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Elderly parents
Original poster

Very bad urine smell

12 replies

Zakinthos · 26/12/2011 20:25

My 90 yr old mother has to wear tena pads now as she 'leaks' a bit - as least that's all she will say. The trouble is her urine smells really really bad. The smell seems to linger for ages in the loo after she has been, even after I have cleaned the loo thoroughly (and floor). She doesn't seem to smell at her own house, but when she comes to ours, the smell from her is terrible after a couple of hours, especially when she stands up after sitting down for ages. She has had her urine tested before but no infection. To be honest she has had a problem with smelly wee for years now before she even wore pads. I have had to remind her that she needs to change her pad regularly (said she forgot to take her bag to loo when at our house)
Does anyone else's parents have this problem? Why does her wee smell so bad? Is there anything she can take to reduce the smell?
Any advice much appreciated!

OP posts:
KnitterNotTwitter · 26/12/2011 20:32

The only thing I know of is to get her to drink more water - then the wee will be less concentrated and therefore less stinky... She will probably find it easier to be continent as well as a bladder full of dilute wee isn't as urgent as concentrated wee.
Also can she go to pilates/similar that encourages pelvic floor exercises?

Original poster
Zakinthos · 26/12/2011 21:00

Her mobility is very very limited so Pilates not possible. Will suggest drinking more water but have tried getting her to drink more before without success. She is very stubborn!

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KnitterNotTwitter · 26/12/2011 21:05

What about a DVD... there must be some sort of DVD for OAP's video you can get?

CMOTdibbler · 26/12/2011 21:18

Can you get her to visit the GP ? It could be an infection, or not a wee one iyswim.

Otherwise, drinking more (of anything - as long as its not neat vodka) will help as it will dilute and get her weeing more. She'll smell when standing as you most often leak then

Original poster
Zakinthos · 26/12/2011 21:38

Will investigate DVD idea - thanks! Will suggest she sees gp and takes sample. Does wee smell worse as you get older?

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gingeroots · 28/12/2011 08:59

No wee doesn't smell worse as you get older .
Agree she needs to drink more ,a lot of elderly people don't ,easpecially if they have poor mobility and leak .

Could some of the smell be coming from her clothes or body ?

Fingers crossed you can get her to take a sample to GP and that the GP will be helpful and will thoroughly investigate .

BTW ,where I live ( inner London ) the district nursing team can authorise pads on prescription ,delivered to the house plus special collection ( yellow bags /clinical waste ) of used ones .
Tena are expensive and I've known people be very parsimonious ( not changing them very often for example ) with them in an effort to save money ,doesn't help with smell .

springboksaplenty · 28/12/2011 09:43

Agree with above. A couple of things could be going on: an infection would be top of the list; there really is a distinctive smell to a uti and it can also be causing her to have increased incontinence. Dehydration would also make the smell more potent, she may be drinking less because she's worried about being incontinent more frequently.

She needs to be on prescription pads - as poster above said, a lot of people at her age don't want to 'waste' money so start scrimping on things like this. (if you can't get it on prescription, personally I would lie and say I did just do she doesn't worry about the cost - we've started doing this with my nan, it's amazing what the 'NHS' provides these days!)

gingeroots · 28/12/2011 11:20

it's amazing what the 'NHS' provides these days Smile

Original poster
Zakinthos · 04/01/2012 20:39

Just seen the last two posts - thanks for the advice. I am taking her to the gp Friday with sample as she is due a review anyway for all her tablets she's on. Her own house doesn't smell and when I go round there I never notice any odour from her, although she is generally sitting down all the time. We did have incontinence pads delivered on the nhs but she said they weren't very good and wanted the tena pads instead. Money isn't a problem so no worries about that but I may speak to the district nursing team anyway to see what they say. She has a bath twice a week and has a 'strip wash' as she calls it on other days, so don't think it is stale wee smell from clothes or body. I may try and get her thicker tena pads or something and I have suggested that she changes them more often.
Thanks everyone!

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memphis83 · 04/01/2012 20:45

My Nan has Tena brand pads (but larger size than in the shops) on the NHS, our other Grandma is in a home and when out her urine smells, its because when she visits people she doesnt want to drink as she doesnt want to use the toilet but then when we take her back to the home you can smell it when she goes, its as she is so dehydrated but as she has a toilet right next to her at the home she drinks more there (at least this is her problem). Hope it is something simple for your Mum.

Original poster
Zakinthos · 04/01/2012 21:31

Thanks Memphis, I will try and see if I can get them on the nhs where i live :)

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Original poster
Zakinthos · 06/01/2012 14:03

Took my mum to the gp with urine sample and she has a 'definite' infection so on antibiotics. Plus gp told me she hasn't had her 'pessary ring' (for prolapsed bladder) changed since March 11 so this has probably caused the infection as it is meant to be done every 6 months.

So thanks guys - I need to keep an eye on her more I think now. She was always so good at remembering appts etc before and I have never had to remind her about anything. I suppose if you are 90 your memory is bound to deteriorate somewhat.

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