For the past few days I've been having a very strange sensation when I urinate. I'll just be doing my thing and then I get this slightly uncomfortable tingling sensation and then I stop urinating before I feel like I'm done. I also noticed --when it first started- that my urine looked almost as if it had a small amount of blood in it, but --at the time- I thought I was just spotting because I'd started my birth control pills a few days later than usual. This morning, however, when I went to the restroom, I pushed really hard when the tingling started. I was very uncomfortable for a moment and a little more urine came out. When I got up, I noticed a small mass in the bottom of the toilet. It was fleshy looking (and kind of a white-ish color) with what looked like blood on it. I did the same thing about ten minutes later, only this mass was a little smaller. About three hours later I went to the restroom again and experienced a much more uncomfortable sensation. I started pushing as soon as I felt it start, before the flow could "cut off". When I stopped, I no longer felt like I still had to urinate (for the first time all day!). I looked in the toilet and didn't see a mass (which may have been due to the fact that there was already toilet paper in the toilet), but there was a fair amount of bright red blood (like the first day of your period). I'm really concerned about this, even though I feel better now. Could this have something to do with my diabetes? Any thoughts?


NOTE: I am a Type I Diabetic and take Humalog insulin. I also take Ogestrel, a birth control pill.

Blood in the urine always needs to be checked out. It could be a simple urinary tract infection, or it could (worse case scenario) be an indication of bladder cancer or even kidney cancer. Unless you actually had your period at the time (in which case it could have been vaginal bleeding, rather than from the urinary tract), you should see your doctor, and possible have a consult with a urologist for a cystoscopy.

I had blood in my urine back in March, which seemed to be a one-time occurrence. Then it happened again several weeks later. I had several urinalyses done, all of which were negative (because it was so sporadic). My doctor finally sent the collection cups home with me and told me that if I saw blood, I should collect it and immediately bring it in for analysis. Sure enough, about a month later, I saw blood, collected it, it was confirmed to be blood, and I was sent to a urologist. After a cysctoscopy showed a small tumor, I had it removed, and it was positive for transitional cell carcinoma (bladder cancer.) I was extremely lucky that after all that time it had not invaded the muscle tissue of the bladder, and I only needed to have the tumor removed and no further treatment. However, in researching bladder cancer, I discovered that it is very underdiagnosed in women at the early stages, largely because both women AND their doctors tend to assume it's a urinary tract infection or blood from their period.

Please don't panic...the likelihood is quite high that this is nothing serious, but it definitely needs to be checked out.

Ruth

OK, so it turns out that the white "masses" were little balls of pus and that all my symptoms were the result of a UTI. Go figure, huh? I've never had one before so I didn't know what all of it was, but now I know. Thanks for all of your help!

Well, that's actually good news...UTI's can be treated and cured, so you should be on your way to recovery!

Ruth

Keeping your blood sugars as close to normal as possible will help you fight off future UTI's. High blood sugars will allow all kinds of infections to take over your body! Its great that you got a quick diagnosis but to help your meds for it work even better keep your blood sugars down and to prevent having more it is imperative!