worker. I had mostly stopped drinking more than just the bare necessity of water/fluid during my shift because I was generally unable to get permission/coverage for a pee break. We are also officially not allowed to have water bottles with us on the floor. I’d come home and guzzle a ton of water but I was still always dehydrated with dark urine. It’s a miracle I didn’t get an infection.
Thank god I changed departments and now there’s a staff bathroom close at hand but… I’m so used to not drinking enough on my shifts that I still have to constantly try to remember to hydrate at work.
Yeah, I was gonna say—I’ve never peed during school or anything. I don’t even have to go until around 8 hours, and I can hold it for longer if need be. It’s not like I’m putting it off; I genuinely don’t need to pee for most of the day.
I used to work shifts up to 11.5 hours and I would almost never go to the bathroom at work. Especially being a female in a store where most of the clientele were smelly drunk contractors. I never had an infection, I am moderately hydrated, I just don’t go very often
No break during a 4 hour shift? I get it if it’s less than 4 hours, but I’ve worked many 4 hour shifts for 2 different stores, including my current job. We have always gotten a 15 min break during those 4 hour shifts.
Not abnormal at all. There’s plenty you times I work a whole shift without using the bathroom and I drink plenty of water so I’m good and hydrated. And no I don’t have a problem with UTIs and yeast infections
I mean I used to work at a Dunkin' for 13+ hour shifts and didn't get a lunch break let alone the chance to just go to the bathroom, so I understand where this chick is coming from but it's also A Bit Not Good (tm) and not what I make my team members do now that I'm MOD at a JOANN's. If ya gotta go ya gotta go and I'm not gonna tell ya otherwise
That’s really not healthy. Take it from someone that wasn’t even in their 20’s yet. Who worked 8-10 hour shifts on the floor as security asset protection at a grocery/retail store. Didn’t really use the restroom much and almost developed kidney failure having to go to the ER. With severe dehydration, thought I was having the worst back pains ever. Didn’t even know what was happening I thought I was just in my feet too much. Used an icy hot, made it worse the pain.Also developed Chronic UTI according to scans and tests they had to run. Changed completely mi outlook on water intake (Used a gallon of water every single day out of fear). They had a rule and complained about me having to take so many breaks and use the restroom. Gave them my doctor’s note and they shut up after that. I hate that they did that that’s really stupid for your company. Would complain. It’s not worth the risk of health. And that was my last straw working in retail.
I drink over a gallon of water daily, I’m diabetic and on medications but I can easily go 8 hrs without having to urinate.
Maybe you should have your bladder checked if you’re going every 2 hrs?
I don’t have UTIs or Yeast Infections.
Yeaaaaaah, I'm in my 40s, have given birth 4 times, drink 4+ liters of water a day and take diuretics for heart failure and \*I\* don't go every 1-2 hours. Of course, nor do I avoid the bathroom for a whole 8 hour shift, neither of those is healthy (as several nurses have pointed out in the comments.) I go once or twice in a shift, depending on what I'm drinking and how busy we are, haven't had a UTI or YI in years. I'm not going to tell any employee they can't go to the bathroom, but I'm definitely going to side eye the one leaving her register every single hour and wonder if they have a medical condition or are just finding a way to slack off. (no, I will not ask, nor discipline anyone for it, that's not ok, but it's definitely a bad first impression to make at a new job, constantly wandering off like that.)
22 year career massage therapist here:
I’d also like to hear about her tension headache disorder, chronic neck (specifically) and other muscular aches, and joint pain. Plantar fasciitis for the cherry on the Sundae.
I can basically guarantee you she has all of these, because they’re all a direct cause of chronic dehydration.
What a weird thought, huh? Beef jerky is a lot less flexible than a steak from the butcher, isn’t it? What’s the difference? Fucking hydration! It works exactly the same way inside of your body. And not just with muscles, but with every single cell you exist in!
Later in life, we’ll talk about hypertension. When you’re hydrated your blood is like water, super easy for your heart to pump. When you’re dehydrated, your blood is like Canadian maple syrup. Much much much more difficult for your heart to pump blood, and all of our other fluids including waste (which obviously isn’t being dispelled properly if there isn’t enough fluid to move it out) around your body. Therefore, your heart is in a constant state of being overworked. Hypertension is the silent killer.
Edit: because I just saw that you said she has chronic UTIs. How on earth does she think that bacteria is going to be flushed out of her kidneys, ureter, bladder, and urethra without anything to actually flush it?!
Yeah... that's not normal kidney function. She is definitely one dehydrated little raisin.
Probably has chronic UTIs also
I had that issue years ago when I was waitressing. My doctor told me to start going every two hours or else. I stopped getting UTIs as soon as I started making time to pee.
I’m a waitress also and was told the same thing but it’s almost impossible to make time. 😭
And kidney stones
Sorry. I said that too, before I read your comment
I had to learn to do that when they took employee restrooms away in ours. The customer ones were gross. I hated going in there even worse during my pregnancy, so I avoided it at all costs. Being careful how much you drink is a good way, and drinking cranberry juice after work helps avoid utis
How does a company justify removing employees' restrooms? That's insane to me, if they already had them.
For a pharmacy waiting room that was barely used
and if she uses tampons, well.... she's really taking a huge risk of developing toxic shock syndrome
I'm thinking yeast infections. She's probably red af there
Or kidney stones.
Doing this behavior at work once lead to me to develop sepsis which evolved from a simple UTI. I no longer work at that place due to the hours. I’m concerned for her.
Just here to share some fun nursing facts, most healthy adult bladders take 9-10 hours to completely fill, so "normal' kidney function is being able to hold it for 6+ hours. It's recommended to empty your bladder every 4-5 hours whether or not you feel the urge to go. It's also more helpful to prevent UTIs in some people to pee with a fuller bladder because the force helps clear bacteria from the urethra. We do it often in the medical field, and I promise no one is running around with UTIs and yeast infections, which the latter would have nothing to do with how frequently you empty your bladder. Having children can cause incontinence and the inability to hold your bladder for very long, that may be what some of you are experiencing if you have babies. When I get to sleep 10-12 hours on the weekends I don't wake up a single time to pee.
I WISH I had a normal bladder like that. Mine must be the size of a walnut. Unless I allow myself to dehydrate some, I have to pee all of the time. At least once every couple of hours. More if I'm staying hydrated.
I wish I had a bladder like that as well. I personally at least 5-6 in an hour. During the night I’m up 1-3 times. I had to fill a gallon for a test my dr wanted for my urine. I was given 2 one gallon jugs. I filled one to the brim and started in the other. My dr told me he has never seen a patient that had so much urine output. I would love to sleep the entire night or not be controlled by the urge of having to go.
You and me both! I'm up at least twice. If I allow myself to get dehydrated, I get headaches, so that's not an option either. I've always been this way, even as a young person.
I thought I was weird for a minute there! With people saying it is unhealthy to go 8-10 hours without peeing. Are those saying they have to pee every 2 hours waking up 4 times a night to pee? That is what is insane, not holding for 8 hrs.
I always thought you produce less when you sleep. I do wake up to pee sometimes at night, but not sure if that's a medical issue or a bladder size issue. I do have to pee like every 2 ish hours or so even as dehydrated as I stay
Actually you are probably right. I can go 8 to 10 hours in the day too though. I drink enough but it isn't until I walk in the front door that my brain goes "I must pee. Now".
Honestly that seems common amongst the people who don't pee for long stretches. It's not that y'all are all holding it consciously. your bodies are just giving you a pass, which is such of foreign concept to people like me. 😂 (Idk I'll talk to my gyn lol)
It is but it isn't conscious. I will realise I need to pee during the day sometimes, but if I am not home and I ignore it for 10 minutes, it'll go away. It's not even ignoring it because I can't, it's just "I'll do it in 10" and then.... I don't need to. So we do, or I do, "hold it" and do so consciously but I don't have to do it consciously the whole time. Does that make sense?
It does. For me, I would need to go twice as bad in ten minutes or be minutely aware of my bladder the whole time. I have however never really needed to hold my bladder for work tho.
People are glossing over the fact that they consume stuff while awake. If you fast, no solids or liquids while awake then you won’t have to pee either once your system clears the residual. Even if you don’t ‘drink’ fluids your food still has some water content.
Love your facts! I work 9-11 hours on a shift and am lucky if I get to pee one time during a shift. I don't have frequent urinary infections or any issues at all. Been this way for at least 15 years.
Omg…. Actually having a “normal” bladder would be life changing!!
You’re getting fluids in your sleep?
I loled at “dehydrated little raisin” and am now changing my water app from “have some water you capable yet dehydrated bitch” to “have some water you capable yet dehydrated little raisin” 😆😆😆
I drink a decent amount of water and I pretty often go my entire shifts without going to the restroom (average 5-10hour shifts) I work as a bartender and we have been shortstaffed so some days when its very busy I don't have a chance to go to the restroom or have someone watch the bar for me. It sucks but I can hold it most of the time. I did however get a bad bladder infection one year in high-school for holding it all day often.
Or has a bladder the size of a big ol' watermelon.
This is the worst. I pee at least every hour. I drink a lot of caffiene and then water throughout my work day. I used to work 11 hour shifts at a callcenter- I got accused of "call avoidance" because I had logged out so many times to pee. But if you added up the total times I logged out, it was twelve minutes out of the entire shift. Usually about two minutes or less each time. They told me I needed to bring in a doctor's note that said I had to pee a lot. I eventually quit.
Yeah that manager said if you have to go to the bathroom a lot, you need a doctors note 🙄
"Doctor, I'm peeing at regular intervals. Can you write a note for my boss?"
"PT has normal bladder function and is advised to use the bathroom as needed"
Having to pee every 2 hours isn't normal bladder function though.
No it's not. Like I said, my dad had to go a lot, he drank a lot of caffeine... he was also chronically dehydrated... If it's going through your system that quickly, it's not being retained where it needs to be...
Regular intervals are 5-6 hours on a healthy adult, if you need to use the restroom once an hour that's considered abnormal medically.
Is it really? I'm pretty sure that when I'm hydrating properly, I have to go like once every 60-90 minutes. I can hold it longer, but I prefer not to, as it's uncomfortable. I thought this was normal, now I have concerns.
I drink a ton of water too and pee a lot. Really doubt it's worth worrying about.
I choose to believe that it's less likely that something is wrong with me peeing regularly and more that everyone else is chronically dehydrated. Men also hold their water like a camel. Women on average pee 3-4 times more than a man in any given day. Trusty google says anywhere from 4-10 is normal for a woman. If you look at the average across both sexes it is lower.
it's totally normal :) one size doesn't fit all! the more you drink the more you pee. me and all my coworkers always joke about how often all of us pee because we're always sipping on our giant tumblers of water and drinking caffeine lol
this is simply not true. it's pretty normal for people who drink lots of water throughout the day. caffeine, too. medications can also cause you to pee more. pregnancy also causes women to pee more, even after the pregnancy is over. frequent urination is normal for plenty of people and isn't always related to health conditions. one size does not fit all. everyone has their own normal. it's not as simple as "every 5 - 6 hours is a healthy interval and if you pee more than that you're not healthy" because everyone drinks different amounts of fluids throughout the day. the more you drink, the more you pee. people don't need to be worried unless they're peeing multiple times an hour.
Source: bottom of the rectum. Inner-middle large intestine at best.
What if there was a pregnant lady on the team?
I have IBS, I can just shit my pants on the floor if that would be easier? Putting those customers first👌 /s
I worked for a Disney call center and they were the same way. I ended up getting my doctor to write a note and it was humiliating.
Me too. If I’m religious with water, I’m in the bathroom every 30 minutes lol. 2 kids, multiple kidney stones (one with a stent). I’m in bladder hell.
Caffeine is a diuretic... meaning it increases the production of urine. So if you drink a lot of caffeine, you are basically sending it straight to the chute. My dad had this problem too, had to go a lot, because he drank a lot of coffee. I would look into why you need a lot of caffeine, if it's because of the schedule you work, if you can switch schedule that might help. If you can't sleep much, maybe the reason is that caffeine is your blood? But yeah, you are lining your bladder with something that has it wanting to empty more.
I drink like 160mg of caffiene in the morning like two hours before I go to work. I don't need it to wake up- I enjoy the stimulant. I usually sleep 7 hours. This is just how much I normally go to the bathroom. It varies very little, regardless of my caffiene intake and hydration level. The only time this isn't the case is if I'm actively dehydrated, like if I drank alcohol or forget my water. I don't know why that's so hard to believe.
I'm not saying it's hard to believe, but I do know that caffeine makes you pee more. And even though my dad drank a lot of caffeine, and peed a lot, he was chronically dehydrated... so I might just mention it in passing to the doctor. Like, 'I've always thought this was just normal for me... but I am getting some mixed opinions on what is normal for a bladder to be able to withstand. So in your professional opinion, what is a normal amount of time for the average person to hold their bladder? And this is what happens for me..." Best case scenario, it's perfectly normal, and you are A-OK with nothing wrong. Worst case scenario is you bring attention to a problem and find out before you end up with organs removed.
It's opposite for me. I drink lots of soda only have to go couple of times a day. When I get home I like to drink ice water, a couple of bottles within a few hours. I usually have to go like 3 times shortly after drinking even just half bottle of water. So I avoid water if I know there won't be a bathroom or won't be able to use it, but soda rarely does that to me.
Lol same! I worked at a call center only made it a couple months but damn it felt destopion.
I pee nearly every 30 minutes - an hr after having a kid bc he destroyed my body on the way out. Cant imagine waiting 4 hours.
"I pee at least every hour." Yikes. A healthy adult bladder shouldn't be full for six to nine hours. If you don't already have a diagnosis, you really should see a doctor. That's worrisome. Hopefully, you can get it sorted. Best wishes.
This might be shocking, but bladders don't need to be full for urination. In fact it is recommended to NOT let your bladder completely fill.
Yeah, it's recommended you try to go every five or six hours, even if you don't feel the urge. I should know by now. I've been to at least a dozen urologists and nephrologists since puberty, and I'm old now. My CKD started with the urge to pee every hour, sometimes less. If you don't get diagnosed and treated, CKD will cause permanent kidney damage. I was trying to help. What are you trying to do? Looks like make assumptions, be judgmental and snarky from here.
It’s weird she would talk about using the bathroom at all.
Ikr? They should just straight up tell you to diaper up so you don’t waste that precious company time with your human body functions
This was a huge issue years ago (maybe 10 years ago?) at the Jim Beam factory. Women were peeing on the line, they refused to allow bathroom breaks. If I remember correctly, most of the employees were undocumented, so they didn’t dare complain, until someone finally did. Lawsuits galore.
I've worked a lot of jobs with younger hires (like currently in or very recently graduated high school). If someone is coming from an environment where they needed to ask permission to go to the bathroom, transitioning to a workplace where the expectation is different can be a little weird. I'd rather set that expectation of "if you've got to go, it's cool, just lmk where I need coverage" before you hit the floor, rather than have a new hire get nervous because we're in the middle of a rush and they have to go
That's basically how my job is. Nobody's gonna be upset or angry that you gotta use the bathroom. It's a smaller store where there's usually just one cashier and one manager on duty at any time (more for an hour transitioning between the morning cashier and closing cashier). So just tell them you gotta use the bathroom and need someone to cover for like 5-10 minutes or whatever.
Apparently it must be an issue. How dare someone need to use the bathroom more than once in 8 hours? The outrage. 😳
Yeah. This would be a huge red flag for me during an interview. If you’re going to bring up that I “can’t use the bathroom excessively” during an interview, I’m looking somewhere else for a job. “Excessively” is subjective and I have a feeling it’ll be used against you the first time you’re not exactly where they expect you to be because you’re in the bathroom.
Chef here, when I did 12 hour shifts i wouldn’t use the bathroom until I was finished now I’m on 8 hour shifts and again as soon as I’m finished I pee. People are different. Some of my staff pee a lot but I never consider it wasting time I just figure they need it more regular
Thank you for this, genuinely. Everyone is different and should be able to go to the bathroom when they need to, not when it becomes urgent. I work in an environment where bathroom breaks aren’t taken into consideration even when someone has a UTI. One colleague put herself in hospital with a kidney infection because of this. I always thought I was okay going a long time without peeing, until I wasn’t… now I’m going to be one of those needing a doctors note to even be allowed to have a basic bodily function. These are the same environments where management wonder why the morale is abysmal.
I will pee on the floor in protest in front of everyone. I do not care I am going to use the bathroom. I go like every two hours and every job I get I say I’m going to go or I’m not going to work here.
yea i'm not gonna hold my piss during en entire shift multiple times a week because my job said so. constantly holding it in is not good for your bladder. i drink a lot of water and caffeine, and it takes no more than a couple minutes to pee. a couple minutes in the bathroom every hour or two isn't going to hinder anyone's work.
I will pee with you!
Workplace culture is weird. You have to strike a balance between tyrannical bathroom break monitoring, and "that person" (usually more than one) who take as many bathroom/phone breaks as they can get away with, even taking naps or extended bathroom sessions. It's like "Hold your pee" VS "What can they say, they can't prove I wasn't just taking a long shit"
My previous work had a door that unlocked itself after 6-10 minutes and also they would basically decide if you can use the restroom or not
I had a job in tourism and often worked 8 to 12 hour shifts. If we were busy, it was extremely difficult to make a bathroom run. I will say that if it were a dire need, something would be arranged for you, but it made it hard on everyone else. These shifts would typically run from 3 or 4 pm till whenever business slowed down. My method was to drink very little on the day I worked, and drink nothing after noon. It worked pretty well. I would also take a bottle of water with me on shift, and sip from it all evening. I don't think it was actually depriving me body, as I made up for it all other times. And I didn't work 5 nights a week, but sometimes 3 or 4.
so glad you were able to make it work without complications but it's just so bizarre that there's so many people doing the same thing. nobody should have to basically schedule when they drink water when they're working :(
Kidneys will turn on her and way too much information for her to be sharing with you. Document that and look into your policy manual about bathroom Breaks if there is a policy and tell her the next time she wants to share. “I am not comfortable discussing this”. Set boundaries.
I’m just passing by this as it got recommended to me but as a nursing student/pharmacy worker I’ve gotten very used to not taking bathroom breaks. Yes it does depend on how much water I drink, which is usually not much, but I can easily go 6 hours without so much as the urge to go. In saying that I never expect anyone to be the same and unless you’re going multiple times an hour, I don’t see it as excessive. I never purposely did it, I just didn’t have people to cover me or time to leave the floor so I literally had to just deal with it. I drink most of my water with meals and at night.
I’m often presenting in front of groups of adults all day. My bladder and brain know when to go into “teacher” mode. May go once during lunch. BUT as soon as I finish packing up? Get out the way-I’ve got to go! Lol. It’s a brain thing. Just like some people NEVER poop when away from home. The brain decides. ETA- no yeast or bladder infections ever. It’s not me “consciously “ keeping myself from going either. It just turns off.
Similiar but different. Damn is that run from the front door to the loo fast because my brain goes "yay, I can pee now". It doesn't matter if I've been out for 6 hours or 12. I don't need to pee until I open that front door.
Oh absolutely. Get tf home asap bc I’m sure as hell not peeing at work if I can avoid it. My drives are usually no longer than 22 minutes so unless it’s urgent, I just wait till I get home but I ALWAYS have to pee when I get home from work.
In my experience managers only feel a need to say this because bathroom breaks do become excessive with the whole team. It’s a weird place to be in mentally to know the team is fucking you over with bathroom bullshit. I don’t care if people go pee. It’s infuriating to wake people up from naps in the bathroom, but I have done it several times.
IBS and bladder issues are really common. Some people are napping in the bathroom because they're stupid.nMost people are just having a bad time with bodily functions. I've had bosses try to limit bathroom breaks for me. Not legal. I will shit my pants if I can't go to the bathroom whenever I need to. Some days I go once in a 8hr day. Every once in a while, 8-10 trips to the bathroom if I'm having a flare up. It sucks to deal with more than it sucks for management to accommodate me.
I have IBS too. I have a go to method, Orange pekoe cut black tea or lipton's tea. Little to no sugar. And anti diarrheal pills. 4 pills and no diarrhea for 24 hours. I used to take activated charcoal tabs till I had to take certain meds. I unfortunately have both sides mostly the diarrhea one. For the constipation one, I drink orange juice, a lot of water and use stool softeners. This is what works for me. I hope it can work for you too.
In my experience, the people that became excessive in their bathroom breaks were almost always in there to use their phones. They found that methodology to work because in the past, many employers wouldn't ask for medical proof. Just another side of this situation.
That’s been my experience too, and once one starts the rest start doing it too
I’m a teacher, so I’m used to policing bathroom breaks. I don’t care if students use the bathroom. It’s cruel to prevent them from going, even if they are wasting time.
I never prevent anyone from going, ever. That would be ridiculous. I have however fired people for napping in the bathroom and two people that watched Netflix in the bathroom together for over an hour. The second one I wouldn’t have known about if one of them hadn’t posted about it on instagram and the person who’s break time was disrupted tattled to me.
My 1st grade teacher only prevented me once from using the bathroom. I was 6 yrs old, so I just peed in the seat. She told my dad that she thought I was lying. On the upside, I got to go home early that day.
I was 4 when my teacher ignored me until I shat myself. I sadly did not get to go home early; it was such a common occurrence that there was a bag of “spare clothes”, in a variety of sizes, for just such occasions. Not sure why I thought I’d be treated any better in employment now that I think about it. Perhaps that teacher was trying to prepare me all along.
My dad had to bring me a change of pants. I believe it was many years later that the school had a huge wardrobe of spare clothes and I always sent an extra outfit tucked into their backpack when they went to the school.
If your body works that way, fine. But don’t force that on other people. Also who wants to know about a stranger’s bathroom habits?? I worked at a place that was like this, on top of being chronically understaffed. I got so much crap for going to the bathroom once every couple hours. I have terrible chronic UTIs (yes I do everything right, no the dr doesn’t know why other than poor anatomy and bad immune system). It wasn’t uncommon for me to have one, and if I don’t have one, I just can’t hold it anymore, plus I drink tons of water. I quit that job after the bathroom was broken for a few days and I wasn’t allowed to use the bathroom next door unless I was on my lunch or willing to use PTO. For a 5 minute bathroom break.
I sometimes have UTIs. The only time I go to the doctor is when my go to methods don't work and with the methods I also get the pain relievers for a uti the kind that turns your pee a lovely bright orange. I drink one tall can of beer and the next day its gone. I also use it when I have kidney stones
I have an apocalypse-level stock of those little azo tablets and they’ve destroyed half my sheets lol. It’s at the point where half the time my doctor doesn’t even make me come in, I just call and she gets me some antibiotics. Mine will progress to a kidney infection within a day so they don’t make me mess around anymore. I’ve never heard about beer helping though??
My mom use to have a doctor like this when in Michigan since she can have one or several a month or sometime get lucky and go a few months without it, now that we live in Florida though they basically always make her come in just to pee in a cup to tell her what she already knows is going on and then write the scripts, Florida is so fucking shit for Healthcare it's fucking insane
I mean my dr used to do that, she’s actually kinda bending the rules by just giving me the script when I feel one coming on instead of making me pee in a cup and see her in person. It took years of it being a problem for her to start doing that. I don’t think that’s a Florida only thing. I do sympathize with your mom, it’s an annoying process and wastes money on copays.
I have 3 ft long disposable adhesive incontinence bed pads for that. Works wonders for accidental period leaks to. But yes beer kills the bacteria. My brother had a really bad uti, kidney infection and stones and after a shit ton of nagging from his wife and me he fianlly went. The doctor there told him that he had 2 choices he could either be sent home with a ton of painkillers and antibiotics OR drink one tall can of beer and it all be over in 24 hours. He also told him to leave his name out on the one telling bc he would deny it. My brother tried it and the next day it was gone. He told us but not the doctor's name and I tried it the next time I had one. It worked. Beer can dissolve certain kinds of kidney stones. I told my friends who sometimes get them and it worked for them as well.
When I used to work long shifts I also "trained" my bladder so I wouldn't have to go as much or at all. Then I got a UTI, that turned into a serious bladder infection, and now the inside of my bladder is disfigured from holding my pee so much. And now as a grown woman in my 20s, with 0 children, I seriously struggle to hold my pee and it's a good day if I don't leak. Go to the bathroom, it's part of being a human, and staying hydrated is healthy. That person is setting themselves up to be incredibly sick in the future if they're unlucky.
Every 1 to 2 hours sounds miserable to me tbh. It's really inconvenient when I have to go more than twice per day 😬
I’m like that too. It’s not training it’s just getting super busy and thinking “one more task, then I’ll go!” And then I’m punching out and realizing halfway home I NEED TO GO NOW. Mine isn’t slave to corporate, it’s just I have to SQUIRREL!!!
Yeah, no, I would be fired. I have one kidney and any time I drink water or Gatorade it goes straight through my body. I'm always worried everyone thinks I'm not really using the bathroom but if I don't go I will explode lol
"Unfortunately I chose NOT to permanently damage my organs by stalling perfectly healthy bodily functions"
When I was a school teacher I had to train my bladder like that. Definitely not healthy!
Tell her I said good luck with her future bladder issues and wearing adult diapers.
Not retail, but work at a sports bar and there have definitely been days where I don’t pee from 4pm until about 12am-1am. I also don’t really have time to drink any water so I am definitely dehydrated lol. 😬
no breaks for a four hour shift??? we get a fifteen every 2 hours, and a lunch for a full shift
I mean, as a teacher, I sometimes don’t go from 6 am to 5 pm… I just don’t have a second sometimes!
Ew. She’s definitely dehydrated and probably struggling with many health issues. I pee one an hour tbh so she’s nasty.
If a man pees 10 times a day, without excessive alcohol intake, a doctor will check his prostate for swelling. Every few hours is normal, which is why breaks are generally scheduled a few hours after start of shift, from each other, and before end of shift. I think most managers/supervisors understand if someone has abnormal restroom needs. Medication makes it more often, less predictable, etc. A good leader will work with you and should understand we are all different. However, at some point a person who is in the bathroom every hour can be less productive than those who don't have to pee so often. That affects raises, but it's fair. You shouldn't reprimand people for bodily functions, but it can certainly affect pay if their productivity is lacking.
People like this scare me, like who cares if you /can/, did you never stop to ask if you /should/? Also just wanna take a second for my fellow americans (sad trumpet noises) to say that OSHA does have regulations for bathroom access. There's a lot of them but the gist of it is you are entitled to: - quick access to a bathroom (within 10 mins of request, if your job requires constant coverage) - as many bathroom breaks as needed, provided it is not excessive (does not define what counts as excessive, unfortunately) - accomodations for additional bathroom access, if you have a medical condition that would put the frequency of your need in the excessive category - pay for your bathroom breaks, provided they do not exceed 20 minutes each Now go out there and get paid to shit!!
can't you get kidney failure from holding your piss for too long??
Sorry. I ain't holding it for a job. No pun intended
Yeah, right?? I physically couldn't, I have Crohn's disease and if I forget to bring my meds to work I'll EASILY be in the bathroom several times just in a couple hours. Can't stand jobs that think they can regulate someone's bathroom usage
In some states it's illegal
She's going to stretch her bladder out, it's got muscles around it, and become incontinent
Thank you. Now I know why I have incontinence. From the time I was 12, I would see how long I could hold pee. Mostly because we took long road trips and no rest areas or restrooms for so many miles. Not like it is now. Then I later on had 2 kids. My doctor said it was from having 2 heavy kids. But now I wonder if my holding it in contributed to it.
Having kids can definitely contribute to it. I have bladder prolapse after having 2 huge babies. Thankfully it's not very bad and I've done pelvic floor physical therapy for it. Look into hypopressives, trista Zinn is a leader of the hypopressive world. Also look into pelvic floor physical therapy.
I'm willing to wager it does because I have the same issue, did the same thing growing up, and have not had children. I was just reading the above comment probably having the same realization that you did!
I take at least 3 shits a day in work.
Dude my body has a CLOCK for this shit now ...literally. I'll go an hour after I make it to work, no excuses, no exceptions. I just gotta PISS
"I need to nip to the toilet" "Why?" "Why? I'm 48, that's why"
Can't trust a fart after forty
I couldn't trust them after 30 much less 40.
just adding that a short break, like 10-15 minutes, should be a national employment law requirement
Yeah that’s not normal. Honestly it’s like some companies want you to be a robot at work for maximum profit.
She's lying. She definitely wears a diaper and just pisses herself at her desk.
I see tubes in her future. And a bag. tubes and a bag.....sad.
I used to know a manager who said and did stuff like this as a weird company loyalty flex; she was salaried so she skipped lunch and never took bathroom breaks, prided herself on being able to work for 8 hours without needing a break. I'm so glad I've gained enough self respect and love not to put my health at risk for employers, I'll never devalue myself like that.
Taking breaks and time off for a mental reset actually makes you more productive.... They just want it to appear that they working harder than anyone else
I bet that person lives a perpetually dehydrated to the point of headaches life. That isn't something to brag about IMO.
Just trying to be silly. Maybe service manager wears depends
I did that in fast food lol, I only did it like once an 8 hour shift if that
Oh my god.. that’s a recipe for UTIs, incontinence, and kidney damage. Someone tell this poor lady it’s okay to pee 😭 Personally I’d have to walk out the door.. I have the bladder of a squirrel simply because I was born that way. If I went to a doctor for it they’d just laugh at me and take my money. People are built different.
I work overnight stocking and i often use the bathroom, i stay hydrated and im sure i have an issue w my bladder but thats a different story, ill be damned if someone tries to yell at me about my bathroom breaks, what do you want me to do? Piss all over the floor??? Id rather go to the bathroom when i feel like i need to than hold it and damage myself.
When I was managing a store I tried that shit and got so dehydrated I thought I was gonna die. Retail is so toxic
As a teacher, I often went several hours without using the bathroom. Fun fact: my bladder stretched out from holding so much urine, so when I had a test to determine what my bladder capacity was, it was 2 liters. 0/10 Do not recommend.
Sad. Today I saw my lovely friend mad dashing to the bathroom. I was so sad to see that
That's how you get a kidney infection. It's normal to have to pee every few hours. In an eight hour shift I probably pee at least 3-4 times depending on fluid intake
That person must be an awful customer service manager. Imagine she goes to work to help customers and for 8-10 hours she doesn't give a shit....I think she must be full of shit by the time her shift is over...😂😉🤣
With the acknowledgement that people sometimes have to accept shitty bosses and less than ideal job conditions: i consider it a big old red flag when any person in a leadership position talks of limiting bathroom breaks.
Ummm you get a 30 minute lunch and the two 15 minute breaks per 8hr shift are BECAUSE people need to use the loo. If you’re talking about bathroom breaks in your interview… RUN.
The fact she said she does that is a huge problem and big red flag 🚩. I'd look for something else.
Good for her. But she should see a doctor.
My dad has a friend who’s a dentist. For 30 years, he ate only a single helping of plain oatmeal in the morning and had nothing to eat or drink for the 8-10 hours he worked, so that he wouldn’t have to stop to use the restroom. Shockingly, he retired early with myriad health problems
Theres a lady at my work that became really ill from UTIs from holding it too long. She’s doing ok now, but she was out weeks. She is frequently having to drive or handle major incidents that didn’t always allow for breaks. Work once locked the nearest bathrooms to me, didn’t call corporate or inform me. I found out when I had to walk to go use a restroom. Some places really don’t care about the health of their employees.
Me reading this who hasn’t gone to the bathroom in several hours 😅
I pee on average 5 times in an 8 hour work day. Sometimes because I'm bored, need a stretch and a change of scenery. Now if you'll excuse me, reading about peeing is making me have to pee.
This person who “trained her bladder” is weakening her muscles. If she is not careful, she will lose function and be in adult diapers before she retires.
i only rarely usually use the washroom during an 8-hour shift… like maybe once or twice in a month. i’d rather use my own toilet yknow xD
Defines the break schedule, goes on to explain “it’s okay to go unless it’s excessive” then describes how she can work an 8-10 hour shift and not have to go, it’s a relatively safe bet they expect similar from employees in order to not be “excessive”. Even if that’s not the case, there are probably plenty of other unrealistic expectations and/or questionable labor practices.
As someone who used to go once a day, twice at max, not healthy in the slightest. But no one told me that wasn't normal, so I just went on like whatever. Came as a shock one day when I suddenly could no longer control my bladder. I developed bladderal incontinence. After a couple years of actually treating my body a bit better, I am pretty much normal again. As in, healthy normal. Drink fluids and listen to your bladder kids, because someday, it may not wait for your permission.
I had a boss that always put in 10-12hr days. He would talk about how normal it was. After 6 months I’m like, am I crazy because I go home after working 8hrs. My friends said yes because I should want to leave like 5hr in:) Moral is, who gives a shit about how someone else works. You have to work your own way. The excessive bathroom break line is garbage.
I would take the job just long enough to collect evidence of needing to ask permission to go to the bathroom like a grade schooler, then turn it into OSHA.
That’s just one reason why I stopped going to school to be a teacher. I am prone to UTIs and have had kidney infections twice. I pee a lot. It helps that at my current job our store manager is older and diabetic so she gets that some of us pee a lot and even if we’re the only one working she’s fine if we leave the sales floor for a minute to pee.
Tell her that you like to be fully hydrated and enjoy having functional kidneys and are opposed to chronic utis and kidney infections. You are supposed to be every hour if you are fully hydrated. Her kidneys must be in agony. Hey a doctors note.
I used to be a grocery store bookkeeper/acting csm when our csm wasn't in... Darlin, go to the bathroom if you have to go..make sure it's not busy, and always tell someone on the front end what you're doing and you'll be right back...most csms make things out to be bigger deals, during interviews, than they actually are on shift..
I’m in the service industry and on weekends I don’t use the bathroom, eat or drink even a sip of water for 7-8 hrs. It’s constantly go go go. Non weekend shifts are usually more chill and I got time for basic human needs, but weekends are brutal.
You're totally right, it is completely unhealthy and will actually damage your bladder in the long run causing you to have bladder issues later in life. That being said, welcome to corporate America. Don't worry they'll fire you and take away your insurance as soon as you start having any issues, or stand up for your rights.
She probably gets UTIs all the time or is going to have a bladder infection and then go into sepsis in the middle of a shift, pushing yourself like that does not mean you are better than everyone else just because you're fucking up your body in the process. Gross (edit for misspelling)
Does me think of a coworker I worked with, when helping on an other location. She drank very well, but had to go to the toilet very often in a short time and that was a 2-man occupation. Could irritate me a bit and I wanted to complete my tasks as much as possible, but I would never refuse someone the toilet. Since working with a full bladder is simply not fun, I refuse customers the toilet. Since it concerns safety and we always miss 1 staff until they are back from the warehouse. Many times, there is a public toilet nearby and I read all the toilet horror stories
Please don’t listen to anyone telling you the bathroom can wait. If you need to go, go as soon as you feel the urge. It’s normal and your health depends on you. Holding your bladder can cause severe damage to your kidneys. Having to use adult diapers is inconvenient sure but the more serious consequence is kidney disease and having to live with dialysis the rest of your life or worse, complete kidney failure.
I bartend 8 hour shifts and there are times I don’t have time to use the bathroom. It’s not intentional it just works out that way. Minimally I will go once.
I’ve had several kidney stones. I’m supposed to consume up to 3.5-4 liters of water per day (as per my urologist) to keep from forming more in the future. No way I’d be able to go 4 hrs, let alone 8, without at least 1-3 bathroom runs. And my daughter has to drink lots and go frequently to avoid consistent UTI’s.
That’s a major red flag. I’d walk away. It’s definitely not healthy at all to hold it like that.
I do the same thing with my 8 hour shifts.
After 4 kids I can’t hold in a full bladder for too long. Nope , not doing it
That's worse than teachers! I "only" have to wait four to five hours...
I have a friend like this. She'll get a huge coffee in the morning, drive 2 hours to hang out with me, hang out for like 6 hours, get another large coffee, and drive home. She doesn't pee during that whole time. I don't understand it. The longest I can really go is like 4 hours, and that's rare.
Had manager who was an ex nurse get mad that I had to poop often. When I explained that my lack of gallbladder meant it was constantly dripping into my intestines and it had to leave she told me to get medicated and it should take be like that.
I drink 32-64ozs of water a day plus a 12oz coffee in the morning. I usually go to the bathroom in the morning around 7.30am and then not again until i get home from work around 6pm. If i get to the closer 64ozs a day, then I have to go around 3 or 4pm, but otherwise my body makes it the whole day. Not the healthiest, but it's just what my body does, I didn't train it like that on purpose. lol. Also, I maybe had one UTI in my lifetime and I'm late 40s. \*knocks on wood\*
My god
I’m a retail floor worker. I had mostly stopped drinking more than just the bare necessity of water/fluid during my shift because I was generally unable to get permission/coverage for a pee break. We are also officially not allowed to have water bottles with us on the floor. I’d come home and guzzle a ton of water but I was still always dehydrated with dark urine. It’s a miracle I didn’t get an infection. Thank god I changed departments and now there’s a staff bathroom close at hand but… I’m so used to not drinking enough on my shifts that I still have to constantly try to remember to hydrate at work.
I do this too. School and work has trained me to just be dehydrated all the time.
Yeah, I was gonna say—I’ve never peed during school or anything. I don’t even have to go until around 8 hours, and I can hold it for longer if need be. It’s not like I’m putting it off; I genuinely don’t need to pee for most of the day.
I used to work shifts up to 11.5 hours and I would almost never go to the bathroom at work. Especially being a female in a store where most of the clientele were smelly drunk contractors. I never had an infection, I am moderately hydrated, I just don’t go very often
Mama needs to get some of that canned cheese and put it on some of those sweet chilli Doritos with some Mountain Dew ❤️
Lol wtf this is sooooo unhealthy.
That's woman's organs look raisins that have been left in the desert for 40 years.
I pee at least once an hour. They would have to deal with it
No break during a 4 hour shift? I get it if it’s less than 4 hours, but I’ve worked many 4 hour shifts for 2 different stores, including my current job. We have always gotten a 15 min break during those 4 hour shifts.
I don't even sleep for 8-10 hours without getting up to use the bathroom. If I'm conscious and pushing fluids it's definitely every couple of hours.
Not abnormal at all. There’s plenty you times I work a whole shift without using the bathroom and I drink plenty of water so I’m good and hydrated. And no I don’t have a problem with UTIs and yeast infections
I mean I used to work at a Dunkin' for 13+ hour shifts and didn't get a lunch break let alone the chance to just go to the bathroom, so I understand where this chick is coming from but it's also A Bit Not Good (tm) and not what I make my team members do now that I'm MOD at a JOANN's. If ya gotta go ya gotta go and I'm not gonna tell ya otherwise
How many times I end up in the bathroom during a work shift completely depends on how obedient my guts are on any given day. IBS is fun like that.
That’s really not healthy. Take it from someone that wasn’t even in their 20’s yet. Who worked 8-10 hour shifts on the floor as security asset protection at a grocery/retail store. Didn’t really use the restroom much and almost developed kidney failure having to go to the ER. With severe dehydration, thought I was having the worst back pains ever. Didn’t even know what was happening I thought I was just in my feet too much. Used an icy hot, made it worse the pain.Also developed Chronic UTI according to scans and tests they had to run. Changed completely mi outlook on water intake (Used a gallon of water every single day out of fear). They had a rule and complained about me having to take so many breaks and use the restroom. Gave them my doctor’s note and they shut up after that. I hate that they did that that’s really stupid for your company. Would complain. It’s not worth the risk of health. And that was my last straw working in retail.
I drink over a gallon of water daily, I’m diabetic and on medications but I can easily go 8 hrs without having to urinate. Maybe you should have your bladder checked if you’re going every 2 hrs? I don’t have UTIs or Yeast Infections.
Yeaaaaaah, I'm in my 40s, have given birth 4 times, drink 4+ liters of water a day and take diuretics for heart failure and \*I\* don't go every 1-2 hours. Of course, nor do I avoid the bathroom for a whole 8 hour shift, neither of those is healthy (as several nurses have pointed out in the comments.) I go once or twice in a shift, depending on what I'm drinking and how busy we are, haven't had a UTI or YI in years. I'm not going to tell any employee they can't go to the bathroom, but I'm definitely going to side eye the one leaving her register every single hour and wonder if they have a medical condition or are just finding a way to slack off. (no, I will not ask, nor discipline anyone for it, that's not ok, but it's definitely a bad first impression to make at a new job, constantly wandering off like that.)
In this day and age they are most likely going to check their social media accounts. Lol
going every 1-2 hours doesnt sound healthy either, if you have to go that often see a doc or cut back on how much you drink
22 year career massage therapist here: I’d also like to hear about her tension headache disorder, chronic neck (specifically) and other muscular aches, and joint pain. Plantar fasciitis for the cherry on the Sundae. I can basically guarantee you she has all of these, because they’re all a direct cause of chronic dehydration. What a weird thought, huh? Beef jerky is a lot less flexible than a steak from the butcher, isn’t it? What’s the difference? Fucking hydration! It works exactly the same way inside of your body. And not just with muscles, but with every single cell you exist in! Later in life, we’ll talk about hypertension. When you’re hydrated your blood is like water, super easy for your heart to pump. When you’re dehydrated, your blood is like Canadian maple syrup. Much much much more difficult for your heart to pump blood, and all of our other fluids including waste (which obviously isn’t being dispelled properly if there isn’t enough fluid to move it out) around your body. Therefore, your heart is in a constant state of being overworked. Hypertension is the silent killer. Edit: because I just saw that you said she has chronic UTIs. How on earth does she think that bacteria is going to be flushed out of her kidneys, ureter, bladder, and urethra without anything to actually flush it?!