Us nurses are always bitching about not having enough time to pee during a shift, and not being able to drink water. I always accepted this as "just the way it is" when you work in a busy ED. Until now.
I'd been having some discomfort on urinating for a few days (weeks?), and didn't think much of it. (I have a history of UTIs--one required antibiotics for almost a year to get rid of it, but that was years ago.) Then, two days ago at work, the pain got worse. So I dipped my urine: positive for leukocytes and a small amount of blood. I started having chills and feeling crappy. I figured I'd gotten another UTI, so I got myself a big bottle of water, and figured I'd call my doctor the next day.
And then the back pain hit. Bilateral flank pain. Ow. One of the docs noticed and said, "You're walking around like a kidney stone patient--what's wrong?" I told her and she said, "You probably have pyelo." Pyelonephritis. ARGH!
One prescription for antibiotics, coming up! After two days, I feel much better. And now I remember what it's like to pee without pain. I think I had a low-grade UTI for weeks, and then not peeing and not drinking enough water made it worse, and then it got up to my kidneys.
So here's my public service announcement: Nurses, drink and pee! and that's an order.
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12 comments:
Sound advice, indeed.
Good advice, that.
I ended up in the ER in March for a UTI (that my GYN swore I didn't have a few days before) that went migrating. I did not know WHAT had hit me. Worst feeling EVER.
(Note: I wouldn't have gone to the ER, but it was on Good Friday. I'd called every doctor I've ever seen in my life as well as my cousin and her husband, who are both doctors. No one was answering. Vicodin had barely touched the pain the night before, and once I started losing bladder control, I started to freak out a little. I ended up admitted overnight and on antiobiotics that made me feel worse than the infection for weeks.)
Doesn't anyone prescribe azogantrisin anymore? It always helped my UTIs...
Classof65
anon,it's OTC as Azo standard,GG it's good stuff.watch it,it will stain like crazy though.
Feel better.
If you're not having an MI, CVA, or I'm not currently doing CPR on you, whatever was ordered can wait until I pee.
(OK, there are a few other exceptions, but not many.)
I'm lucky. There's a "hidden" bathroom about 20 feet from where I'm usually assigned. 80 seconds to pee, wipe and do a proper 20 second hand washing.
Yes, I've timed it.
Anon & Buttercup: yep, I hit the phenopyrazidine (same thing) as soon as I felt symptoms and had dipped my urine (the orange color it gives your urine will screw up a urine dip).
MG: Yeah--our staff bathroom is almost a city block away from all but one nurses' station. And I'm a squeamish pee-er: I can't go in a "public" bathroom. Besides, I hardly drink enough to make urine anyway. It's a bad habit, I know.
we can't drink at the nurses' station because it is considered a patient care area...if so i'm gonna change my incontinent right behind the us...wtf..why does force fluids apply to everybody but the staff...hydrate and pee that's my motto
AZO Standard is half the prescription dose so take twice the amount recommended on the box to get the equilivant.
I had pyelo two months ago - 5 days of chills and fevers over 103 (I topped out at 103.6). Just squeaked away from a hospital admission on that.
Drinking caffeine and alcohol in the winter dehydrates your body even more. Try not to drink those in the winter and drink lots of water.
Gee, makes you think twice about your priorities while you're at work!
Voiding.. up there with blinking and breathing!
Azo-Gantrisin and Azo-Standard are two different things.
Azo-Standard is 95mg of phenazopyridine; the prescription equivalent is Pyridium, which comes in 100mg and 200mg strengths. (yeah, 5mg makes the difference between RX and OTC. Weird.) Note that this will dye not only your urine, but also your tears, so if you wear soft contacts you wind up tinting them orange.
Azo-Gantrisin is, or was, a sulfonamide antibacterial, sulfisoxazole, which also contained phenazopyridine. It doesn't seem to be available any more; at least my wholesaler doesn't have it, and I can't find any reference to it on Roche's website.
There are hardly any sulfonamides left; basically oral Bactrim, ophthalmic Bleph-10, and (rarely) vaginal AVC are all I see in that class. There used to be a whole lot more of those. I wonder what happened to the rest, and if maybe with multiple drug resistant bacteria becoming more common, it's time to bring them back?
It's official. I have sat here for a few hours now reading these posts. I'm addicted. Great insight and good laughs!!!!!
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