For the last several weeks I have been having consistently foamy urine (29 year-old male). Some online reading indicates this can be a sign of kidney disease. I have an appointment to see the doctor in a week and a half, which is free, or I could go in right away and pay a copay. Obviously I’d rather save the money but if it’s essential I see the doc ASAP I’ll go in and pay. Would the doctors of the SDMB say I need to see a doctor right away?
I would call the doctor’s office and ask the nurse whether they want to see you immediately or not. Asking us is probably not the best idea.
It might be nothing but excess protein in your diet. The way to find out is to see a doctor. Follow dolphinboy’s advice and call. They’ll tell you if you need to go in right away. I’d guess you could wait if you feel fine otherwise, but I wouldn’t get medical advice from guesses on the internet either.
I’ve been through this myself. The first thing the doctors had me do was collect urine for 24 hours. I had bottles all over the place until I found out they only wanted mine.
Ha! I needed that. OK thanks dolphinboy and TriPolar, I called the office and they’re gonna have a doc get back to me.
ETA: I tried to avoid asking for medical advice from message board posters, I was hoping to just find out what kind of medical advice I need.
It’s quite rare that foamy urine is a medical emergency. Most causes are neither life nor health-threatening.
Most cases are caused by what’s in the water one is urinating into, not what’s in the urine.
OK, [del]humor[/del] enlighten us, then: what are some of the typical causes?
(I’ve had this happen a couple of times but it was always when I had to go reallyreallyreally bad and figured I’d just built up extra hydrolic pressure.)
At what point does urine foam become an issue? Does the toilet look like a bubble bath, a poorly pourn beer, or what? My urine pool is always a little on the foamy side.
… and you are urinating into the toilet, not the sink or dishwasher?
The rate at which your urine is expelled into the toilet water can make the water and urine mix into a foamy solution if it’s a high rate of speed (i.e. you really gotta go). Also, periodically your diet may contain an excess amount of protein (which is what foam in the urine indicates) which just gets secreted out in the urine. Foamy urine is bad when it’s a indication of kidney malfunction and the kidney’s inability to break down the protein that gets ingested (foamy for a extended length of time).
Your name is Rick Santorum, and I claim the prize!
Many things make urine foam; protein is one common one, urobilinogen is another. Both may be present in urine as a result of normal processes, or as a result of disease.
Often, protein-laden substances are deposited in the urethra, such as normal urethral lubricant, semen, and just the dead cells that slough off the bladder and urethral lining. This will make urine foamy.
Some drugs make urine foamy, such as phenazopyridine.
Toilet water containing trace fecal matter will often foam.
Worry about foamy urine if it persists for more than a week in all situations, or if it grows more foamy with time, or is associated with blood or pus or air or feces in the urine. Especially if you have a history of kidney disease or diabetes with renal impairment.
This is now on the list of things I never thought I’d hear but have. How does that even happen? Fistula of some sort?
Even if it is kidney disease, that’s not something that could be fixed or reversed right away.
This is the case with mine, which is why I’m concerned.
Yep. Fistulas can form between the bowel and the ureter or the bowel and the bladder, to name but two such connections.
Most likely explanation is still something completely benign, but by all means get it checked out.
You’re producing foamy urine? You don’t need to call a doctor, you need to call the makers of Budwiser.
I hope the docs say everything is OK.
You may be interested that Molly Bloom, in her stupendous inner monologue concluding Ulysses, when she gets up out of bed and begins to pee, thinks “…i hope theyre bubbles on it for a wad of money from some fellow…”
What do you call the guy with the entero-vesicular fistula?
Pierre!
Excess dietary protein does not get broken down or excreted by the kidneys. It’s metabolised in the liver. The normal function of the kidneys filters the blood so that most protein does not pass into the urine (a small amount of albumin, the commonest small protein in the blood does make it through in healthy kidneys). Significant protein passing into the the urine in the kidney means there is a problem with the filtration system. However, as Qadgop noted, it’s possible for protein to get introduced to urine after the kidneys.