# I Pee Neon (Maybe TMI) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 5, 2005, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pee-neon-maybe-tmi/288517 "2005-02-05T13:52:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pee-neon-maybe-tmi/288517/21 "2005-02-05T21:50:22Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > I believe theres a chemical you can add to a pool to make urine show up bright red in the water. Just add a dash of [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/science/poolpiss.htm). ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_in_second_hand_clothing)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pee-neon-maybe-tmi/288517/22 "2005-02-06T02:58:32Z")
I take a multivitamin every day, and it doesn’t have any effect on my pee, but when I drink a smoothie with a mulitvitamin booster, it turns bright yellow. Probably because I take cheap target brand vitamins. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pee-neon-maybe-tmi/288517/23 "2005-02-06T03:44:24Z")
> [@Antiochus](#): > > When I was a hospital corpsman, I learned of a harmless pharmacutical that made you pee bright red. I swallowed the pill and maybe an hour later, I was peeing in a color that looked just like bright red blood. > > Told the boys about it, they tried it, too, and then we fantasized about somehow surreptitiously slipping the pill to some of our Cuban buddies - maybe our girlfriends, even - in Gtmo City. We’d then spin a scary tale about a deadly disease that has popped up here in in the Oriente province, and how a team of navy MDs were quietly seeking the cure. Problem was, you feel fine, but suddenly you pass blood and two hours later, you’re dead. > > No we didn’t follow through on this caper. Isaac Asimov reported that this joke had been played on HIM once in the 50s or early 60s. His report was a little self-serving (“No, I didn’t panic. I just figured it was blood and monitored how much blah blah blah”) but still pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pee-neon-maybe-tmi/288517/24 "2005-02-06T04:36:29Z")
I’m fairly sure that you only get the bright yellow pee if you’ve taken an excess of B vitamins. If your body actually needs it and uses it it doesn’t come out in your urine and you don’t get the cool bathroom show. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pee-neon-maybe-tmi/288517/25 "2005-02-06T08:07:46Z")
That’s a good sign, it means you’re getting enough vitamins that your body can pass some. Of course, that means you’re wasting a bit of 'em, sure, but they are pretty cheap in the large scale of things. Try adding extra B-12. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pee-neon-maybe-tmi/288517/26 "2005-02-06T22:05:37Z")
True story… I was on some strong prescription antibiotics once, and was out in this night club where the bathrooms were all lit with black lights. Well, at the urinal my urine flouresced a vivid bright green. It shone! Other people in the bathroom saw, one said ‘holy shit!’, it was quite impressive. I then started making light saber noises while streaming, moving the stream all over the urinal, and said in my best Vader voice “I am your father!” I cracked the whole restroom up and was the hero of the club. My finest fifteen minutes of fame 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pee-neon-maybe-tmi/288517/27 "2005-02-07T01:15:18Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > True story… > > I was on some strong prescription antibiotics once, and was out in this night club where the bathrooms were all lit with black lights. Well, at the urinal my urine flouresced a vivid bright green. It shone! Other people in the bathroom saw, one said ‘holy shit!’, it was quite impressive. I then started making light saber noises while streaming, moving the stream all over the urinal, and said in my best Vader voice “I am your father!” I cracked the whole restroom up and was the hero of the club. > > My finest fifteen minutes of fame 😃 I hope you hadn’t been drinking antifreeze? Antifreeze (in urine) fluoresces(sp) under a black light. Re: The B-vitamins causing neon yellow urine. I thought that was common knowledge. I always notice that when I take vitamins and several years ago I first noticed it when taking a B vitamin supplement. The neon glow is always helpful when I can’t remember if I took my vitamins that day, I only need to wait a while for confirmation. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pee-neon-maybe-tmi/288517/28 "2005-02-07T04:46:30Z")
Just because we are supposed to be fighting ignorance here, “fluorescence” is spelled with the u before the o. Otherwise, it’s flourescence - essence of ground wheat? ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pee-neon-maybe-tmi/288517/29 "2005-02-07T05:09:26Z")
This past summer I had some pills that were supposed to treat what they thought was a UTI (it ended up being a kidney stone). They made my urine bright orange. Like traffic cone orange. It was the coolest thing ever! ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pee-neon-maybe-tmi/288517/30 "2005-02-07T13:14:08Z")
This happens to me. I gave plasma today. It had a nice yellow neon shine to it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pee-neon-maybe-tmi/288517/31 "2005-02-24T17:06:59Z")
> [@AwSnappity](#): > > This past summer I had some pills that were supposed to treat what they thought was a UTI (it ended up being a kidney stone). They made my urine bright orange. Like traffic cone orange. It was the coolest thing ever! I had bright orange pee as a result of medicine for a kidney infection. I gave a couple of the pills to a guy with a head cold. He was frantic for a few hours until I broke down and told him the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pee-neon-maybe-tmi/288517/32 "2005-02-24T17:24:20Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > I had bright orange pee as a result of medicine for a kidney infection. I gave a couple of the pills to a guy with a head cold. He was frantic for a few hours until I broke down and told him the truth. Phenazopyradine, aka Pyridium. Sold OTC under Uristat and other names. This stuff is absolute blaze orange coming out, and I say that from experience. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pee-neon-maybe-tmi/288517/33 "2005-02-24T17:25:39Z")
> [@Ferret Herder](#): > > Phenazopyradine, aka Pyridium. Dammit. Phenazopyr **i** dine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pee-neon-maybe-tmi/288517.md?page=1)