How do you know when you have a bladder infection?

Now if we can just get the uro's to read it!!
I asked my surgeon how would i know if i had a UTI with an Indiana and he said you will not be able to stand the smell for one!! And usually there is flank pain associated with it.
Pat

Great study! Thanks for posting it.

Here's what the Italians say
Bacteriuria in patients with an orthotopic ileal neobladder: urinary tract infection or asymptomatic bacteriuria?Suriano F, Gallucci M, Flammia GP, Musco S, Alcini A, Imbalzano G, Dicuonzo G.
Department of Urology, Campus Bio-Medico, Rome, Italy. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU) and urinary tract infection (UTI), and the local and systemic inflammatory response, in patients with ileal neobladder. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study included 40 patients who had a radical cystectomy and ileal neobladder. Two urine samples, one for chemical and physical analysis, and cytofluorimetry, and one for urine culture, were collected every 3 months for 9 months after surgery. RESULTS: Of 119 urine cultures, 69 (57%) were positive for bacteria. Only nine of the 40 patients had no bacteriuria on urine culture. Escherichia coli strains were cultured from eight of 10 patients with persistently positive urine. The incidence of bacteriuria was different according to gender. There was a high concentration of leukocytes (0-6 microL) in 118 of 119 samples. The mean concentration of leukocytes in sterile urine culture was 1181/microL, while in patients with ABU the mean was 491 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: A positive urine culture is a very common finding in patients with an orthotopic bladder. The most interesting results was the absence of elevated inflammatory indices and/or symptoms, even in those patients with high levels of bacteriuria. Probably this is due to the completely different inflammatory response of ileal mucosa against bacteria than has bladder mucosa. Indeed, the leukocyte concentration detected in urinary sediment was inversely association with bacterial growth in urine cultures. These findings suggest a redefinition of ABU and UTI in patients with an orthotopic neobladder
pat

From an email my uro sent me:
"
UTIs are always going to be tough to figure out given your urinary system. I would base them more on how you feel than anything else. If you feel pretty good in a few days, I would stop the antibiotics. High fevers, shaking chills, malaise, “crummy” feelings…you should have your urinary system checked and have a high suspicion for a UTI. Otherwise, carry-on as usual and don’t take antibiotics if you feel well. That is a sure way to develop more resistant bacteria."

Hi Mike, my husband had this issue. For the first 9 months after RC he sometimes felt a little unwell and would get some reflux pain in the kidney and difficulty voiding. We thought these were UTIs. Once he did have a fever also and that probably was a UTI, but he took a course of antibiotics several times (prescribed by the PCP) before the urologist prescribed for him a very low dose of nitrofurantoin, an antibiotic, which he takes each night. This keeps the colonization damped down and he hasn't had the symptoms since (almost 18 months). The urologist, like yours, did say that if it was a true UTI he'd feel pretty ill so that's what we've gone by from then. If you're feeling fine I guess you are fine! Hope that helps,
Mona