Diagnose this

[ContraltDlete]

I have been urinating much too frequently, almost to the point that it is becoming bothersome. I am also trying to avoid a doctors visit for obvious reasons, so I thought I would give this a shot; any help would be appreciated.  Here are the facts:  I am a twenty-one year old male, 6'5 and 145 pounds, clean of any STD's, which could be a variable. I do not have diabetes; I have actually been tested for that, although the symptoms point that way.  My blood sugar is relatively normal.  I do drink too much water daily, about 4-5 liters a day.  I have always done this since childhood, so this new occurance of urinating too often does not seem to be from over hydrating.  Even at that, I only drink when I feel thirsty, so I always assumed that is how much water my body needed.  I urinated a ridiculous 18 times yesterday, which is literally once an hour.  I do not exercise a tremendous amount. My diet is terrible, just as any college kids are, and has been this way for a few years as well; so I sort of ruled out diet.  My caffeine intake is well above average for quite some time now and I am a smoker. The only other information I can give is that I have no medical history of any problems, except a UTI when I was very young; about five or six. A UTI generally involves pain when urinating though.  I feel satisfied when I do urinate so it does not seem to be prostate related.  There is no discomfort which is why I am completely confused of any problems it may be.  Last thing is that I am anemic, which is possibly unrelated.  

[jemma116]

If you do not want to see your doctor, you can purchase some Paraemeter Urine Reagent Strips.  I buy a container of the 10LG that have 100 strips.  It is quite cheap through Amazon.  You may be able to purchase some cheaper ones with a lower content number.

The other option instead of making an appointment to see your doctor, is you could get a sample bottle from the surgery.  Do a mid stream sample into the tube and take it back to the surgery for analysis.  Don't know which country you are living in, but in the UK we can do that, and the sample gets sent off to the lab for analysis.  If it is abnormal that an antibiotic needs to be prescribed, the surgery contact us to say there is a prescrption waiting to be picked up.

Does a pharmacist in your area offer a urine sample testing service?

Frequent urination, with or without symptoms can have a number reasons.
You say you are borderline diabetic, so that could be a possibility.  The glucose will only show on the urine strip if it is elevated at 11 or above range.  Only a blood test (the one that tests over an average of 3 monts) will give an accurate reading.  If you have been consuming more surgary items then that will make you urinate more.

You may bave a bladder or waterwork infection, anywhere from the kidneys down.  Do a sample in a clean glass jar and observe what it looks like.  If it is strongly coloured, is cloudy, has sediment and smells like kidneys (but not always) (not all of these signs need be present) this is a good indication of a water work infection.  Sometimes with waterwork infections, you may feel tired and feel confused like your brain isn't functioning normally.  Of course, with you being anaemic you will be feeling tired due to the lack of red corpusles in your haemoglobin.  You are right in that being anaemic has no relevance to the frequent urination.  I trust you are taking iron and folic acid (helps absorb the iron) and eating foods containing iron to boost your levels up.  Don't drink tea when taking iron supplements or milk products as this hampers the absorption of the iron.

If your prostate glad has suddenly got enlarged, this can cause frequent urination.  Only blood tests or a doctor giving you a medical examination to feel your prostate can rule that possiblity out.  Your prostate may have been OK before, but may not be now.

Some drinks (like coffee) and foods like celery, cucumber are natural diuretics.  Also if you are used to consuming a lot of salty products and have eased off on that, the body starts to release any fluid retention.

I start to urinate more when I first start a diet to lose weight.  But definitely when there is someting wrong in the urinary tract.

My husband starts to urinate more frequently and gets up in the middle of the night when he has drunk too much alcohol and too many surgary and refined foods.  He is diabetic and also has an enlarged prostate.

Sorry, but I can't imagine "the obvious reasons" why you can't see your doctor.  Can you see a differnt doctor in the practice?

If you have Cystitis (that can give your an urgent and frequent need to urinate) there are over the counter medications for that.  You don't always experience a burning sensation when you urinate with Cystitis, but you may feel a pressure in the lower belly.  Dont't stop drinking your water.

[Red_Star]

I drank excessively when i had severe magnesium deficiency. A few articles about this..

Excerpt from "Magnesium Thirst Magnesium Hunger"

"We thirst for magnesium rich water.

Magnesium deficiency is often misdiagnosed because it does not show up in blood tests – only 1% of the body’s magnesium is stored in the blood.
Most doctors and laboratories don’t even include magnesium status in routine blood tests.

Thus, most doctors don’t know when their patients are deficient in magnesium, even though studies show that the majority of Americans are deficient in magnesium."

"After oxygen, water, and basic food, magnesium may be the most important element needed by our bodies, vitally important yet hardly known. It is more important than calcium, potassium or sodium and regulates all three of them. Millions suffer daily from magnesium deficiency without even knowing it."

Signs of severe magnesium deficiency include:

Extreme thirst
Extreme hunger
Frequent urination
Sores or bruises that heal slowly
Dry, itchy skin
Unexplained weight loss
Blurry vision that changes from day to day
Unusual tiredness or drowsiness
Tingling or numbness in the hands or feet
Frequent or recurring skin, gum, bladder or vaginal yeast infection."

***
Excerpt below from Ancient Minerals - "Need More Magnesium? 10 Signs to Watch For"...

"If you answer yes to any of the following questions, you may be at risk for low magnesium intake.

1. Do you drink carbonated beverages on a regular basis?

2. Do you regularly eat pastries, cakes, desserts, candies or other sweet foods?

3. Do you experience a lot of stress in your life, or have you recently had a major medical procedure such as surgery?

4. Do you drink coffee, tea, or other caffeinated drinks daily?

5. Do you take a diuretic, heart medication, asthma medication, birth control pills or estrogen replacement therapy?

6. Do you drink more than seven alcoholic beverages per week?

7. Do you take calcium supplements without magnesium or calcium supplements with magnesium in less than a 1:1 ratio?

8. Do you experience any of the following:

Anxiety?
Times of hyperactivity?
Difficulty getting to sleep?
Difficulty staying asleep?

9. Do you experience any of the following:

Painful muscle spasms?
Muscle cramping?
Fibromyalgia?
Facial tics?
Eye twitches, or involuntary eye movements?

10. Did you answer yes to any of the above questions and are also age 55 or older?"

[sprinkles77]

UTIs do not have to be painful, I had several in the past.  They can simply be urinating too frequently or short urination times but often.  Cut the caffine down to one a day.  Cafgine is very bad for UTIs.  
If you experience dull but constantpain in the kidney area it could be a kindey infection which usually has a low grade fever.  Go to doctor ignoring it just mskes it worse.  Either way if it is not better in two days or less go to doctor get some antibotics.