I am female, and have never had a UTI, well, except maybe now. The problem is, I only have one symptom - a smell to my urine. I have no pain, no burning, no frequent urges to go, no urine discoloration or cloudiness. I hesitate going to the doctor because I am out of time off from work for the remainder of the year, as well as being between general practitioners. I’ll go if I have to, but I would rather avoid it if I can. (can I see my gyne? I do have a regular one of those…)
I have looked all over the Internet, including here, to see if the smell I am experiencing is typical for a UTI or if it might be something else. A strong odor is described as a symptom, but they don’t say what kind of odor. For those who have had them, what strong odor? My urine smells like it has been sitting around for several hours, even when it is fresh. The first time I noticed the smell, I accused my 4 year old son of not flushing before we left the house for the day and that I just didn’t notice it there in the toilet before going myself.
I know cranberry juice and Uristat are self-medicating things I could do, I just want to have a rough idea if a UTI really is the problem or if it was just something I ate. Although this has been going on for 4 or 5 days now, making it less likely to be something I ate…
The smell was the first thing that I noticed… the burning came a day or 2 later, and the blood in the urine the next day. I’d say go to your doctor if it continues, even if it doesn’t burn. They put me on some crazy pills that cleared up my symptoms in 12 hours.
Yes, IANAD, but I would also advise you to go get that checked out before it becomes something worse.
I work in a hospital laboratory and I can usually tell which samples are going to grow something by looking/smelling them. The UTI ones are usually cloudy and usually smell terrible. Of course, you can also tell from a urine dipstick test and microscopic evaluation. If LEUKOCYTES and NITRATES come up positive on the dipstick, then you can look at the sample on a microscpe and see the little buggers in there.
…I sense I’ve gone too far.
Good luck!
As an aside, unsweetened cranberry juice or cranberry pills are better than sweetened cranberry juice for UTIs. IME, sugar aggravates the infection. The pills are a lot easier to deal with than the unsweetened juice, as cranberry juice by itself is very tart and not at all sweet.
During an anatomy class in highschool we had to do a variety of tests on our own urine then have the instructor test our work. I was kept after class for him to inform me I had a bladder infection which I did not notice in my testing. He could tell by the smell. I called my doctor, lo and behold the instuctor was right. I had no other symptoms. Don’t wait for the other symptoms to arrive. Get to a doctor or go to an Urgent Care Center during the eveing or on the weekend if time-off is an issue. Once it creeps into the kidneys it can be very painful, you’ll feel like shit and you may start peeing blood. Kidney infections left untreated can be very dangerous. This is not something to take lightly. In the past my doc prescribed an antibiotics, drink non carbonated clear liquids only, including cranberry juice and no caffeine. Cranberry juice and plenty of water may prevent recurrences but they do not cure them without medical help. (based on what my Doc told me)
Sounds like the UTI I had while I was pregnant. Proteus infection, to be specific. I always smelled like pee, and I haaaaaaaated it. I had no pain, no cloudiness, no fever, nothing at all but URINE smelling urine.
I’ve had this problem before, a lot. Sometimes a UTI test picks something up, sometimes not.
My advice, and what works for me, is to drink a LOT of water tonight. Like 2 litres. As much as you can handle. That usually fixes things for me. If you notice worsening symptoms, off to the doctor ASAP! You don’t want this thing in your kidneys.
Rare male UTI sufferer (x 5 so far) here. The smell tips me off, too, although I often get an unpleasant feeling (not quite a pain but a “something ain’t right” sensation) in the urethra itself after I pee.
Mine smells like the gym socks and sweated-through t-shirt and undies you forgot to take out of the plastic bag and put in the dirty clothes hamper since 3 days ago and it’s been fermenting in there, that smell.
Urine infections can have no symptoms at all. A persistent strange urine odour should be checked out – it’s more likely to be a UTI, trichomonas infection, etc. than thwe asparagus you ate last Sunday.
