Alice,

As a male I usually hold my pee a lot, for various reasons. When I am ready to burst and in pain, I find that it takes a long time to start my stream. I have a male friend who does the same. (We are both in our mid twenties.) He waits longer than I do. One time he had to go to the emergency room to be catheterized. He was simply unable to urinate after holding it for 10 hours!