Question about UTIs?!
Question: Question about UTIs!?
Why is it that the test strips at the doctor's office don't always detect a UTI!? I had a severe UTI that was finally treated about 5 months ago!. I had no symptoms until the end I got tipped of that my urine smelled strange in the morning!. I got myself to a doctor and they did a UTI test and told me it was negative!. I didn't believe that test so I went to another doctor and they did a UTI test and it was also negative - this was with the strips!. I was sent for a urinalysis from that doctor to be sure and it showed I had a MASSIVE infection that probably was there for months!. I was put on Cipro and it went away!. Why does it not always show up on the doctor's office test strips!?Www@Answer-Health@Com
Answers:
In MOST cases, dipsticks do work, but there are instances where they don't!. Doctors look at two things on the dipstick to access if the person has a UTI!.!.!.leukocyte esterase (LE) and nitrite!.
Regarding LE!.!.!.dipsticks are pretty touchy!. Dipsticks only measure leukocyte esterase!. Only granulocytic leukocytes contain esterases!. So only SOME types of white blood cells will show up on the dipstick!.
False negatives can be caused by high levels of protein, high levels of vitamin C (taking vitamin C supplement by any chance!?), some drugs, and sometimes high specific gravity (depending on the strip mechanism)!.
Regarding nitrite!.!.!.this is really stupid to look at (in my opinion)!. Most bacteria requires 4 hours to reduce nitrate into nitrite, so you can't have urinated for 4 hours prior to testing!.!.!.kind of difficult when you're urinating all the time, right!? Also, not all bacteria have the nitrate reductase enzyme!. So you could have a bacteria present that doesn't have that enzyme! The nitrite wouldn't be positive on the dipstick!. False negatives can be caused by other things as well, but this is the most likely scenerio!.
If you get another UTI in the future (hope you don't!!) you should have the doctor tell the lab to do a "urine microscopic" regardless of what the dipstick says!. Then the lab tech would see all the bacteria and WBC's!. If you aren't comfortable with that, then have the doctor order a culture regardless of what the dipstick shows!.
Take care!. Glad you are better!Www@Answer-Health@Com
Regarding LE!.!.!.dipsticks are pretty touchy!. Dipsticks only measure leukocyte esterase!. Only granulocytic leukocytes contain esterases!. So only SOME types of white blood cells will show up on the dipstick!.
False negatives can be caused by high levels of protein, high levels of vitamin C (taking vitamin C supplement by any chance!?), some drugs, and sometimes high specific gravity (depending on the strip mechanism)!.
Regarding nitrite!.!.!.this is really stupid to look at (in my opinion)!. Most bacteria requires 4 hours to reduce nitrate into nitrite, so you can't have urinated for 4 hours prior to testing!.!.!.kind of difficult when you're urinating all the time, right!? Also, not all bacteria have the nitrate reductase enzyme!. So you could have a bacteria present that doesn't have that enzyme! The nitrite wouldn't be positive on the dipstick!. False negatives can be caused by other things as well, but this is the most likely scenerio!.
If you get another UTI in the future (hope you don't!!) you should have the doctor tell the lab to do a "urine microscopic" regardless of what the dipstick says!. Then the lab tech would see all the bacteria and WBC's!. If you aren't comfortable with that, then have the doctor order a culture regardless of what the dipstick shows!.
Take care!. Glad you are better!Www@Answer-Health@Com
the strips may have been contaminated!.!.!. human error can mess up a lot of things!.!.!. if you have had an infection for this long it could lead to kidney damage as well!. If I were you I'd go in for some blood work!.!.!.
good luck!Www@Answer-Health@Com
good luck!Www@Answer-Health@Com