How old is too old to be weeing in one's pants.

[AtheneNoctua]

DD has had a recurring uti for some time (about a year). She is on long tern antibiotics now which alleviate every symptom except frequent wee in the pants. The wee is multiple times a day but not enough to run down her leg. Is this normal (obviously I don't think so or I wouldn't be starting this tread)? Is it the uti? Could it be something else?

I am considering whether I should go back to the GP and ask for a referral to someone other than a pediatrician, which is where we have been going. I'm not sure though what kind of doctor I would ask to be referred to.

Any idea most welcome!

BTW, DD is 6 1/2.

6 1/2 is too old, and must be very embarrassing for her. Try the continence nurse service?

I would suggest you go back to your GP and discuss your concerns, outlay them as you have on here- and ask is it to do with the uti and also where to go from here, how long will this continue, how to help etc etc(sorry I bet you must have already asked these questions)

If you don't trust your GP or are unsatisfied, get an appt with another one for 2nd opinion.

Hope your DD gets better

ask for referral.

it is too old, but it's not so unusual. dd1 was not reliably continent until yr 1, and ds1 still struggles (yr 3). there are all sorts of tips - it's quite possible that the uti has caused an issue either with sensation or muscle control, but there are lots of things that can help her get control back. they will probably want to check bladder capacity and make sure she is emptying properly. (ds1 had an ultrasound and with both dcs we have had a lot of weeing in juds and measuring lol). you do need a referral to help her and save her any continuing difficulties at school.

some areas have a specific clinic that deals with this, but some areas just get a routine paed referral. x

juds? jugs, lol.

We've had a referral to a pediatrician. She did the usual tests/scans. All is well on the antibiotic (nitrofurintoin). It cures wetting bed at night, pain in lower left abdomen, fever, pain when going for a wee... everything EXCEPT the frequent wee in her pants during the day. So, what I am considering is a return to the GP to ask for a referral to a specialist other than a pediatricition. Perhaps whatever kind of doctor specialises in the bladder / urinary tract... what kind of doctor would this be? Perhaps a doctor who specialises in children is not speialised enough in our particular problem. Incidentally, I like the GP and I like the pediatrician (who is now on maternity leave so I couldn't go see her if I wanted to). I am just thinking hmmm... there is still something here that is not right.

So help me... to whom should I ask to be referred?

ask to be referred to the continence nursing team.

Thanks, colditz. SOrry, I missed it when you said this below. Where can I find more information? Are they used to having children referred? IS there one in every area?

there SHOULD be one attached to your gp surgery - ask your dr about it.

this sort of thing, I think.

Or a nephrologist/urologist. Your poor dd, it must be mortifyingly embarrasing for her.

Yes, it is. The result is she wont tell anyone when she has wet herself and just denies all knowledge of it. But, this head in the sand approach results in her wearing wet knickers for hours which irritatates her skin and all the world can smell it even if she thinks they can't. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before other kids start to tease her and I really want to resolve this before that happens.

I do feel sorry for her.

aw athene. ds is exactly the same. he says 'i didn't know'.

I guess there is some comfort in knowing we are not alone. We have been to the paediatrician. We had a scan of the bladder, which the hospital has no record of and keeps asking me if I'm sure it was done. To which I respond, "I was there." The sonographer said everything was normal during the scan, including the emptying of the bladder. Then, she had a DMSA scan... and the GP has not heard anything. It's been 4 weeks and I'm worried that this too has been lost. But, again, the guys doing the scan said it looked fine. And she has never complained about pain in the bac so I'm not really worried about the kidneys.

The thing I can't understand is that she does not wet herself at night and I figure out why it would be a problem in the day and not at night.

I think I am going to go back to the GP and ask for a referral to a pediatric urologist.

"...and I can't figure out why it would be a problem in the day and not at night."

have they tried oxybutynin whilst you are waiting for results? (if you ever get results...) i think it can reduce bladder spasms which can cause leaks?

the day/ night thing is probably easily explained though - normal hormonal thing, so she isn't producing at night. so it would only be a problem during the day as it isn't a problem with her hormones (ie that bit is working fine )

it does sound more mechanical in my limited understanding lol. loss of sensation or weakened muscle control due to the repeated uti, so probably only time and bladder control exercises to improve? (more measuring?)

i'm totally not an expert, so only my v uneducated guesswork.

such a difficult thing to get to the bottom of though, and no one prof to get a definitive answer from - or not that you can get near to anyway!

I was thinking the same as madwoman - similarly unqualified as well though. But it sounds like a lack of muscle control since she is leaking small amounts. Like what many of us suffer post-childbirth.

dd has had recurrent problems of this kind: in her case it's her connective tissue disorder that leads to a lack of bladder control

same thing there, only ever in the daytime

urologist was very helpful and she was on medication for a while

Do you mind if I ask how you ended up at the urologist? Did you have to ask for the referral?