Urination, excessive volume

• too much fluid intake, particularly fluids containing caffeine or alcohol
• too much salt or glucose (if diabetic)
• drug use, especially diuretics
• diabetes (both diabetes insipidus and diabetes mellitus )
• psychogenic polydipsia , most common in women over age 30
• renal failure
• sickle cell anemia
• radiographic tests that use a contrast media
  • urine volume will increase for up to 24 hours following the dose

Note: There may be other causes of polyuria. This list is not all inclusive, and the causes are not presented in order of likelihood. The causes of this symptom can include unlikely diseases and medications. Furthermore, the causes may vary based on age and gender of the affected person, as well as on the specific characteristics of the symptom such as time course, aggravating factors, relieving factors, and associated complaints. Use the Symptom Analysis option to explore the possible explanations for polyuria, occurring alone or in combination with other problems.

Home Care:
Intake and output of fluids should be monitored. Record physical weight at the same time(s) and on the same scales daily.

Call Your Healthcare Provider If:

• excessive urination occurs over several days and is not explained by medications or increase in fluids.

What to Expect:
The medical history will be obtained and a physical examination performed.

Medical history questions documenting the excessive urine volume in detail may include:

• time pattern
  • How long has this been noticed?
  • Does the volume of urine remain comparable from one day to the next?
  • Is the volume large one day and small the next day?
  • What time of day does the problem seem worse?

• quality
  • What color is the urine?
  • Has any blood been noticed in the urine?
  • How many times each day is urination necessary? What about at night?
  • Any problems controlling urine?

• aggravating factors
  • What makes the problem worse?
  • Does drinking large volumes of fluid increase the urine volume ?

• relieving factors
  • Is there anything that helps relieve the problem?
  • Does restricting fluid intake reduce the urine volume?

• other
  • What other symptoms are also present?
    • Is there any pain or burning when urinating?
    • Is there pain in the abdomen or back pain ?
    • Is there a fever ?
    • Is bed wetting a problem?

  • What medications are being taken?
  • Is there a family history of diabetes or kidney problems?
  • Has there been previous urinary tract infections ?
  • Dietary factors: What is the amount of fluids consumed each day? Salt? Caffeine ? Alcohol?

Diagnostic tests that may be performed include:

• blood urea nitrogen test
• creatinine studies
• fluid deprivation test (the intake of fluids is restricted to see if the urine volume decreases)
• serum osmolality and osmolality, urine tests
• serum electrolytes

After seeing your health care provider:
You may want to add a diagnosis related to excessive urine volume to your personal medical record.


This is an illustration of the female urinary tract. The female and male urinary tracts are relatively the same except for the length of the urethra. The positioning in the body and relative size of the organs are also demonstrated.