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"breaking the seal"


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hi guys! so im 80% sure i've seen a similar post before but i can't find it anywhere :((

what are your experiences with "breaking the seal"? is it real?

i'd especially appreciate any more scientific input on if it's a genuine phenomenon or a misinterpretation xx

today i went for drinks at the pub and used their bathroom twice. then i walked a friend home, and waited with another for the bus. by the time i got home, i could feel spurts on the brink of erupting out of me. i made it to the bathroom but i was peeing before i sat down. my panties were unequivocally soaked, and that almost never happens to me accidentally! i wonder whether it was simple diuretic effects, or if i'd have made it if i'd organised relieving myself better.

Edited by littlerush (see edit history)
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Well there is no fact here, this is just my theory. I feel like it works in the same way that drinking a lot usually won’t make you need to go until you pee once after it. And the. You keep needing too pee until it’s filtered out. 

Now here’s the actually theory. When you start drinking there’s alreadu gonna be stuff in your bladder and your kidneys are already at work. When a bunch of diretic and liquid is introduced your brain sort of puts it on hold cause it’s already working with a half tank.

Now when you release, what if that also sends a message to the brain that essentially goes “we’re fully empty, time to stock up.” And so your kidneys go into overtime trying to shift that diuretic and alcohol. It will keep doing that, rapidly filling and emptying, until a satisfactory amount isn’t gone or you need to retain water.

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I think there is a bit of physiology behind it too. When you start drinking on a night out you've probably peed before you went out and your body is  in fluid balance or possibly a bit dehydrated. As you drink your body first gets itself properly hydrated, then a fluid overload in your stomach and circulatory system, which triggers the kidneys to start removing the excess water. It normally takes 30-60 minutes for what you drink to start getting to your bladder. So, on a night out, your first pint may hydrate you after a busy day, your second starts water loading your system, by the time you drink your third your bladder is filling at an increasing rate, but it started empty so you don't feel anything till you are on your 4th. By now your kidneys are removing the fluid as fast as they can, which for most people is 10-15ml per minute. The diuretic effect of the alcohol makes the kidneys work hard too. So from halfway through your third pint you are filling at a fast rate, so if your first pee is after an hour after the fast filling started you may have drunk 5 pints, but next time there will be no slow filling phase so you will have 600-900ml in your bladder after another hour, which will be enough to make most people keen on finding a loo!! (or quietly challenging themselves and getting another drink 😉). 

There is also evidence that being bursting with a rock hard bladder and hence a high bladder pressure slows down urine production because the ureters have to work hard to force urine into the bladder, but it needs to be high pressure,the sort that makes your bladder rock hard when you push on it. When you pee and remove the pressure, the kidneys go back to max rate production. You'll find this in some of the specialist text books...and I may have done some experimenting 😉

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There is no such thing as breaking the seal. Alcohol decreases the release of vasopressin arginine (VP) from the pituitary gland. VP is also known as antidiuretic hormone (ADH). You can see where this is going. Alcohol is inherently diuretic. In addition, if you're drinking anything but pure liquor, you're probably consuming fluids at a rate greater than normal. (Most adults drink less than the recommended 2 liters of fluids every day, but that's only ~4 pints which you can drink easily over the course of a few hours at the pub.)

So it takes some time for urine production to ramp up due to decreased ADH and increased fluid intake. But when you reach max urine production, it tends to stay that way the rest of the night, and that often coincides with the first time you pee. But it's not when you choose to pee that causes your bladder to fill up more quickly. It's rather what and how much you drink. So, in other words, holding it until you start leaking is not a good strategy to avoid having to pee frequently later in the night. There is no physical seal to break, and the metaphorical "seal" is broken by drinking, not by pissing.

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Absolutely Satyr...I tried to relate it to the lived experience on a night out...perhaps call it bladder inertia??

There is evidence that seriously increased bladder pressure causes a reduction in urine production, I'll try and find a reference if I can get a chance tonight. The medical text was aimed at urinary obstruction, but with this hobby it could relate to people with strong sphincters and excellent willpower!

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  • 2 weeks later...

It is fascinating how many people do believe completely in breaking the deal to the extent of not wanting to have a first pew before they will be unable to pee for a little time (say walking to the next pub or getting transport for a period of time)!!! Yes I have heard people saying that when asked if they will pee before leaving “no I don’t want to break the seal or I’ll be setting myself before we get there”. 

 

I cant imagine that scientifically they will be able to wait more easily with the bladder full before the journey starts than if they had emptied but that is the belief due to the fear of “breaking the seal”

 

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