Reassurance about visible blood in wee

[Haggisfish3]

Hello
I am 48 and have had visible blood in my wee for two months now, on and off. It is accompanied by bladder pain. It is different to usual uti blood-it is quite dark and is stringy and tends to come out at the end of the wee. There has been yellow mucus as well. I think it is an embedded infection with a biofilm that ‘erupts’ from bladder lining in a cycle since the bleeding occurs every two to three weeks. I have been taking d mannose and nac and since then, there has been a lot less mucus which I think is a positive. I am in menopause and have been applying oestriol cream for the last 2-3 weeks.

i have had loads of different antibiotics and paid for a pcr urine analysis that showed a
lot of gardnerella bacteria but no coli. No kidney stones. Urine dipsticks usually show white and red blood in urine.

my gp referred me under the two week guidance yesterday and my cytoscopy and ultrasound are booked in for Thursday morning so I should know more then (and I am so grateful for the speed of those).

I’m looking for reassurance from people who had similar symptoms that turned out not to be bladder cancer. Please don’t post any bladder cancer stories unless you (or the person) recovered as I am beside myself with worry already. I am aware of Tracey emin and her diagnosis!

i had a cytoscopy two years ago which aas fine and a ct scan of kidneys and urethra which was clear of kidney stones which is what they were looking for (in a and e). Im trying to be reassured they didn’t say anything odd was seen on that. Im also trying to be reassured that the bleeding is on and off and painful. I’m not helped by the fact we had a friend who died from bladder cancer in his forties. ☹️
thank you in advance.

I dont have any advice OP but I hope all goes well for you x

My mum had bladder cancer and survived. These were not her symptoms at all.

You can only take one day at a time, this is absolutely the worst of it - the unknown. Should it be anything more sinister the plans fall into place quite swiftly.

Thank you both. I have found a case in a medical journal online where a lady had same bacteria in weeand same symptoms as me. I’m on correct antibiotic now so hopefully it will clear and scan will show nothing awful.

And shittyyear I am glad your mum is doing ok now and hope that 2026 is better for you.

Handhold OP. You’ve done exactly the right thing in getting checked. My dear dad had one episode of blood in his urine. Thankfully went to the dr and it was taken seriously…and yes it was bladder cancer. It was at the start of the pandemic and he had surgery, chemo was delayed for a year though. When he did get the chemo he didn’t lose his hair as it’s held in the bladder. He celebrated his 5 years cancer free milestone before Christmas. So I hope you don’t have cancer but if it does turn out to be I hope this has been a positive tale x

Thank you alpaca and I’m so glad your dad is ok. 🙂

Hi Haggis, slightly different to you, but I'm 53 and have had large amounts of non-visible blood in my urine for years and years. I've had cystoscopies over the years, and no one ever got to the bottom of it. It's still there. I take d mannose too. I'm also on HRT, with vaginal pessaries, which help with discomfort in that region. The bladder needs oestrogen apparently. I feel.for you, because it's worrying, and the tests are so invasive. Let us know how it goes. Drink lots of water afterwards your cystoscopy!

I hope you find this reassuring but my Dad was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2011. He was treated successfully and still going strong.

Thank you Dutch, it does help. I’m glad your dad is doing well.

Good news here, for us and I hope for you OP.

DH had bladder cancer about 10 years ago. His NHS surgeon actually built him a new bladder from a piece of his digestive tract. It has worked well.

Bleeding at the end of a wee was his key symptom. It was infrequent at first and then more frequent. He had no pain at all, unlike you.

He had chemo before his surgery. He has been fine ever since despite a prognosis we would not have wished for.

You are doing everything right. I wouldn’t do anything extreme except on the advice of medical doctors. However I will say that DH’s oncologist at a famous NHS cancer hospital told us that ‘you can’t eat too much broccoli’. (And leafy greens, etc) Advice for all of us.

Very best wishes. Please let us know how it goes. 🌺

Thank you, that is reassuring. Im
glad your dh is doing well and had such a good surgeon! I’m so worried. And worried they won’t do the cystoscopy if I’m showing signs of a uti which I am-that’s the whole problem! 🤦🏻‍♀️

I know you need to inform the team of your symptoms so they can do a risk assessment.

I might prepare myself for the possibility that the nurse or registrar doing the cystoscopy will want to consult before the procedure, which might slightly delay it. That isn’t a health risk even though it is annoying and stressful.

However as you are on the two week pathway I feel confident that either cystoscopy or a good alternative will be offered in a timely manner. This won’t be an unusual scenario for a specialist clinic.

Again, very best wishes.

Thank you. I really appreciate your replies.

Update-no cancer. I have a urethral cabuncle which is a benign growth caused by bloody menopause. Thank you all for your replies. They did really help me.

Great update. What a relief

This is great news OP.
Now i think of it, i did have blood in urine during a UTI a few years back however it wasnt for a prolonged period and antibiotics cleared it in a few days!
But so glad you have your answer. X

Sadly I am going for a private cystoscopy and biopsy tomorrow as the bleeding has continued and is becoming more frequent, despite me using the oestrogen cream. I am absolutely terrified it is urethral cancer. I know my bladder is not cancerous because of nhs cystoscope and ultrasound scan of ovaries that checked my bladder. My kidneys are fine. So it can only be coming from my urethra. Will update again tomorrow after the cystoscope. I am beside myself with worry. ☹️

So sorry you're still having issues. Topical estrogen can take many weeks and even months to work.

Personally I found the Estring pessary much more helpful then the estrogen cream for my bladder/urethra issues.

Take care.
💐

Thanks for this. I will ask consultant if I would be better to try pressures.

My consultation today was a very different and lovely experience.
very experienced and reassuring consultant. Defitnely no cancer in bladder or urethra. No caruncle either. So need to have a ct scan with dye of my kidneys. I am relieved. Dr thinks most likely thing is a low level infection in my weird kidney or maybe a bit of it isn’t working properly. Am trying very hard not to think about kidney cancer. 😬🤣 and I was right about the other chap misdiagnosing me. 🙄