4 replies to this topic

[benok]

Hello Everyone:
Any suggestion how many times should we have our urinalysis and urine cultures; regardless if we feel positive or negative of UTI?

[keps]

I've wondered about this too.

I've never had a UTI which produces symptoms since my injury though.

I understand that even if a urine test shows infection, unless it produces symptoms, it should not be treated.

Edited by keps, 06 February 2006 - 02:45 PM.

[kanga2433]

I don't think checking urine on a regular basis for infection has much point to it. Sometimes there might be bugs in it that are not in the bladder but come from the tube or the bag the urine into so would not help.

Wait until you have some symptoms before you check. For example, starting fever o a fever and a severe headache could be the symptoms or a urine infection, but could be a whole host of other things too so you would need to see a docter. Things to look out for are; -
Cloudy Urine
Urine smelling of fish or serkiously umpleasant
Significant amounts of blood in the urine

Otherwise, drink loads and enjoy life.

[Coach]

I agree. Skip routine urinalysis. Over-treating is worse than under-treating because you want to use as few antibiotics as you can. If you spike a fever or your muscle aches are significantly more than usual, especially if you're also moodier than usual, go ahead and get one done. My bladder is almost always colonized but I wait to treat until I really feel crumby. And a suggestion--I hope other posters will reply if they disagree--, if you spike a fever that hits 102 orally or more, suggest to your doc that you start an antibiotic (Cipro is popular and often works well if your bugs aren't resistant to it, as a lot of mine are) right away. That kind of spike is like as not from a bladder infection that's moved to your kidneys, though of course it could be from something else. Good luck.

[Joed]

I also go by the 'don't fix it until it's really broke' rule.

Another signal for me that I need to keep a closer eye on things, is when I get frequent urges to go, but don't void a whole lot. So if you have some bladder control, that may be another symptom of UTI you could monitor.

Edited by Joed, 06 February 2006 - 06:42 PM.