How to Keep a Bladder Diary for Your Urologist
A bladder diary (also called a voiding diary or frequency-volume chart) is a log of when you pee, roughly how much, what you drink, and any urgency or leaks. Urologists and continence nurses often ask for one before or between appointments because it shows your real daily pattern better than memory.
What to record for each entry
- Time of every void, day and night.
- Amount: measured mL if your clinic asked you to measure, or a consistent Small / Medium / Large estimate if not.
- Urgency, for example on a 1 to 5 scale.
- Leaks: whether any leakage happened, and what you were doing.
- Drinks: time, type (water, coffee, tea, alcohol) and amount.
- Bedtime and wake time, so night-time voids can be counted.
How many days?
Clinics commonly ask for 3 days, sometimes 7. Use the number your doctor gave you. Consecutive days that include a normal workday and a day off usually give a more typical picture.
A sample day
- 07:00 woke up, void Medium, urgency 2
- 07:20 coffee 250 mL
- 09:45 void Small, urgency 4, no leak
- 12:30 water 500 mL
- 23:00 bed; 03:10 void Medium (night)
Common mistakes
- Skipping night-time voids because you were half asleep.
- Logging voids but not drinks, so intake and output cannot be compared.
- Filling in the diary from memory at the end of the day.
- Changing how you drink or pee because you are keeping a diary. Keep your usual routine.
Keeping it on your phone
Voidly lets you log each void and drink with one tap, fix the time later if you forgot, and share a 3 day, 7 day or custom-range diary as a table image or text with your name and notes. Records stay on your phone with no account. Voidly is a logging tool and does not interpret your results.
This guide is general information about keeping records. It is not medical advice and does not replace your doctor. Follow the instructions your clinic gives you.
Voidly — coming soon to Google Play