What would you do? 9 year old possible UTI

[Jourdain11]

Hiya, this should probably go in Health but I'm hoping to pick up a few replies here. I'm worried that my 9 year old daughter may have a UTI - sorry for tmi, but has been bedwetting, having accidents and says it "stings". She doesn't cope well with physical discomfort and we're on the edge of meltdown mode, so I really want to get whatever it is sorted ASAP.

Problem is, GP is running only vaccine clinics this PM and the thought of taking her to a walk-in is not appealing on many counts!

She's had unsweetened cranberry juice and is drinking plenty, but if she needs antibiotics I'd rather she got them sooner than later.

Any ideas? I'm drawing a bit of a blank!

We can take a sample to the pharmacy for testing here in Scotland. Could you do that?

111. If your gp isn't taking appointments this afternoon there will be OOH coverage in place, or some sort of clinical assessment service

Sounds like she needs to see a doctor? How long has she been like this? Is it stinging when she wee's?

Could you ring the pharmacy and ask if it's possible to drop a sample off for testing?

I meant GP not pharmacy but that might also be an option it seems!

You need to go to the walk in or whatever provision there is.

Don’t bother with the cranberry juice unless it’s something like Biona. So health food shop for that or Amazon.

I'd say she's been like this for a few days but it seems to be getting worse. She says it stings and she "keeps needing to go".

Pharmacies do quick testing for uti now. Just have a Google to find the one closest to you.

@Thefuturestory

You need to go to the walk in or whatever provision there is.

Don’t bother with the cranberry juice unless it’s something like Biona. So health food shop for that or Amazon.

Ah, it is Biona actually! We have a health food shop round the corner.

I'm going to try 111 - thanks for the advice. Hopefully they can advise if she needs to be seen or if it's possible to drop a sample at the pharmacy/GP. I'm probably overreacting but she gets very distressed with any illness and I don't want her to be unwell and suffering, poor thing

I think I'd ring 111 and ask for advice, it could lead on to a fever

Poor thing it’s so uncomfortable this isn’t it?

Some GP surgeries will let you drop off a sample for testing without actually having an appointment (although it might be different for a child) could you try ringing them and seeing what they say? A pharmacist might be able to test her urine too, but they won’t be able to prescribe anything. If she’s not thrown it off herself by now then I very much doubt she’s going to.

I once got told by a nurse not to drink any extra on account of having a UTI. She said that it won’t ‘flush’ the infection out and all it does it make you wee more which you don’t want when weeing is so painful, so stick to drinking the normal recommended amount of liquid.

Glad it’s biona. That stuff is the one that can help. The rest is just rubbish.

Good luck with 111. Might be quicker just to ring pharmacy.

@HalfTermHalfTerm

Some GP surgeries will let you drop off a sample for testing without actually having an appointment (although it might be different for a child) could you try ringing them and seeing what they say? A pharmacist might be able to test her urine too, but they won’t be able to prescribe anything. If she’s not thrown it off herself by now then I very much doubt she’s going to.

I once got told by a nurse not to drink any extra on account of having a UTI. She said that it won’t ‘flush’ the infection out and all it does it make you wee more which you don’t want when weeing is so painful, so stick to drinking the normal recommended amount of liquid.

Interesting! She says she's thirsty though. So I don't want to actually ban her from drinking.

I'm going to try 111 and if they say go to a pharmacy, I'll call one - I'll feel more comfortable in my mind if someone qualified makes the decision about whether she needs to be seen rather than me...

I had UTIs through my whole pregnancy with her - so maybe she's genetically predisposed!!

111 say it's fine to treat at home if she doesn't normally have UTIs and doesn't have a temperature - take calpol and "drink plenty of fluids". So I guess I am overreacting...!

I don’t think you are overacting at all. I would speak to GP practice and ask to drop in a sample, incase your DD needs antibiotics to clear the UTI, if there is infection you don’t want it tracking up to her kidneys. But keep up with the fluids, Lemon Barley water is better to drink than Cranberry juice, particularly if it’s a e-coli infection. I take d-mannose supplement as I am prone to UTI.

Another recommendation for Cystopurin - they work very quickly for me. Other sachet treatments don't seem to do much.

Thanks for the recommendations - I'm going to nip to the shops once DH is home. Poor kid - she's constantly needing to go to the loo, says it "burns" and she looks really tired and washed out. I'm definitely going to call the doctor if it isn't clearing up at all soon.

I do Urinalysis at work, we take the samples without an appointment. I just to reassure you you've done the right thing. We don't usually reccomend cranberry anymore, we always say clear non fizzy fluids aka plain water. Things to keep an eye out for would be lack of passing urine and flank/kidney pain, fever.

Thank you, that's helpful and reassuring to know. She definitely doesn't have lack of passing urine (the opposite!) and she says she doesn't have any flank or back pain. She seems very exhausted and run down, but tbh, that may just be end of term and recent Covid (she had it quite bad whereas younger sister and brother tested positive with no symptoms at any point - it was awful trying to do the 10 days isolation because they were full of beans!!!)

I always ur on the side of caution with utis. I have a bad kidney as I’ve had over 100 kidney infections requiring antibiotics. But a uti can spread very quickly especially if she’s had it a few days. Poor thing it’s absolutely horrible. I’m currently experiencing cystitis.

Don't want to worry you here but the excessive drinking, thirst, tiredness and sudden onset of bedwetting are all symptoms of Type 1 diabetes. Please call the doctor and get her checked out.

@Englishrosegarden

Don't want to worry you here but the excessive drinking, thirst, tiredness and sudden onset of bedwetting are all symptoms of Type 1 diabetes. Please call the doctor and get her checked out.

Oh gosh! Now I've gone from worrying that I was overreacting to worrying that I am underreacting!

Shit... I hope not. But it didn't even cross my mind (and should have, since my mum is T1 and so is brother in law). I always get thirsty during the winter for some reason and I assumed she was the same. Hope that still is the case.

Now I'm worrying about what to do! Maybe to just call the GP first thing tomorrow...