My almost 2 year old son was treated with a round of antibiotics that we just finished last week for what seemed to be an obvious Urinary Tract Infection. He had been complaining of pain down there (in his words: "peepee ouchy") for a few days but we didn't really think much of it having never had any prior experience with UTI's. Within a couple days, he had developed a fever. So we went to the doctor's and she agreed that it definitely seemed like that was the issue. They cathetered him to get a urine sample (ouch :() but went ahead and prescribed the antibiotic she thought would take care of it. She called back later to give us the results that he did seem to have a UTI and that they were going to culture it to see what bacteria grew to make sure the antibiotic was appropriate. Long story somewhat short, they said his culture didn't have too much in it but it did have a little staph bacteria and his urine had a higher than normal white blood cell count. My son was in soooo much pain for several days; he was writhing in pain whenever he had to pee. It was awful! After several days on the antibiotic, he seemed to be getting better. By the end of the treatment, it seemed like everything had been "fixed". The doctor did order an ultrasound of his kidneys which came back completely normal. Yesterday, he started complaining of pain again and he was EXTREMELY irritable for most of the day which is out of character. I decided to go back to the doctor to see if the infection had returned (or never completely gone away)and I find out today when I went, that not only is today's urine sample completely normal, but that the last one probably wasn't even a UTI after all! She said that it seemed as though it was initially but that in the end, the culture just did not show nearly enough bacteria to make it a UTI. (I'm a little annoyed that we put him through a whole round of antibiotics when they apparently new at least half way through that he didn't really need it!) Anyway, so my question is, what the heck made him writhe in pain then? And why did the antibiotics seem to fix the problem if that's not what he has? Was it a coincidence? The doctor didn't really seem to know what to tell me. Do any of you have any experience with UTI like symptoms that are NOT UTI's? What could it be? I'm considering going to see a naturopath if the symptoms continue...I would love to go right away but unfortunately it's so expensive,especially when you have "free" coverage with western medicine...argh, I wish they worked together more!
Anyway, I'd appreciate any advice or experience you might have. Thanks a lot!
Sounds like seeing a naturopath would be a good idea. I'm a family nurse practitioner and the only other thing I can think of that would cause these sort of symptoms is a yeast overgrowth. Usually, though, you will see some redness around the meatus if that is so. This is more common in uncircumcised boys, but can be seen in anyone. If I were you I would try probiotics - they can't hurt and they may help a lot.
You could look into NCNM's teaching clinics, the Naturopathic and Chinese Med School here in Portland. (National College of Natural Medicine)
Not free but lower cost than a regular visit to a Naturopath
(who by the way charge alot less than MD's if you are paying!)
there is sometimes more wait time, students and interns observe and participate, you wait for the doc to come back after his round with other students...etc but it won't break the bank
Also they may offer sliding scale, plus they run various community clinics which are very low cost
I would have found your experience equally frustrating!
Good luck figuring it out
Helen
It sounds like a pretty terrible experience. I have no experience with a little boy with an UTI... but I am responding solely to advise that you should take him to a different doctor's office. I find it disturbing that they didn't tell you until afterwards that he didn't have an UTI. I am wondering if he has a sort of yeast infection...
I hope that he drinks enough water, and that you solve this mystery soon.
My son had an issue like this when he was about 6. Turned out he was constipated! Our traditional pediatrician verified this with an x-ray, which I wasn't thrilled about. He was drinking lots of 2% dairy. We changed to 1%, added fruit and other fiber foods and made sure he drank water throughout the day. Those things wouldn't hurt to try. Would want to avoid juice in case it is a yeast overgrowth. I agree that someone at New Seasons or the like could recommend other safe things to try. Have you searched your insurance policy online for ND's? Some regular policies are covering them now just for the office visits. Our Regence and Pacific Source do.
I am a mother of three boys. When my oldest, who is now 9, was five, he was complaining of UTI like symptoms. He was constantly itching himself, going to the bathroom every half hour or so, and complaining that it burned when he went to the bathroom. Knowing that UTIs are uncommon in boys, I took him to the doctor to figure out what else could be going on. He thought that possibly his meatus was to small, which could cause these symptoms. My son also had urine cultures, etc. My nephew had the same syptoms and problem, and had to have the outpatient surgery for it. My pediatrician referred us to a pediatric urologist. He said his meatus was a fine size, and immediately said he was constipated (though no symptoms or complaining of that from my son), and Immediately gave us a prepared prescription for a gentle laxative. He said it exremely common in boys to be constipated and to cause urinary symptoms. So, my son took the laxative, and within a day or so, had no more problems or complaining. The urologist said if the symptoms appear again, just give him the laxative. They did, so we gave it to him, and again the sypmtoms disappeared. Now, there is a age difference between our sons, and I am not saying at all that this is his problem, but maybe something to ask your doctor about....especially before trying a laxative (it was a prescription one). Good luck!
I'm not too sure about boys, but my daughter kept getting yeast (well they acted like it) infections. Once I realized it was due to sugar intake I began limiting the sugar and low and behold she only gets them around high sugar holidays, such as Christmas and Easter. Wonder where she gets the extra sugar around those times? (Her father.) Two kids, I swear. So I'd say just watch how much juice and other sugary things he takes in. Or like another person said, maybe a food allergy. Though if an antibiotic helped, it could be that he layed off of something while he was in pain that did the trick. I hope this helps. good luck.
I have had UTI symptoms but didn't have a UTI. I've thought that the cause may be food allergies. I'm allergic to almost everything that is raw and several other foods that are not raw as well. I don't have much pain with a UTI and I have had several of those.
About 2 years ago I started taking probiotics. The brand that we use is from Dr. Whitaker and are called Pearls. I haven't had a UTI or UTI like symptoms since then. I also generally feel better.
I would also recommend seeing a naturopath if this continues. You can also talk with a trained person at a store such as Whole Foods or New Seasons. The one I go to has a naturopath in the store at certain times. That is when I started with the probiotics.
I don't remember which store I went to.
