Why Do I Shiver When I Pee?

You’re peeing when, suddenly, you’re shivering! What gives!?

Hosted by: Olivia Gordon
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[Dariocorral]

Why does my shower curtain try to touch me when I take a shower?

[williamgrand]

I don't shiver, I just twitch really hard once.

[hambino]

next question... WHY DOES IT FEEL SO GOOD?

[johnwiley]

"There actually hasn't been any pee'er reviewed research on it." 0:31

[MaxArceus]

"You don't shiver when you vomit"
you f*cking do

[aisPanais]

So you made a video called "Why Do I Shiver When I Pee?" to tell us that you don't know.

[sparkss]

I'm a male and I totally do that, especially if it's late a night/early morning.

[negjana]

I shiver after I take a shit. Yep, you read that right, a shit shiver.

[adamkey]

We need some pee reviewed research on this

[angimellin]

I posted this question on SciShow a long time ago and someone told me it was just me and it wasn't a valid question. Thank you for answering as best you could.

[Master_Therion]

Weird. When I get pissed off I actually feel my temperature rise.

[emmabusby]

You should do a video on people who can make that rumbling noise inside of their ears

[thesterndragoon]

I had read about this for an AP Anatomy and Physiology course I took in high school. Basically, the shiver itself is just a reaction to the chemicals released by the brain for biological function rewards. SciShow has mentioned this before, but part of your brain and ANS (autonomous nervous system) function separately from the "conscious" you. It regulates, among other things, Dopamine and Oxytocin "rewards" it gives you for doing things that are helpful to the ANS. Elimination of toxins collected through urination so it can reset that "bladder collection meter" is one of those things. Furthermore, the reaction is stronger the longer you go without responding to it--for example if you're holding it in to finish a movie you're seeing (this is the example most people feel the shivers most strongly for). The ANS will increase the reward as an incentive to go eliminate those toxins and release the pressure your still-filling bladder is causing your abdominal organs in the process. Brad mentioned in the "holding it in" episode that the ANS WILL eventually take emergency control and release it for you--but it doesn't "want" to, hence the system of rewarding you that has evolved.

On final note, the shivers are stronger in men SOMETIMES because the bladder and urinary urethra are actually touching the prostate--the longer you hold it in, the stronger the flow when you release and the higher the chance the stream has of stimulating the release "area" of your prostate, which ALSO triggers chemical rewards from the ANS, because anything that touches it is assumed to be part of the ejaculation/mating process. So it's the same reason in men and women, but if men hold it in and build up pressure in the bladder, they can "trick" the system into a double reward based solely on physiological placement of their prostate.

[jeremy]

short but I liked the video. It amazes me that we know so much about the human body but still have so many different questions yet to answer.

Thanks for all the content!

[futureactuary]

I've always called it "Cool Breeze"
it feels like a cool breeze went through your body.

[katyj]

*I have a theory.*
So if you try to empty any water container, such a water bottle, through a small opening, air bubbles will form from the displacement of water to air. Those air bubbles will rise from the opening until the top of the water as the air displaces the water inside the container. In the case of peeing, during the first moments of urinating, the first bubbles will float to the top of the container and stimulate the nerves or "tickle" the ceiling of the bladder.
This stimulation is what I believe to be the shiver.

[mev]

*Sees title of video*
Me: "Finally! the answer to one of my greatest questions about life!"
Host: No one really knows why."
Me:

[taofortunis]

"You don't shiver when you vomit"
I shiver when I vomit...

[Redcole]

Thank you for answering one of my oldest ever questions! I'm actually kind of surprised that there hasn't been any peer-reviewed work done on this topic at all; maybe we'll get something in the near future, and you guys can do an update video.

[klutterkicker]

Anyone else here wake up early in the morning, start peeing, and find yourself getting nauseated, lightheaded, feel a deep pain and tingling coursing through your gut and it gets worse and worse until you feel like you're going to pass out? I finally looked it up a couple weeks back and found "micturition syncope" which is also caused by falling blood pressure.