uti symptoms but neg urine dip

[stupidurethra]

i have close to zero experience with UTIs unlike a lot of women and considered myself lucky! about a month ago I had some minor urinary symptoms- no pain or burning or blood etc, just a niggly feeling that I needed to pee even if I’d just gone. That lasted about a week until I was at a hospital appt for something else where they said my urine dip showed I had a uti (I didn’t ask which bit of the stick changed) and I was given 3 days of trimethoprim which did the trick.

Now for the past week(ish) I’ve had the same urgency feeling so have been drinking loads of water and taking d mannose to see if that helps. Things have sort of gone up and down, as in yesterday I had no urgency but it was back today, which has happened a few times.

I mentioned to a nurse friend and she brought me some dip sticks from her work as she said the GP would probably ask for a sample and dip it anyway. Nothing is showing on the sticks. No blood/ leukocytes/ nitrites so does this mean I don’t have a UTI? Is there anything I can do apart from keep drinking lots of water and taking d mannose or should I be phoning the GP to ask for antibiotics even though the urine dip is negative? i was expecting something to show!

thank you!

bump from my angry urethra

another bump hopeful to get advice

I've had long history with UTI issues and lack of it showing on a dip stick. I believe that a lot aren't picked up. I also had a feeling of needing to go again not long after I'd been, and a dull aching pain constantly. Drs kept fobbing me off saying it wasn't a UTI and basically it was anxiety making the symptoms worse. I ended up going private and I had a camera up into my bladder (sounds worse than it is, the injection in my bum after in case of infection hurt more) basically they realised I wasn't emptying my bladder properly and it was slightly inflamed so I was given a strong dose of antibiotics. Whilst it helped it didn't completely go away. It was then suggested a had a low dose antibiotic for a few months to see if that helped things. I started but didn't finish as the side effects from the antibiotic was worse.

Ultimately I was diagnosed as having intersistital cystitis which is basically a lifelong condition and it's where the bladder is inflamed. It can't be treated but can be managed depending how bad it is, I just manage mine with diet (nothing extreme just sometimes if I eat alot of acidic food I feel abit sore)

If you're still having issues I would keep pushing for further tests but it's worth having a Google of intersistital cystitis and seeing if it matches any of your symptoms. I believe it's not something that is picked up on a dip stick as it's an inflammation rather than an infection

What have you been drinking other than water? Coffee, fizzy drinks or fruit juice all give me similar symptoms.

Sorry name change fail

D’mannose doesn’t agree with everyone and can irritate the bladder lining, giving you symptoms that are similar to what you’re describing. Might be worth seeing if it makes any difference without it for a couple of days.

It could be a yeast infection, it can get into your urinary tract apparently making it hard to shift.

Definitely recommend taking a women’s probiotic for urinary health.

I would recommend a product called “Prelief “ that you take with food and drink that neutralises the acidity of them . Its made of calcium I think . It’s really helped me when I suffered badly in the first year of the pandemic and after having had bacterial infections then was left with the same symptoms but negative tests . My urologist was saying about some bladder lining treatments etc next but mine has calmed down and generally I have no symptoms when they start I use the tablets ,avoid acidic things and start on the mannose again . Hope you’ll get help , I had the constant feeling for about 6 months and 5 courses of antibiotics it’s was pure hell !!!!

I would also recommend getting treatment for thrush as I always seemed to suffer this after a uti had cleared. Taking the tablet form seemed to calm everything down.
I also removed anything acidic from my diet for a week or so.

I also had some yeast found in my sample initially .the bacteria was some more unusual one for the area and the normal antibiotics didn’t help so had to have several stronger ones . I swear they did actually affect my joints afterwards as per warning on the packet . I am a bit relieved in a way to know that if I get her symptoms now they are the interstitial cystitis ones not a uti and I know I can manage them , they’ll calm down and I’ll feel completely fine again .

Thanks everyone, I’ll see how it goes, today I feel no symptoms at all. So weird

As someone who has had 20 years of bladder problems I would say two things.

1. Don’t start going to the loo all the time. The bladder learns things and once it starts going all the time it will be harder and harder to stop.


2. if it comes back. Check what u have had to eat and drink in the last 24 hours. Both can have a huge effect on ur bladder and how it works.

if it continues go see a doctor. But keep a check on how many times ur going. And really try not to over go. There are tablets out there that can help with water infection symptoms. Let me know if u want to know what they are.

Hiya. So sorry you're going through this. I really relate! I've posted a few bits here just in case it's any help x

Help please... Uti that's not?! - www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_health/4558657-help-please-uti-thats-not

Try a product called Testcard. Gives the same data as a lab test so more sensitive. Get it in Superdrug.

Caffeine and alcohol, dehydration, can trigger inflammation or UTI symptoms, OP. So drink plenty of fluids. Also, affected by menstrual cycle and sex.
Keep a diary of symptoms if they reoccur and go back to GP and get them to send urine sample off to path lab for testing, regardless of urine dip.
Good advice from above re cystitis sachets for reduce acidity (good to always have on hand) as well as bladder control tips.

Cranberry capsules and buscopan.

Make sure your toilet is ultra clean and when you go for a #2 place a few layers of loo roll in so nothing splashes back up. Apparently this has stopped quite a few UTIs.

Cleanse just with shower water not soap, make sure your shower head is ultra clean as well and the pipe the water flows down is very clean, it can make a difference.

Try coconut oil

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions. Symptoms continue to come and go and yesterday I had moderate leukocytes on dipstick but then checked again last night and they’d gone so I have no idea what’s going on, maybe contamination? I spoke to a pharmacist yesterday as they give UTI antibiotics without needing a GP appt but they couldn’t give me any as it’s been less than 3 months since my last UTI/ antibiotics. They said phone 111 but by the time I got home I had no symptoms at all anymore so I don’t know what to do! Today I also have none of the urgency/ frequency/ any further symptoms. I will try cystitis sachets and if things continue I’ll phone the GP on Monday I guess

Ps I have also stopped the d mannose on wed in case it wasn’t agreeing with me as suggested by someone here but no difference so far (and no difference when taking it either!) but will keep off it to see if that helps

Some of the best UTI doctors are the late Professor Malone Lee's team at Harley Street. You can find his lectures on YouTube. He thinks short courses of ab aren't long enough and that if you think you have a UTI, you probably do.

You might get a longer course of ab and then a lower preventative dose for a while.

You can take hyprex alongside d mannose and antibiotics. I think it's like a mild disinfectant for your bladder.

Some posters have mentioned interstitial cystitis. Malone Lee would feel that's largely a made up illness that exploded into being when short courses of antibiotics started being given out.

I'm in a similar position to you but a bit further on, taking daily hyprex, trimethoprim and gritting my teeth through the flare ups. Don't try to read too much into each twinge-they come, they go, get your treatment right and eventually the bacteria will sucuumb.

Dipstick tests are notoriously unreliable.

You might find the Live UTI Free site helpful.

You can build up your tolerance to d mannose and hyprex (which some pharmacists will sell over the counter) but I don't think what you're describing is likely to be in response to d mannose, for what it's worth. It sounds like d mannose would be something to keep persevere with if possible.

ah. Perhaps I should persevere with the d mannose then. It’s hard to know if some say it could be making it worse and some are saying it’s great and really helped them!

It's so hard if the treatment is aggravating the bladder as it seems counterproductive. But the symptoms seem to come and go for you without any clear reason and I have come to understand, if we have the same thing, that this is to be expected with a chronic UTI. If that's the case, d mannose is a really good thing to take even if it does cause a little bit of bother. But I don't think it does cause many problems. We blame everything we can to try and find a reason and a way to control what we're experiencing.