I keep having to pee during the MCAT!!

[chaeymaey]

OK, so I've taken 3 practice diags at Princeton Review and I notice a pattern: I keep having to pee! I drink a Sugar Free Red Bull in the morning to wake me up and half way through the physical science I have to go. Then during lunch I have a Diet Coke, so I keep having to go during the second half of the MCAT. We all know that caffeine inhibits ADH, but do y'all know of any stimulants to keep you awake that don't act as diuretics and make you have to pee? The last thing I need is to keep having to go during the real thing and then not be able to concentrate on the test.

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[gluon999]

meth usually works for me

add a little ritalin and stratera and you are guaranteed to ace the MCAT!

or you could just be practical and drink half as much caffeine before taking the test. That ought to keep you going through 85 minute blocks without thinking of peeing.

 

[futuredo32]

I went to Kaplan and they said drinking gatorade helps you not have to urinate as often, I really don't like the taste, so I drank it for a week before the MCAT to get used to it. I quit drinking caffeine a month before the MCAT so I wouldn't have the diuretic effects of caffeine during the MCAT.
Doing this helped me to be able to sit through the sections without feeling like my bladder would pop.
Good luck to you

 

[chaeymaey]

I went to Kaplan and they said drinking gatorade helps you not have to urinate as often, I really don't like the taste, so I drank it for a week before the MCAT to get used to it. I quit drinking caffeine a month before the MCAT so I wouldn't have the diuretic effects of caffeine during the MCAT.
Doing this helped me to be able to sit through the sections without feeling like my bladder would pop.
Good luck to you

How does Gatorade work so that you don't have to go as often? Is it cuz of the electrolytes?

 

[futuredo32]

I think it was the electrolytes if I remember correctly, but it was awhile ago. I am normally constantly drinking a diet pepsi, so switching from that to gatorade was a huge shock at first, but it really helped me. I have not had gatorade since(I really don't like the taste), but it worked great for me. I'll probably do it again for boards.

 

[moogy]

I went to Kaplan and they said drinking gatorade helps you not have to urinate as often, I really don't like the taste, so I drank it for a week before the MCAT to get used to it. I quit drinking caffeine a month before the MCAT so I wouldn't have the diuretic effects of caffeine during the MCAT.
Doing this helped me to be able to sit through the sections without feeling like my bladder would pop.
Good luck to you

Good tip! I'll be sure to drink that before I take it. I like how gatorade tastes =P

 

[MechE]

Have a foley catheter placed before your actual MCAT. That should do the trick.

 

[DohGGaeBee]

wear a diaper

 

[psiyung]

wear a diaper

 

[Turkeyman]

wear a diaper

LOL, the doctors solution

 

[Topper Harley]

why are you worried about peeing during the mcat? If you have to pee during the test... you pee during the test. Just go. The MCAT is an important test. the other test takers will understand, and hopefully will all will do the same... and if everyone just pees during the mcat, it will become the normal thing to do, it will become expected. (AND HERES MY MAIN POINT) it will become a test of who can work the best under smelly pee and other body smell conditions. wouldnt that be a better way to test for doctors?

 

[firebird69guy]

This guy i know took the MCAT 2 years back and said that this guy in front of him puked like every 10 minutes of the first section.

Try that for concentration!

 

[Topper Harley]

This guy i know took the MCAT 2 years back and said that this guy in front of him puked like every 10 minutes of the first section.

Try that for concentration!

wow.

 

[Topper Harley]

Protein spill!

 

[chaeymaey]

Protein spill!

 

[OSUdoc08]

OK, so I've taken 3 practice diags at Princeton Review and I notice a pattern: I keep having to pee! I drink a Sugar Free Red Bull in the morning to wake me up and half way through the physical science I have to go. Then during lunch I have a Diet Coke, so I keep having to go during the second half of the MCAT. We all know that caffeine inhibits ADH, but do y'all know of any stimulants to keep you awake that don't act as diuretics and make you have to pee? The last thing I need is to keep having to go during the real thing and then not be able to concentrate on the test.

Ok. What none of you are realizing is that the intake of fluid will inevitably lead to urination.

In order to stay awake, you need to get adequate sleep and an appropriate intake of nutrients regularly, to include multivitamins.

If you continue to have problems, then I recommend taking green tea extract pills, found in the vitamin section of the supermarket. These contain the natural stimulant EGCG.

If this does not do the trick, then obviously you have a caffeine addiction, which it obviously appears you do. Just like cigarette smokers take nicorette, you will need to start taking caffeine pills in slowly decreasing doses over time.

You need to stop the red bull and cokes---they are only harmful to your body. If you must intake caffeine----use tea products only. Tea contains natural antioxidants that prevent many diseases and do not harm your body.

 

[TwoLegacies]

You need to stop the red bull and cokes---they are only harmful to your body. If you must intake caffeine----use tea products only. Tea contains natural antioxidants that prevent many diseases and do not harm your body.

caffeine does not harm your body in normal doses. if you drink several cups of coffee per day, you will be jittery, irritable, dehydrated, and unable to concentrate. but i don't think that's what the OP is talking about. having a cup or two of coffee per day will do nothing harmful but stain your teeth.

as far as red bull and cokes go, sugar, not caffeine, would be a health problem.

tea does have antioxidants, but studies done on the effects of tea generally claim that you need to drink somewhere around 5 cups per day to have any significant effect. i don't think that would help with the pee problem.

i also don't think gatorade will help you with the pee problem. As OSUdoc pointed out, drinking any fluid will make you pee
so if you drink gatorade in addition to coffee, you will just have that much more fluid in your bladder.

maybe the problem is you aren't used to caffeine? i know when i first started drinking coffee, i had to pee constantly. but once i got used to it, it doesn't have as much of a diuretic effect.

 

[TwoLegacies]

oh yeah... and when i train for half-marathons, i read up on this kind of stuff. it's important to be hydrated when running for that long and all. one tip i learned from a runner's website is that salt intake the week before the race will help you retain water. it's hard to judge something like that, but maybe you can try it. just try any suggestions before the day of the test, not on the day.

i guess that's where someone got the gatorade idea from, because it contains salt. but it also adds fluid. counterproductive.

 

[manfood.com]

why do you keep on drinking drinks that are diuretics? Wear a pair of depants, it will solve all your problems.

 

[humuhumu]

I was addicted to caffeine, too, a couple months ago. Then I decided to get ready for the MCAT and also realized that I was sick of having a ferocious urge to pee every hour, so I quit COLD TURKEY. It was hell for about 3 days. Headache, exhaustion, bad mood. Now I feel free. I still drink a diet Coke occasionally, but never more than one can a day. I'm still as productive as before, and I *love* being able to go hours on end without a trip to the john.

 

[myodana]

i drank water and coffee through out the whole test... and i took a bathroom break between EACH section. you're allowed to - they give you like 5 minutes between sections. use them wisely.