I'm concerned because my urine has changed color. It has an orange tint to it.
My last cbc had high white and red blood cells. However, it was taken three weeks after I had Covid. The doctor thought it was a reaction to Covid.
At first my urine was only dark in the morning. Now it is dark all day. It isn't very dark. But it's darker than typical and has an orange tinge.
I googled it and it says the most common reason fir this is dehydration.
I drink 32 ounces of water a day. This really isn't a lot.
Tomorrow I will force myself to drink 64 ounces daily and eat more watery fruit like watermelon.
On line I read a variety of inconsistent things like people should drink 64 ounces, 91 ounces or let thirst be your guide. I'm always thirsty/dry due to Sjogrens.
My gp clearly could give a darn.
Many years ago my rheumatologist would run 24 hour urines. I don't see one anymore. Do you know what those tests are for? Does anyone take these?
Any ideas , thoughts or advice?
I suppose once I start drinking 64 ounces regularly I'll have a better idea if it might be dehydration.
I am concerned. Looking fir input. Thank you.
Hi Nomad, I'm puzzled why you find it hard to drink water. As you say, 32 ozs is not much. I think you would indeed be dehydrated if you drink so little.
I have read somewhere that as we age, our bodies are less good at letting us know we need to drink. In some care homes for the elderly, they have "water clubs" where residents get together several times a day to drink water.
Perhaps you can find ways of drinking the water that are more appealing to you? (I like it with ice and a slice of lemon, for instance!)
You list "various meds and lots of vitamins", have you searched those in connection with urine discolouration? Many meds and vitamins do contribute, in particular Vitamin B which can cause dark yellow to pale orange, especially in combo with what is really considered low free water intake.
Additionally, a few red blood cells can cause orangey discolouration, and low platelets can contribute to that. If the IC you mention is Interstitial Cystitis, that can be another cause of red cells appearing in the urine, even without active signs of infection. In either of these scenarios, a simple urine dip would show blood content.
Even some foods containing beta-carotene in high amounts, like carrots, can cause yellowing of skin and urine for some people. Also artificial colouring in foods could be a culprit.
I am assuming that your doctor will be following up on this issue and will do kidney blood work if needed. And, yes, Linda is right about the vitamin pills, etc and other meds we take.
I used to drink almost 3 quarts of water a day and I included the estimate of the ice cubes that I would chew. I have been anemic for many years and that causes a person to want to chew on a lot of ice. I always had no trouble drinking fluids but since I have been in my 70's I find that I have to really push myself to drink. I try to get up to 2 quarts a day. I just can't drink much in the morning but late afternoon and evening I find that I can drink more and keep track of the ounces I take in.
I drink water and non sweetened carbonated water , apple juice, the lemon spice teas and decaf coffee. Also, add in unsweetened 7 up. I have chronic kidney disease so watching the in take, output and color of urine is important for me. I have also done a lot of research on what foods to eat to make less stress on my kidneys. I wish I had done this years ago as it is amazing the junk we eat that we don't consider a problem for our body. Salt and sugar are not the only foods we should watch.
So many people have kidney disease and the medical community has not been proactive in training people enough about healthy eating and what things to cut down on to keep our kidneys more healthy. Probably I am just on a rant so forgive me but it is educational. I checked out the dialysis companies sites and got a lot of good and interesting information. One should always check with your doctor before making any significant diet changes. Good luck. meirish
Thank you everyone for input.
I drank 70 ounces of water yesterday. Plus two 6 ounce cups of coffee. And a few ounces of tea. Fairly sure the urine is just as dark. No recent med or vitamin changes. But one day surely isn't enough. Must keep it up.
I do or should I say did have some kidney issues ages ago. I have a small kidney stone currently. No pain. Oddly, I have one kidney a bit bigger than the other.
And I had what I think was a weird bout with IC about 2-3 weeks ago. No current discomfort though. Whew!
Merish, can you tell me what foods stand out in your mind as hard on the kidneys? I'm super interested.
Thank you.
PS Also. Anyone do 24 urine catches? What do they typically reveal?
Occasionally I will measure each urination and keep track on paper and add the total. I also measure the amount I drink. Do it from like 7AM one morning to 7 AM the next morning. Save this and take to doctor for him to see. It does take us time to become less dehydrated to change the color of our urine. Also, having a kidney stone could make a difference in your output if there is slight obstruction of your ureters or kidney. If you have a really plugged kidney from a stone you will surely know as the pain is bad.
People who make kidney stones need to watch what they eat as there are certain foods that can make stones. You might have to ask your doctor what these foods are. It comes to mind that oxalic acid is one product found in beets that can cause stones and I think chocolate is another product. Best to check with your doctor if this is a problem for you.
I read all labels on products that I eat. Salt is one thing to really watch plus potassium is another. We need these nurtrients so just cutting down some is usually enough. Don't go on any strict diet and cut out different foods cause we can get in big trouble that way. One thing that I was surprised about was that phosphorous is hard on our kidneys. Phosphorous is high in egg yolks and dairy products. One thing I have done is quit eating pizza, lasagna, etc. where there is a lot of sodium and cheese. I will eat very seldom....I love these things also.
The one thing that is really interesting is the eggs yolks being so high in phosphorous. Soooo, I will mix one egg and one egg white and scramble them for a sandwich. Also, making egg salad sandwich or potato salad I will hard boil say 6 eggs and use only 3 yolks and the 6 egg whites. This is good and actually I feel better cause lots of fat bothers me. Egg yolks are high in fat. The egg whites are one of the best proteins one can eat according to one of the kidney sites I was on.
Do not take my word for it. Do your own research and check with doctor. I also found that there are so many high sodium foods I never considered. French dressing etc. We Americans are killing ourselves with our fast foods and highly spiced foods. I think that is one reason so many people are having high blood pressure and kidneys issues these days. My opinion. Take care. meirish
Be concerned and Get to a urologist and be checked out. It may be another doc that the urologist sends you to. How much you drink will not stop bladder cancer and that is the first thing that of course hits for me. If the doc does not do a test say bye but get a write up- signed by doctor that covers what supposedly was covered in your visit. Also take an advocate. Ask if you can record the the visit.
Could be a kidney issue or nothing related.
If something turns up let no procedures take place unless you know said doctor has done a ton of the procedure and is doing the procedure now!
Cat scans can tell a lot and no I am not in the medical community and I'm not sure how many doctors actually know what the heck they are doing. Best to know if you need to worry or not.
Getting a qualified doctor can be a challenge. Get a new GP asap! Many docs require write ups from your GP, unless you have the insurance that lets you see whomever you want!
Always request the test results and keep a copy of any test.
If you have blood in your urine that will show up.
I have to add that my primary doctor back home did not get excited about my blood work creatinine, etc and I was the one that pushed them to do more checking. Then the nephrologist I was sent do disappointed me big time. His attitude was that you are 78 years old and it isn't worth being aggressive. I asked about a dietician and saw one and wasn't happy with her either.
I am rather aggressive myself and I was not pushing to be cured. I was pushing to find out what I could eat and drink etc in order to prevent me from getting worse and maybe even improve some. Just watching my diet a lot better along with my diabetes diet helped make things better. I lost weight on the special diet because of cutting out the pizza, and other high carb, high cheese, spicy foods and making special salads that contained the right nutrients, etc. This helped my blood work improve.
I moved in the midst of this and had other emergency things happen, several hospitalizations, plus norovirus and then covid. Soooo, I can't get into a new kidney specialist until Oct. I have fallen off the wagon with my diet and will have a hard time getting back to a better level. I still intend to do the best I can.
Yes, checking for cancer is always important as is checking for chronic kidney disease. Our medical establishment does not make a big enough deal about our diet and giving education on good kidney prevention. It is after we reach stage 3 or stage 4 chronic kidney disease that they start to get excited and then we are a bit late as stage 5 is dialysis.
We can help ourselves in the stage 3 and 4 if we know what to do about it. Heck, we can prevent getting into these later stages a lot of the time just by watching our diets better all of our lives. That is why more education is needed. Can eat fast food occasionally but too much is what is causing so many health problems.
Also, like me, I was so caught up in my autoimmune issues that I was not being vigilant about my kidneys, etc. Too smart and hopefully not too late for me. Good luck. meirish
Irish,
Doctors? You do realize even now that most doctors do not understand sjogren's. But they are making big money by writing useless books etc. I do not know how old Nomad is but in case he is young then there are things that can help certain people.
You are not too late. Aggressive is what you need to be but try that being just a non medical person. You have the information and the smarts so some doctor can't tell you something stupid and you will go with it.
Irish, keep being you. I suspect you have touched so many lives and have done so much good and you are not even aware of
how important it is by just you being you and writing the truth. Keep it up. This board desperately needs you!