UTI from bad water?

[pinkmath.livejournal.com]

Hello Superstars!
Mom my has a UTI she started peeing blood this morning. (She is going to the doctor tomorrow morning even if I have to DRAG her there.) Anyway she is absolutely convinced that she got it from drinking the tap water at work. The tap water is not monitor by the city so who knows if it is contaminated with something.

I can't find any thing on Google saying she would get a UTI from drinking bad water. I don't think it's possible

What do you think? Any sources saying one way or the other would be helpful.

Comments

[archangelbeth]

I would be pretty surprised. And if she is peeing blood now, unless she knows for sure that this is a relatively harmless symptom for her, she needs to be in the ER 15 minutes ago. Blood in the urine usually means the kidneys have been compromised. If the kidneys are affected, then she can't purge toxins from her body, and untreated... Well, if you wait for tomorrow, it increases the risk of needing a hospital stay instead of heavy-duty antibiotics, or -- depending on how bad this is -- needing a stay in a funeral home.

Kidneys are very important things, and I urge you to get her medical attention immediately. (Unless, as stated, she has had them before and knows that blood in the urine is not actually an emergency symptom for her.)

[onlyforever10.livejournal.com]

I have to 2nd this. Please get her to an emergency room or urgent care asap unless she has a history of UTIs with blood in the urine being an early symptom. Generally, that means the infection is fairly well advanced and needs to be treated really soon or else she could compromise her kidneys.

[realt-stea.livejournal.com]

third this. i highly doubt it was from the water itself, but like beth said.. peeing blood is NOT something to be taken lightly.

[pinkmath.livejournal.com]

She refuses to go to the ER. (-.-) *sigh* If only it wasn't Sunday and the Urgent Care was open.

She doesn't have the urge to pee all that frequently so hopefully she'll survive the next 12hrs. She's never had a UTI in her life, so we have no idea if this is normal for her. I've had one. I had to pee every 30min. Never saw blood but it hurt like the dickens ALL the time. She only has problems at the very end of her pee.

[somniumdraconae.livejournal.com]

Tell her that if she won't go with you to the ER, you'll call 911 for her and have paramedics come to look at her.

Seriously.

Follow through if you have to - tell the operator that she is peeing blood and hesitant to go to the ER, and you don't know if it is safe to wait until tomorrow or not. Paramedics can check basic vitals and help her decide if she should wait or go. (Of course, by the time your insurance pays for this, you might as well have just gone - factor that into your urging if she is very money conscious).

[slinkslowdown.livejournal.com]

TBH, I'd drag her butt there myself. I've done it with both of my parents at one time or another.

[archangelbeth]

If she has never had a UTI in her life, then the blood suggests she may be risking permanent kidney damage. Does she want to risk that?

I mean, yeah, there's also a chance that she might be fine till Monday, especially if she drinks water like a fish. But there is also a chance that she could be hospitalized, she could have permanent kidney damage, or she could die. All of these are more expensive than the ER.

One VP regular had a UTI that had no recognizable symptoms at all; it turned into an equally silent kidney infection. She wound up at the hospital for a kidney stone, unrelated to the infection, and the doctors there said that if she'd been a few hours later, she'd have been dead. That's the extreme far end of what a UTI can do, but it's something a UTI can do.

If you have insurance at all... I second the not-a-bluff to call 911.

[pinkmath.livejournal.com]

In the past 3hours she has peed twice. Neither time had blood. I watched her pee so I know for myself.

I am confused. UTI that was bleeding but now isn't?

[somniumdraconae.livejournal.com]

Are you two positive that the first time was blood and, if it was, that it was coming from her urethra?

Some foods can discolor urine to a rather startling red/orange. What has she eaten in the past few days? New meds?

Eta: http://www.bettermedicine.com/article/urine-color-changes

Also, does she has any discharge, vaginal or anal, that might explain what happened? Spotting? Hemorrhoids?

[archangelbeth]

Whew that it was only the once, then! As others said, it might be something else coloring her urine, such as food coloring! I hear that Red Velvet cupcakes can be notorious for "AUGH BLOOD!" moments, for instance.

Did you manage to drag her to pee in a cup and get it cultured today? O:> If not... Lots of water to drink, and go pee in a cup Tuesday. Better to rule out a UTI than to risk that it's gone silent, if financially possible.

Good luck!

[pinkmath.livejournal.com]

She decided she HAD to see HER doctor three hours away instead of my local clinic at 8am. But yes Monday she saw her doctor peed in a cup and got 7 days of strong antibiotics plus a refill if her pee doesn't clear up.
She peed blood for eight hours then suddenly stopped. Weirdest thing.

[archangelbeth]

Hooray that she went to the doctor and got the antibiotics!

...blood for 8 hours and stopping is... yeah, that's definitely unexpected! I guess just keep an eye on her. Back pain, fever, general whole-body fatigue/unwellness, and that would be ER time. But hopefully the antibiotics will fix everything!

[anthylorrel.livejournal.com]

I would also be really surprised is she got it from drinking tap water.

[margalite.livejournal.com]

From what I know about UTIs I think it's very unlikely that she got the infection from drinking water- usually the bacteria travel up the urinary tract to the bladder and kidneys. I think that it's much more likely that she'd get an intestinal infection if the problem was something that she was eating or drinking.

[aeryn.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I think she would get stomach or intestinal problems from bad water, not a UTI.

If my mom was peeing blood I would get her to the ER right away... If she's been suffering for a while it's definitely important she gets medical attention right away, as blood generally means the infection has gone too far.

[roseprintglass.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm seconding everyone else in that your mom should reaallly get herself to the doctor. The first (and only, so far) time I have gotten a UTI, I didn't realize what it was until I too was peeing blood, and then it was really fucking scary. I had to go to the ER, but thankfully we caught it before anything really bad happened, like a kidney infection. My personal feeling is that if you are peeing blood, the time is high for a doctor.

[sabishii-kirito.livejournal.com]

Definitely bring her now. Many hospitals offer a single discounted ER visit if you don't have insurance. I had to do that a few years back for the same reason. I just randomly started peeing blood after being perfectly fine with no UTI symptoms whatsoever. Went to the hospital, explained my situation, and I got the ER visit with urinalysis for about $100. They allowed a payment plan, too. Many hospitals are part of the same network, so unless your local hospital(s) happen to be some of the few that don't have those programs, cost isn't really an issue.

Go ASAP. Blood coming out of your urethra means something bad far more often than not.

[pinkmath.livejournal.com]

In the past 3hours she has peed twice. Neither time had blood. I watched her pee so I know for myself.

Now what?? UTI that was bleeding but now isn't?

[knittinggoddess.livejournal.com]

Has she been eating anything that turns her urine colors? (Apparently blackberries and rhubarb can this, not to mention the classic beets. (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/urine-color/DS01026/DSECTION=causes)) Is she spotting or menstruating? Once when I peed blood, it was more like little clots rather than even coloration. How did it appear for her?

Has she had ANY pain in the lower back, bladder, crotch or while peeing? Maybe the color was due to something else.

[dearestevermore.livejournal.com]

I second a doctor ASAP, but to answer your question... I've never heard of it coming from tap water, HOWEVER, if she is not drinking properly because she's feeling iffy about the tap water, that might have triggered one. Is it possible that she just scratched herself and has a cut near her urethra since she isn't feeling the peeing urgency?

[pinkmath.livejournal.com]

She definitely has a UTI. She (finally) saw her doctor and got some meds.

[mandatorily.livejournal.com]

I know someone who started peeing blood, went to the hospital and found out she had E Coli, so, it might not be just a UTI. I'd say get her to the ER any way you can.

[knittinggoddess.livejournal.com]

UTIs are frequently caused by E coli, as that bacteria is usually in your gut. Some strains of E coli make you sick like you see on the news, but not all of them.

That said, I've had some surface-dwelling bacteria show up on a uti urine culture before, so it's not just fecal bacteria to blame.