Red Blood Cells in Urine

I had the same thing for test after test after test. They kept saying the same thing. Year later I passed some kidney stones and I have not had any bladder prob. since.

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First off...DON'T PANIC!

I have had microscopic hematuria for 20+ years. It was detected in my college physical and I'm now 43. This has been monitored by my internal medicine doc and urologist for many, many years. I've had a handful of csytos (which is now done as an in office procedure and very simple) which is a small tube inserted into the urethra to look into the bladder for problems. My urologist does routine urine cultures to check for cancer. Throurgh the years, I've had various kidney xrays and tests - all negative. My urologist tells me that some people just have this with no explaination. I have NO symptoms whatsoever other than the evidence on the lab results. I have no family history of bladder or kidney disease.

Am I concerned that it will morph into something as I age? Sure but I feel confident with my doctors explainations and my very regular followup on the issue.

I would highly recommend an evaulation with urologist and go from there.

Feel free to send me a private message if I can help.

Mine have been due to either kidney infections or kidney stones in the past. Are you having any pain or discomfort?

I'm not medical expert, but I have a relative who is currently going through this. He did NOT have white blood cells but did have red blood cells and for that reason they are now investigating further for Cancer. The presence of elevated white blood cells means your body is fighting an infection. If there is no fever or white blood cells that may indicate something else such as a cyst, cystitis, some sort of polyup, or stones. And yes, maybe cancer.

I think chances are VERY good that you are truly only dealing with an UTI. Take your antibiotics and drink cranberry juice which is a natural antiseptic to help speed things along. Drink lots of water too, to flush out your system.

Since this is recurring, you might want to ask your doctor what you can do to boost your immune system. It isn't unusual for some women to be more predisposed toward UTI than others. You may need to start taking probiotics or make some diet and lifestyle changes to help prevent future infections.

Katie,
Are you seeing a urologist? My doc did the same thing and blew me off. I decided to go to a urologist and it turned out I had some calcifications in my bladder where a couple of stitches from my bladder repair had nicked into my bladder. It was a very minor surgery to fix it.
I am sure you have something minor also but go get it checked out.

I have blood in my urine (among other things). I was diagnosed with IGA nephropathy. I would start with a urologist. I wish you luck and am sending positive thoughts your way :)

I know how you feel. Docs say stuff like this and leave you to ruminate about it with no explanation. They are concerned about seeing a persistent pattern, and it can be related to everything from UTIs to more serious conditions, so it is a good think they are going to check it out. You might even wan tto bipass all this and go to a urologist so you can have some piece of mind. Odds are it is a harmless condition, but you will remain anxious if you don't get some solid answers.

I had this, with UTI symptoms and during regular physicals. I had an inflamed bladder lining which they ultimately biopsied because they thought I might have a polyp. Turns out it was just inflamation form UTIs. Along the way they did a kidney and bladder ultrasound and even a pelvic CT. They were looking for everything from tumors to cystitis to kidney stones.It was very nerve racking, and I always felt like I was the only one worrying with no empathy from the doctors. The fact is that it is more likely to be something insignificant than anything really scary. Don't assume the worst.

K.,
I am sure it is nothing. When I was 5 which was decades ago! I had bright red blood in my urine. It doesn't sound like "you" could even "see" what your doctor described, mine was from bright red symptoms it sounds as if yours was detected by a test. Mine turned out to be Nephritis which is a kidney disease which I recovered from but lots of tests indicate results such as yours that are nothing serious. I just shared mine with you because mine was serious and I survived and years later they know much more... A funny point of interest was that it all stemmed from an allergic reaction to the strep bacteria...

The reasons for tests is to rule out things like infections. If you have an infection, antibiotics should fix it. Shame on your Dr. for not being more throurough in explaining this to you and allowing you to stress. Below is a site I found (you can google anything now days!) I have found it better to not google too much when you are already worried! Smile... Let us know... we care!

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/urine-test.

I am sure if it was something that was way more serious they would have had you come in on Friday. I am sorry you had to wait over the weekend. The mind can travel bad places when you are worrying. Hope you get some answers soon and it is something minor.