[MERGED] Urinary tract infection ( UTI )

[bluemoon88]

Originally posted by Ira
bluemoon88: Are you male or female? Are you sexually active? Any other symptom like fever, abdominal pain, etc.? If you want, you can go to any laboratory, request for a urinalysis and post the results here.

hello doc I'm a Female, I'm not that sexually active.
But yeah, when I urinate especially at mornin, I experience some abdominal pains although not that severe naman. pero the rest of the day ok na naman pag-wee-wee ko.
Pero occassionally during the day, I still experience it.
What can you advice? should I seek an Eurologist?

thanks for replyin doc!

[Ira]

dudelish: The workups done on you are reasonable because males generally do not get UTIs. Women generally do not require workups. In situations where males contract this problem, the ideal thing to do is to work up the patient to see if there is a structural problem or not--which your doctor did. You're lucky because your doctor knew exactly what the proper management of UTI in males entails. Some doctors will just give you an antibiotic and will not bother to do a more thorough checkup to see if there's anything wrong.

bluemoon88: What you are experiencing may or may not be UTI--it may just be due to an overdistended bladder because you're unable to pee until the morning. However, you can see your family doctor (you don't need a urologist yet) for consult just to be sure.

[bluemoon88]

hello doc ira!

*** na na-eexperience what I experienced the other day. My urination is back to normal.
What do you suggest? still go to the doc
or just drink lotsa water and buko juice (as what most people say)?

thanks talga for the advice!

[Ira]

You can just drink a lot of fluids for that, or even buko juice (or in the US, cranberry juice). They help flush out your kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra of impurities.

[q18]

juz wanna ask kung san ba makikita sa result ng urinalysis kung may urinary tract infection ka...sa WBC/hpf ba yun? kasi mine sez: WBC: 1-2 /hpf. does that mean na wala akong UTI?

[bjmanabat]

you are right in saying that the wbc is the most important data when you are talking of UTI. the finding of 2wbc/hpf is usually insignificant. there are cases however that a person especially females who experiences urethritis(burning sensation, dysuria) without significant pyuria(wbcs). this is caused by ureaplasma, chlamydia, candida, and/or trichomonas. this is in contrary to the more common bacterias that cause UTI with pyuria which include E. coli, proteus, streptococci sp, enterobacter etc.

in other words a normal wbc without symptoms means no UTI. a normal wbc but with symptoms may or may not mean that there's UTI. An elevated wbc with or without symptoms means UTI.

[q18]

Originally posted by bjmanabat
you are right in saying that the wbc is the most important data when you are talking of UTI. the finding of 2wbc/hpf is usually insignificant. there are cases however that a person especially females who experiences urethritis(burning sensation, dysuria) without significant pyuria(wbcs). this is caused by ureaplasma, chlamydia, candida, and/or trichomonas. this is in contrary to the more common bacterias that cause UTI with pyuria which include E. coli, proteus, streptococci sp, enterobacter etc.

in other words a normal wbc without symptoms means no UTI. a normal wbc but with symptoms may or may not mean that there's UTI. An elevated wbc with or without symptoms means UTI.

from my wbc could i conclude from the urinalysis that i have no UTI? or meron pa bang other factors/indicators na nandon sa result ng urinalysis na pwede kong makita if i have UTI or not? ano ba yung range ng wbc na masasabing high?

[Ira]

You don't have UTI. Your WBC count is insignificant and its normal value is enough to rule out UTI. WBC should be significantly elevated, even up to hundreds of thousands, for you to have UTI. 1-2 is nothing.

[bjmanabat]

Originally posted by q18
from my wbc could i conclude from the urinalysis that i have no UTI? or meron pa bang other factors/indicators na nandon sa result ng urinalysis na pwede kong makita if i have UTI or not? ano ba yung range ng wbc na masasabing high?

you can already conclude that you don't have UTI. thare are other factors that doctors look in the urinalysis like general appearance it should be clear not cloudy, specific gravity should be less than 1.018, some report the actual presence of bacteria, usually these things are supportive of the wbc findings. if however there is some sort of contradiction the findings of the wbc will have the final say!!! the range of normal wbcs still varies form doctor to doctor!!! you see wbc of 5 and more is usually UTI to all doctors. findings of 2-4 may be UTI to some and normal to others. In my case a finding of 2-4 is treatable for males. for females i still inquire if there are symptoms before treatment. if there is none "water therapy" is enough. regarding the clinical entity of having symptoms without UTI this is called urethral syndrome and cause by the pathogens i mentioned a while ago. this can be treated by urinary antiseptics, others use erythromycin as emperic treatment.

[bjmanabat]

Originally posted by q18
from my wbc could i conclude from the urinalysis that i have no UTI? or meron pa bang other factors/indicators na nandon sa result ng urinalysis na pwede kong makita if i have UTI or not? ano ba yung range ng wbc na masasabing high?

you can already conclude that you don't have UTI. there are other factors that doctors look in the urinalysis like general appearance it should be clear not cloudy, specific gravity should be less than 1.018, some report the actual presence of bacteria, usually these things are supportive of the wbc findings. if however there is some sort of contradiction the findings of the wbc will have the final say!!! the range of normal wbcs still varies form doctor to doctor!!! you see wbc of 5 and more is usually UTI to all doctors. findings of 2-4 may be UTI to some and normal to others. In my case a finding of 2-4 is treatable for males. for females i still inquire if there are symptoms before treatment. if there is none "water therapy" is enough. regarding the clinical entity of having symptoms without UTI this is called urethral syndrome and cause by the pathogens i mentioned a while ago. this can be treated by urinary antiseptics, others use erythromycin as emperic treatment.

[fluke]

I'm having a symptom of frequent urinating specially at night....kaso kaunti naman ihi lumalabas kala ko pa la man madami....and also my down there is smelly....

[Ira]

Have a urinalysis done. As for smell, UTI doesn't cause this symptom. If you're female, it may also be due to underwear that doesn't allow air circulation and occasional urine "leaks". More frequent washing, underwear made of 100% cotton instead of nylons/silk, pantiliners and wipes like the one Lactacyd sells may help.

[cHeNeLyNKeMbOt]

Doc, is this a form of UTI? You're male, you're sexually active and you don't feel pain when urinating but when you wake up in the morning, you see a yellowish stain in your underwear?

[Ira]

That's probably a "leak" because of a full bladder. It's not due to UTI.

[bagel]

Hi Doc Ira.

I've been having recurrent UTI for 2 years (approx.) already, meaning the first time I had it was 2 years ago. I went to the doc, got a urinalysis, then got antibiotics. then I got it 2 more times so I got a culture done (e.coli). I also switched docs, from a GP to an Ob-Gyne. I got a lecture on using the bidet shower, so now I wash front to back.

I was fine, for a while. A few months later, it surfaced again. Plus, there was a heavy pain on my left side, front and back. So I was put on antibiotics again, (after another culture, still e.coli) and had an ultrasound done to check for stones (which came out negative). But I got well rin.

Now I have it again. (But it's been a year already since the last time.)

Here are my q's:
1. Are there other causes for recurrent UTI other than kidney stones?

2. Is it possible for bacteria to travel through the bloodstream and cause cyst-like pimples elswhere? (Because I've sprouted some) I know this sounds far-fetched but my Lola developed a pocket of pus in her brain caused by bacteria from an overlooked UTI.

Thank you for taking the time to read my long post. Just want to make things clear right away.

[Ira]

Anatomic problems within the urethra, incomplete bladder emptying, wiping backwards to front instead of front to back after bowel movement, douching, altered pH within the vagina, and lowered immunity are among the other causes of recurrent UTI. If you still keep on getting it, see a nephrologist or an infectious disease specialist for proper evaluation. You may need to be placed on longterm antibiotics (at least 6 months) to clean out your urinary system.

The cyst-like pimples is not due to UTI. The bacteria causing these are not the same as those that cause UTI. Brain abscess can be due to sepsis caused by UTI, but skin conditions is a bit far-fetched.

[bagel]

By the way, when they say 8 glasses of water a day, how big should a glass of water be? I read somewhere that it should be 8 oz. daw, but I don't remember anymore.

The most that I can take in is 4 glasses a day. I can't take in any more than that, otherwise, i'll burst. Maybe my glasses are too big?

May I know instead how many liters of water a day we should take in? (so it's easier to measure) Thanks!

[Ira]

8 glasses of water would also include water in food, so less than 8 glasses is fine. A glass would be around 250 mL.

[bagel]

Thanks doc Ira! (thanks narin for answering my questions in other threads)

[Ira]

You're welcome.