Nitrites in urine

[physicskate]

So at my 34 week midwife appointment they tested my wee (standard) and it came back with some blood and 'high nitrites.' They've said I likely have a uti because nitrites are only present with certain bacteria, but wanted to culture my wee to find what bacterium/ what antibiotic to try. So no antibiotics at this point.

A bit of pressure down below (baby is now head down) and a tiny bit stingy, but no full blown uti symptoms...

Anyway the issue is that the lab has rejected my sample (I had my 28 week bloods taken four times because they kept being rejected!!!!!!). Takes two/ three days to culture a sample, which means the soonest I would realistically get antibiotics is Tuesday (results Monday, see someone/ have them actually write the script, etc...).

I think it's shite to leave it a week to give me antibiotics and leave me twiddling my thumbs. Am I being unreasonable? What can I do???

Trouble is if they give you the wrong antibiotics they won't do anything anyway so you'll be no better off... frustrating but doctors won't give out antibiotics without knowing what they're trying to treat as this contributes to antibiotic resistance which will mean less choice and less effective in the future. I'd be annoyed about the sample being rejected (cells in tube?) but can't do a lot about it now. Obviously if it got worse and you needed to go to walk-in or A and E they'd give you something rather than nothing but they can't make the bacteria grown any quicker for a correct diagnosis. I know that's not what you wanted to hear but that's the situation the doctor will be in in terms of choosing an antibiotic.

Totally understand antibiotic resistance. There are only a few bacteria common in uti that produce nitrites and only three antibiotics that are safe to use in pregnancy with them.

My main concern is that they e rejected bloods three times before and now this?! What's to stop them rejecting again and again and then this infection causing preterm labour?

I'm wondering now: if they reject this sample, could I culture my own (and yes i have the facilities to do this) and have my mates the microbiologists (and yes I have two friends who have phds in antibiotics and antibiotic resistance in Genito-urinary issues). If I took that to the doctor would that be enough?

Because I think both triage and a and e have better things to do than cover for the dithering of labs continuing to refuse my sample...

That is an awkward one. Waiting a week could lead to the infection spreading up to your kidneys, which I'm sure you could really do without at 34 weeks.

They may reject your cultured sample as they will be prescribing the antibiotics, so would have thought it would need to be within their own testing environment. couldn't hurt to ask your doctor though?

The only thing to do in the meantime is try and flush it out as best as possible. I know it's disputed, but Im prone to UTIs and always found cranberry tablets/juice a help (along with chugging back water) the theory is it stops the bacteria sticking to the wall of your bladder - although you probably already know all that!!

Good luck and get well soon

Also, how annoying that they keep rejecting your samples!! I've had the same before and also a lot of lost samples - how does that happen?? Very frustrating when you're ill (and pregnant) x

I doubt they'd take your own culture but that sounds like the sort of thing I'd do 😂
I suppose you could argue as well that amoxicillin is likely to do the job and gets dished out easily enough so worth a medical punt. Go back to midwife and say you're concerned about delay and potential consequences maybe, they might advocate on your behalf?

So guess who's second sample was refused because my gp surgery put it in the wrong fucking pot!!! Gave another sample, and the the receptionist said,'oh they've already collected all the samples. You'll have to give a new sample on Monday.'

Instead, I drove my sample to hospital (and hour or so each way because of traffic). Hoping it isn't rejected (AGAIN). Third time's the charm????

Luckily, I'd bagged an emergency gp appointment and he said we don't want to mess around with uti and this stage of pregnancy. Tested again and positive for nitrites,blood and leukocytes. So I've got a course of antibiotics. Hopefully they're the right ones and the culture confirms it... it's a start, anyway.

Happy birthday weekend to me!!

Oh man!! Fingers crossed they've picked something that will do the job so you might at least feel okish by Sunday. Sound alike the last GP you saw was a keeper amongst a bit of a mess!

Did you ever find out why your bloods were rejected?

It's because of my name... they think it's double barrelled because my middle name is also a surname! But it's just my middle name... so they get confused!!! It's a bit ridiculous! So sometimes they accept stuff and sometimes they reject it.... I think that was my first urine sample too. But what can I do?!

Oh man. No idea. Is it the way they've printed your roll of stickers? Maybe if a GP or Midwife gets as frustrated as you understandably are they might be able to order a new, muppet-proof set? People must lose them every now and then so there must be a mechanism somehow.

Pretty sure I'm out of stickers now... they've had to re-order my tests so many times!! Not sure there's a way to make it clearer...