trace blood in the urine

[jwvt]

A woman posted this:
... Approx 23 years ago, I repeatedly tested positive for blood in urine, so I had kidney x-rays, cystoscopy and various microhematuria tests.  Everything proved negative, ... bought the urine chemstrips and noted that blood only showed after I drank coffee.... I again bought urine strips that detect blood only, and the strips shows non-hemolyzed trace only after drinking beer or coffee.  If I drink a glass of water with a tsp of baking soda, the test strips come out negative.  I guess my question is "is it harmful to drink a glass of baking soda water daily?", or should I return to the doctor and go thru kidney x-rays, cystoscopy, etc again?  I really hate to give up my coffe ...

I have gone as far as a getting a negative cytology report, too.  This same situation has only been going on since October.  I am in excellent health.  I'm eat almost only a vegan diet (at home), excercise regularly, etc, etc.  Twelve years ago I went through a period of time when I had many UTIs.  At the mere exhaustion of them and the lack of health insurance at the time, I consulted an herbalist.  I took a tea, which cured me any time that I felt like I had a UTI.  I didn't/haven't gone as far as to purchase my own set of strips to test when blood does or doesn't show up.  I did think of coffee on my way home from the doc's today. In the case of the woman above, what is the approach if blood only shows up after coffee and/or beer?  If water and baking soda result in a negative blood test, does that mean that there isn't any, or is it that combo. of things just neutralizes it temporarily.
   Today my doctor said that she is going to consult her boss about whether or not I need to see the urologist (our local urologist is a friend of ours at church...small town living).  It seems a little ridiculous, but could even trace amounts of blood (only showing up for the 2.5-3 months) mean the beginning of something starting to go wrong?

Thanks,

Johanna W.

[Stephen Liroff, MD]

First, was your urine a midstream sample? If not, retest it. Second, if the urine remains positive for a trace amount, get a formal urinalysis on a midstream sample. What I said above then applies. Very possibly you have a stone in a kidney, given your history. Your urologist will undoubtedly know how to handle the situation.
Get over the GI issues first.
S.A.Liroff, M.D.

[Shark24]

I am a 44 year old woman who had a kidney stone about 10 years ago.  Once it passed I still had blood in my urine so a cystoscopy was performed (results normal).  I recently bought some reagent strips to measure the blood in my urine and it showed trace amounts of hemolyzed blood.  I am currently fighting a case of gastroenteritis, is there any connection and should I go back to the Dr?

Thank you

[Stephen Liroff, MD]

Testing strips measure chemicals in the urine. Thus, the strips for blood measure hemoglobin, not red blood cells. There are certain things which can give false positive as well as false negative results. In particular, chemicals which color the urine can give false readings. The definitive answer as to the existence of blood in your urine is a microscopic examination of a centrifuged urine specimen collected from the mid-portion of your urine stream without letting the urine touch the edges of your vagina. It is normal to have a few red blood cells present. Each lab determines its “norm.”  Some individuals always have blood in their urine. They need an initial evaluation with a kidney x-ray (CT urogram is the test now, NOT an ultrasound) and a look into their bladder. The frequency of follow-up evaluations is not standardized, but I would think that every 10 years or so is reasonable for people not at increased risk (smokers, individuals who work with benzene compounds, people in the paint and rubber industry) and without new changes in their voiding pattern.
S.A.Liroff, M.D.