Frequent urination for nearly two months (young male in 20's)...

Kidney and urinary tract
1

Hi,

This is a long post but I would really appreciate it if someone could have a read and offer any suggestions or advice...

I am posting on behalf of my partner. He is otherwise healthy and 24 years old.

Since mid January he noticed that he was urinating more frequently, particularly at night. He would be getting up 4-5 times a night. He had no other symptoms.

He went to his GP who then referred him to the GUM clinic. They done all the relevant swabs and looked at his urine under a microscope. They said that there was 'something' in the urine but they didn't specify what. They prescribed him with a one week course of doxycyline antibiotics and diagnosed it as non specific urethritis.

His symptoms went when he finished his course of antibiotics. However, a few days after treatment had finished, the frequent urination came back.

He returned to the GUM clinic. They informed him that all his results came back normal (no STIs). They also looked at a new sample of urine under the microscope and said that it looked fine. They then referred him back to his GP.

The GP said that the infection might need stronger antibiotics so prescribed him a two week course of doxycyline. They also performed a blood test which came back all normal with no further action needed.

His symptoms had started to go and he wasn't urinating as frequently, but said that he still felt like he hadn't emptied his bladder properly after he had been to the toilet.

The GP sent him for an ultrasound scan. The doctor performing the scan said his kidneys looked fine.

The results came back yesterday. The GP said that after he had emptied his bladder during the scan there was still 160ml of water left behind meaning that his bladder isn't emptying correctly. He now has to go back for another ultrasound where the scans can be looked at by a specialist bladder department.

Since these results he says he feels like its 'come back' and has needed to urinate frequently again. There is clearly an issue but do you think it's possible that psychology could be worsening the symptoms I.e. When he thinks about it he needs to go more often?

He was diagnosed and successfully treated for an STI infection a few years ago and his GP said that the infection could have left scarring in his urethra which means that it may be limiting how much urine can come out...

Does anyone have any idea would could be causing this? As you can understand his mind has jumped to the worst conclusion (tumours/cancer) - would these show up on an ultrasound? I also suggested that it could be prostate problems but I'm not sure how likely this is because of his age? The doctors haven't performed any examinations on his prostate yet.

It will probably be another 3 weeks+ for the new scan and results and it is starting to have an impact on his quality of life with all the not knowing.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

2

Usual question, what is his daily liquid intake and output if he has recorded it. Presumably he has not had any types of pain associated with this that one usually get with infections or prostatitis. 

3

Hi Derek! Thanks for your quick reply.

I don't think he has recorded his exact liquid intake. He has a drink in the morning before work and then gets a couple of breaks during the day where I presume he drinks something. In the evening's he normally stops drinking by around 9pm. If anything I would say he doesn't drink enough!

No pain whatsoever, just the frequency in urination. Recently he has only been going a couple of times a night but since he was told yesterday about the bladder not emptying properly he has started going more again - as I said I'm not sure if this is because he's worrying and thinking about it more etc.

4

Google Urinary retention for aricles to see if any throw light on his symptoms. Enlarged prostate BPH is the most common cause but as they would say he is too young for that.

5

Thanks Derek - I'll have a look to see what I can find out!

6

Just a few questions and thoughts.  Is he thirsty in the day after urinating more in the night?  Also is it only at night that he goes more often during the day as well?   As he doesn't drink much after nine, is the because he thinks it will stop him going so often at night?  When my son used to wet the bed when he was very young I thought that restricting drink after 6.00pm would help but apparently it concentrates the urine which made it MORE likely that he would go at night so I wonder if your partner could be dehydrated.  When he goes, is he in a bit of a rush and doesn't allow enough time to empty his bladder?  Could he try going, waiting a minute or so and then having another go just to make sure he's got rid of everything.  Maybe when he was treated with antibiotics he was drinking more  because of taking the tablets but didn't drink enough after the course of treatment which is why it came back.  Has he been tested for diabetes?   I have had it for 20 years and quite frequently go through phases of getting up several times in the night. My sister was treated for thrush for over two years and nothing would shift it until I tested her for diabetes and her sugar levels were high and diabetes was confirmed by a doctor.  As soon as she went onto the right diet the thrush went away and that was her only symptom. Does he suffer from anxiety, as I do, which causes me to urinate several times in an hour when I'm worried and yet when I'm not I can go for many hours without going.  

It's good that he's had lots of tests and nothing bad has been found which is encouraging.  Maybe it's stress, dehydration or fairly unlikely but could be diabetes.  Hope any of my thoughts have helped.   

7

Hi Spindles, thanks for your detailed reply!

I think it is quite frequent both day and night - but he notices it more at night-time because it disturbs his sleep. As I said recently the symptoms started to die down a bit - until he got his ultrasound results yesterday and it's started to flare up again. He's not been diagnosed with anxiety and he doesn't really worry about anything else but he has been worrying about this - so I guess that could be making it worse!

He doesn't drink after a certain time on purpose because he thinks that will stop him from getting up - so he could be dehydrated in the evening!

Something else I forgot to mention - when he went for his ultrasound, he done the first scan with a full bladder and then when he was asked to empty it (a pint and a half of water) he said that he got a sudden cramping pain in his bladder which made him have to sit down. I said that may be because his bladder hasn't been used to holding so much water for a while because he's so frequently going - not sure if this could be caused by anything else! That was a one off thing though...

He had a blood test and that came back no further action needed - would diabetes show up on this? His Mum has been diagnosed with diet-controlled diabetes so it might be a possibility - if not now but later down the line!

I'll pass on all of your comments - maybe we'll try getting him to drink more before bed so he's not dehydrated and tell him not to rush. Thanks!

8

Hi Samm have the drs suggested a camera in the bladder? Im due for that in 2 wks time (im female tho) i personally feel like my prob is urethral more than bladder but the tiny camera will pick up on any issues with the urethra as well as bladder so if he does have scarring then this may be picked up then and im sure they can burn the scared tissue away. Might be worth requesting from a urologist?

Do feel for him iv had my issues since july/aug last yr ... no 1 seems to rush themselves. But dont tell him that he could try swapping tea/coffee to lemon barly water/cranberry juice or better still just water just to see how his toileting changes. I know if i drink tea or larger im weeing for england! Lol

Hope he gets sorted soon x

9

Hi Mimi! Thanks for replying, sorry to hear you have similar problems!

They've not suggested using a camera yet but maybe we will have to ask for that to be done! As you said yourself they don't seem to be rushing themselves to get anything done which is making him worry more because there's a lot of waiting around!

He does drink tea but not a lot of it - but maybe he can try a week or so of not drinking it as much and drinking more water to see if that makes a difference! 

Thanks for your help :-) x

10

Hi Samm i would deffo ask the gp for a urologyst referral who will discuss the camera jobbi. & i would deffo try a wk with no tea at all n replace with water or juice just to see if it makes any difference.

Hope he gets sorted soon

11

Any news? I'm having very similar problems to your partner and I was wondering if you have found the solution to his situation yet!

12

Hi,

No more info yet. He had his results back from his ultrasound and they said that his bladder wasn't emptying completely which might explain why he feels the need to go quite often.

He has some more tests at the bladder department of this hospital this Friday as they want to determine what it is that's causing the bladder to not empty. However, we've been waiting over a month for this second appointment and he said that his symptoms have more or less gone now - so it might have just been a long infection that he was fighting off. He is still going for the bladder tests anyway just to make sure everything's okay - I'll post on here when we get those results!