[Guest]

I'm a normal 17 year old but with a recurring UTI problem. Whenever I drink sodas, tea, coffee, or fruit juices (orange and lemonade, for example), I get a UTI Now, I've done some research on the oxalate in the sodas and tea and such and how that can cause kidney stones if enough has been consumed. I was under the impression, however, that when you have kidney stones you feel the pain most of the time until you pass the stones, whereas I only feel a UTI a day at the most or even hours after I've consumed some sort of beverage listed above. I've been having this problem for a number of years - probably since I was 14 or 15 - and when I went in to the doctor they would just prescribe me the usual antibiotics and pain killers. While at the doctor's office, they tested me for STD's and I came up completely negative. So my question is this: what could my infections be and is it dangerous? Obviously it causes pain, but should I worry too much about it as I live off of water anyway (I'm pretty athletic, so I can live without soda for a while)?

[Guest]

I have some doubts that you are getting a UTI in this manner. I mean, you can't suddenly acquire a UTI that manifests within hours, as you say. The drinks may be causing the pain, of course. But, let me ask some questions.

What tests did the doctors perform to verify that you have a UTI? Do you have any discharges, or only pain? Do the symptoms go away - and if so, after how long - without antibiotic treatment, or do you see the doctor each time and/or take antibiotics each time? What antibiotics are you using and how many/how long do you take them? If you skip the soda and tea, do you ever have these symptoms? Are you sexually active and, if so, how often do you have sex and do you use protection - have you noted any correlation between sex and the infections?
[quote] I'm a normal 17 year old but with a recurring UTI problem. Whenever I drink sodas, tea, coffee, or fruit juices (orange and lemonade, for example), I get a UTI... [/quote]

[Guest]

Answers to your questions:

-The doctors test for any abnormal bacteria in the urine, as far as I know, and they also checked for chlymidia
-I only get the pain
-The symptoms go away after a couple days without antibiotic treatment, so I don't see a doctor each time it happens
-I'm not sure off the top of my head which anti-biotics I was given, but they worked at the time
-If I skip the soda and tea, I only get the symptoms if I drink orange juice. Besides that, there are no symptoms.
-I am sexually active and use protection, but there has been no correlation between sex and the infections - I was getting the infections prior to becoming sexually active
[quote] I have some doubts that you are getting a UTI in this manner. I mean, you can't suddenly acquire a UTI that manifests within hours, as you say... [/quote]

[Guest]

Well, it is difficult to say, but I am still a bit doubtful that you are getting UTI's, at least in each case. There may be something in the drinks, even the oxalate, that may be causing your pain. Do you also get the pains after eating chocolate, nuts, wheat bran or spinach? These are high in oxalates, as you undoubtedly know. Also, do you get the pains when drinking Coke and not when drinking Sprite?

You haven't really described your symptoms - you said you only have pain - is it pain in the urinary tract? pain only when urinating, or at other times? Is it more abdominal pain than urinary tract pain? If you avoid these certain foods, do you then totally avoid the pain? If you do partake of these foods, do you have more severe symptons, and a more rapid onset of symptons, if you eat more oxalates than when you eat less at a given time?

Obviously, you can't be accuratly diagnosed over the internet, but I might suggest you attempt to determine exactly what types of foods you have problems with (as it seems you are doing) and how you respond, and then go to a doctor with these results. You may need to see an Internist or maybe even an OB/GYN to sort thought this.


[quote] Answers to your questions:

-The doctors test for any abnormal bacteria in the urine, as far as I know, and they also checked for chlymidia
-I only get the pain
-The symptoms go away after a couple days without antibiotic treatment, so I don't see a doctor each time it happens
-I'm not sure off the top of my head which anti-biotics I was given, but they worked at the time
-If I skip the soda and tea, I only get the symptoms if I drink orange juice. Besides that, there are no symptoms... [/quote]

[Guest]

I agree with Jeffrey that you probably don't have real UTI's. Caffeine in the drinks can cause irritation and urinary frequency. Fruit juices contain high levels of potassium which can be very irritating to some people.

If you haven't seen a urologist, find a good one and have yourself checked. If not an infection, you might have some variant of a non-infectious inflammatory process that involves the bladder called "interstitial cystitis" which is characterized by a bladder that becomes easily irritatied by the foods you described. Worth asking about at least.
[quote] Well, it is difficult to say, but I am still a bit doubtful that you are getting UTI's, at least in each case. There may be something in the drinks, even the oxalate, that may be causing your pain... [/quote]