Does Urinary Tract Infection Cause Fatigue

What Is A Uti

Urinary Tract Infection – Overview (signs and symptoms, pathophysiology, causes and treatment)

A UTI is an infection that forms within your urinary tract. This infection is typically caused by the presence of bacteria that finds its way into your urinary tract usually via the urethra. There are different types of bacteria that can cause a UTI, with studies indicating the most common include:

Escherichia coli
Enterococcus faecalis
Staphylococcus saprophyticus

Of all of these, the top two are the two most likely responsible for the majority of uncomplicated UTIs in the world. E Coli is found in your intestines and digestive tract, and it can find its way out through the rectum where it could easily be spread to your urethra. This can happen through something as simple as wiping incorrectly after going to the toilet.

What Causes A Urinary Tract Infection

Urinary tract infections are caused by microorganisms usually bacteria that enter the urethra and bladder, causing inflammation and infection. Though a UTI most commonly happens in the urethra and bladder, bacteria can also travel up the ureters and infect your kidneys.

More than 90% of bladder infection cases are caused by E. coli, a bacterium normally found in the intestines.

Is It Normal To Feel Tired With A Uti

Yes, it is perfectly normal to feel tired or fatigued when you have a UTI. Although this is not a direct symptom of this specific infection, your body will always be naturally weaker when you are fighting an infection. This is known as illness-related fatigue as the cells in your body are fighting hard to pool their resources together to try and rid your body of the infection. If anything, its a good sign your body is trying to fight back!

Moreover, as discussed above, tiredness is likely to come as a side-effect of some symptoms of a UTI. If you cant sleep because youre always getting up to pee, then it is normal to feel tired the next day.

Can I Become Immune To The Antibiotics Used To Treat A Uti

Your body can actually get used to the antibiotics typically used to treat a urinary tract infection . This happens in people who have very frequent infections. With each UTI and use of antibiotics to treat it, the infection adapts and becomes harder to fight. This is called an antibiotic-resistant infection. Because of this, your healthcare provider may suggest alternative treatments if you have frequent UTIs. These could include:

Waiting: Your provider may suggest that you watch your symptoms and wait. During this time, you may be encouraged to drink plenty of fluids in an effort to flush out your system.
Intravenous treatment: In some very complicated cases, where the UTI is resistant to antibiotics or the infection has moved to your kidneys, you may need to be treated in the hospital. The medicine will be given to you directly in your vein . Once youre home, you will be prescribed antibiotics for a period of time to fully get rid of the infection.

Does Cranberry Juice Prevent A Urinary Tract Infection

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI): Overview and More

Many people say that cranberry juice can help treat, or even prevent, a UTI. Researchers are currently looking into the topic, but havent found a definitive answer yet. Healthcare providers recommend drinking lots of fluids if you have, or have a history of getting, a UTI. Adding a glass of unsweetened cranberry juice to your diet isnt a proven way to prevent a UTI, but it typically wont hurt you either.

Risk Factors For Urinary Tract Infection In Older Adults

Certain factors may increase the risk of UTIs in older people.

Conditions common in older adults may lead to urinary retention or neurogenic bladder. This increases the risk of UTIs. These conditions include Alzheimers disease, Parkinsons disease, and diabetes.

They often require people to wear incontinence briefs. If the briefs arent changed regularly, an infection may occur.

Several other things put older adults at risk for developing a UTI:

a history of UTIs

Also Check: Lower Back Pain Causing Urinary Problems

What Is A Uti And Is It Different From A Silent Uti

UTIs are pretty common among women, but can you guess where they come from? A UTI is basically what it sounds like: an infection in any part of the urinary system, which includes the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra. Most UTIs occur within the lower urinary tract, which is made up of the bladder and urethra. While the most common UTI symptoms in women include burning with urination, frequent urination, a sense of urgency to urinate, and pain in the area of the bladder, those symptoms dont always appear in elderly adults. The difference between a UTI and a silent UTI is that you often dont experience the typical symptoms of a UTI if you have the latter hence why its called a silent UTI

Its not unusual to see a patient in her upper 70s or older who gets infections without symptoms, says George Flesh, MD, director of urogynecology and pelvic reconstructive surgery for Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, according to Harvard Health Publishing. Some experts believe thats because the symptoms of a UTI are actually caused by the immune systems fight against the infection, and the immune systems of elderly people may not fight as fiercely.

When To See Your Gp

You should see your GP if you or your child have symptoms of cystitis for the first time.

Cystitis isn’t usually a cause for serious concern, but the symptoms can be similar to several other conditions, so it’s important to get a proper diagnosis.

If you’re a woman who has had cystitis before, you don’t necessarily need to see your GP again. Cystitis is very common in women and mild cases often get better on their own. Speak to a pharmacist if you need any advice about treating cystitis.

However, you should see your GP if your symptoms are severe or don’t start to get better in a few days, you get cystitis frequently, or you’re pregnant.

Children and men should always be seen by a GP if they have symptoms of cystitis, as the condition is less common and could be more serious in these groups.

What Is The Prognosis For A Person With A Urinary Tract Infection

Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) Overview | Causes, Risk Factors, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment

Urinary tract infections typically respond very well to treatment. A UTI can be uncomfortable before you start treatment, but once your healthcare provider identifies the type of bacteria and prescribes the right antibiotic medication, your symptoms should improve quickly. Its important to keep taking your medication for the entire amount of time your healthcare provider prescribed. If you have frequent UTIs or if your symptoms arent improving, your provider may test to see if its an antibiotic-resistant infection. These are more complicated infections to treat and may require intravenous antibiotics or alternative treatments.

Which Dementias Cause Hallucinations

Hallucinations are most common for people with Lewy body dementia, an illness caused by the buildup of proteins called Lewy bodies that disrupt communication between brain cells throughout the brain or kill the cells altogether. Visual hallucinations will often occur in the early stages of the disease, though they eventually stop somewhere in the middle stages and wont recur. People with Lewy body dementia often fluctuate between good days, when theyre thinking normally or at least fairly well, and bad days. In the early stages, those bad days are likely to include visual hallucinations.

Hallucinations will also occur for people with Parkinsons disease with dementia, and for people with Alzheimers. Both those diseases are also associated with a buildup of proteins in the brain. With these dementias, though, hallucinations are more likely to be associated with hearing or feeling. Someone might have conversations with an imaginary person, for example, or think theyre being touched by something that isnt there.

How Long Can You Have A Uti Without Knowing

This depends on what kind of UTI it is. Urinary tract infections are infections that affect most of the organs that make or transport urine. Make sure to see a doctor if you have a fever, pain in your lower back, nausea, vomiting, or blood in your urine. If mild pain and a burning sensation in your bladder are your only symptoms then you have a urinary tract infection. It will be hard to tell how long you had it without knowing because you may have not been feeling the symptoms until you had a severe case. Usually, the longest you can have a UTI without knowing is seven days. Whenever you have a burning sensation while urinating, go to the doctor. UTIs can be caused by bacteria and if left untreated, they can lead on to pyelonephritis, which is a kidney infection..

Recommended Reading: Persistent Urinary Tract Infections In The Elderly

Urinary Tract Infections: Common In Women Treated With Antibiotics

ROCHESTER, Minn. Up to 50 percent of women experience a urinary tract infection in their lifetimes. The February issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter covers causes, symptoms and treatments.

Most urinary tract infections affect the bladder and lower urinary tract. They often are referred to as cystitis or a bladder infection. Classic symptoms are the frequent urge to urinate, even if only passing small amounts, a burning sensation or pain when urinating, abdominal pain or pressure, cloudy, dark or bloody urine, or foul-smelling urine.

If the infection moves upstream to the kidneys, additional symptoms are likely, such as fatigue, weakness or feeling faint, and difficulty walking or thinking clearly. Other symptoms could include a fever of 101 F or greater, shaking and chills, upper back and side pain, and nausea or vomiting. A suspected kidney infection warrants immediate medical care to prevent the bacteria from entering the bloodstream. Kidney infection treatment may require several weeks of antibiotics.

For uncomplicated infections confined to the bladder and lower urinary tract, treatment most often is a single course of antibiotics. The most appropriate medication will depend on the strain of bacteria causing the infection. A doctor confirms the diagnosis with a urine sample.

Complicated Uti: What Does It Mean And What Are The Symptoms

Uncomplicated UTI often refers to isolated urinary bladder inflammation. The urinary bladder infection leads to the urinary symptoms explained above .

A complicated UTI occurs when the infection goes up from the bladder to the ureters and the kidneys.

This infection may cause significant kidney damage if left untreated or undertreated.

Moreover, the infection may reach the bloodstream and spread throughout the body into other body systems causing .

The presence of fever and significant fatigue may indicate a complicated UTI.

Symptoms of Complicated UTI include:

Typical symptoms of urinary bladder inflammation .
Fever can be high-grade.
Flank pain on one or both sides.

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How Is A Urinary Tract Infection Diagnosed

The fastest way to diagnose a urinary tract infection is via urinalysis, which includes use of a dipstick and microscopic analysis by trained personnel. Confirming a diagnosis of UTI is often done with a urine culture, which also helps ensure that the appropriate antibiotic is selected.

Your doctor may order the following tests to diagnose any structural causes in the urinary system that can predispose you to repeat UTIs:

CT scan of the abdomen
Intravenous pyelogram Kidney scan
Kidney ultrasound

The different types of UTIs are determined by where the infection occurs in the urinary tract:

Urethritis: This is an infection of the urethra, which is the hollow tube that drains urine from the bladder to the outside of the body.
Cystitis: This type is a bacterial infection in the bladder.
Pyelonephritis: This is an infection of the kidneys. Usually this is the result of an infection that has spread up the urinary tract, or possibly from an obstruction in the urinary tract. When an obstruction in the urinary tract occurs, this can cause urine to back flow into the ureters and kidneys.

When To Get Medical Advice

It’s a good idea to see your GP if you think you might have a UTI, particularly if:

you have symptoms of an upper UTI
the symptoms are severe or getting worse
the symptoms haven’t started to improve after a few days
you get UTIs frequently

Your GP can rule out other possible causes of your symptoms by testing a sample of your urine and can prescribe antibiotics if you do have an infection.

Antibiotics are usually recommended because untreated UTIs can potentially cause serious problems if they’re allowed to spread.

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Chroniuc Fatigue Cause No : Undiagnosed Heart Disease

If you find yourself becoming exhausted after activity that used to be easy, it may be time to talk to your doctor about the possibility of heart disease.

According to Nieca Goldberg, MD, director of the NYU Medical Center Women’s Heart Program and associate professor at the NYU School of Medicine, when overwhelming fatigue sets in after ordinary tasks — such as vacuuming the house, doing yard work, or commuting from work each day — your heart may be sending out an SOS that it needs medical attention.

“This doesn’t mean that you should panic every time you yawn,” says Goldberg. “Most of the time, fatigue is not the first sign of heart disease, and it’s usually linked to something far less serious.”

At the same time, Goldberg points out that heart disease is the leading cause of death in women. “If fatigue following activity is significant, and no other possible reason comes to mind, see your doctor for a checkup,” she advises. If your fatigue is related to your heart, medication or treatment procedures can usually help correct the problem, reduce the fatigue, and restore your energy.

Show Sources

Harris H. McIlwain, MD, rheumatologist, adjunct professor, Universityof South Florida, Tampa author, TheFibromyalgia Handbook, 3rdEdition.

Ronald R. Fieve, MD, psychopharmacologist, professor of clinical psychiatry,Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, New York City author, Bipolar II.

W. Stephen Pray, PhD, RPh, Southwestern Oklahoma State University,Weatherford, Okla.

Antibiotics For A Uti

UTI antibiotic caused painful side effects for Valley woman

The form of antibiotic used to treat a bacterial UTI usually depends on which part of the tract is involved.

Lower tract UTIs can usually be treated with oral antibiotics. Upper tract UTIs require intravenous antibiotics. These antibiotics are put directly into your veins.

Sometimes, bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics. To reduce your risk of antibiotic resistance, your doctor will likely put you on the shortest treatment course possible. Treatment typically lasts no more than 1 week.

Results from your urine culture can help your doctor select an antibiotic treatment that will work best against the type of bacteria thats causing your infection.

Treatments other than antibiotics for bacterial UTIs are being examined. At some point, UTI treatment without antibiotics may be an option for bacterial UTIs by using cell chemistry to change the interaction between the body and the bacteria.

There are no home remedies that can cure a UTI, but there are some things that you can do that can help your medication work better.

These home remedies for UTIs, like drinking more water, may help your body clear the infection faster.

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Preventing Urinary Tract Infection

You can reduce your chances of developing a UTI by keeping your bladder and urethra free from bacteria.

You can help prevent an infection by:

drinking plenty of fluids

Toilet tips

To help keep your urinary tract free from bacteria:

go to the toilet as soon as you feel the need to urinate , rather than holding it in
wipe from front to back after going to the toilet
practice good hygiene by washing your genitals every day and before having sex
empty your bladder after having sex
if youre a woman, avoid hovering over a toilet seat as it can result in your bladder not being fully emptied

Diaphragms and condoms

If you use a diaphragm and have recurring UTIs, you might want to consider changing to another method of contraception. This is because the diaphragm may press on your bladder and prevent it emptying completely when you urinate.

If you get recurring UTIs and you use condoms, try using condoms that dont have a spermicidal lubricant on them it will say whether it does on the packet.

Spermicidal lubricant can cause irritation and may make it more likely that youll experience symptoms similar to a UTI.

Chronic Fatigue Cause No : Sleep Apnea

If you’re not getting enough sleep, it stands to reason you’ll feel fatigued. But what if you don’t realize that your sleep is insufficient? This happens to millions of people with a condition called sleep apnea, a sleep disorder that causes you to momentarily stop breathing, often many times during the night. Each time you stop breathing, you awaken just long enough to disrupt your sleep cycle, usually without being aware of it.

More than one-third of adults in the U.S. report that they snore at least a few nights a week, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Snoring is caused by the vibration of the soft parts of the throat while breathing in and out during sleep. Sometimes snoring can account for daytime symptoms such as excessive fatigue.

But with sleep apnea, a condition related to snoring, there are repeated periods when breathing stops during sleep.

Obstructive sleep apnea results in low oxygen levels in the blood because the blockages prevent air from getting to the lungs. The low oxygen levels also affect your heart and brain function. The only clue that you might have sleep apnea is chronic fatigue.

What can you do? First, talk with your doctor about a sleep study to determine if you have sleep apnea. Both obesity and smoking are risk factors for sleep apnea, so losing weight and quitting smoking are recommended. Sleeping on your side instead of your back may help eliminate mild sleep apnea.

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