Bacteria count found in urine culture??

[jen74]

Hi ladies.
Well, I had an appointment with my urogyne last Friday and had been feeling worse bladder pain for about two days before seeing him. Well, I requested that he send out a culture. SInce I did not feel good, I did an instill that night at home, and also took a couple macrodantin anti-bs just in case I had an infection brewing. Anyhow, I felt better after a day or so.
Today, I got a call from my urogyne nurse and she said my culture was likely contaminated as it found 20,000 bacteria count with the bacteria stepho-something or another. She said that the doctor did not think he should treat it and that he would want to do a catherter specimin first to determine if it is really bateria in the urine.
I am sure that I was coming down with an infection, just that since I took the couple macrodantins, it stopped it before it got out of hand. This happened to me three months ago also. I had a culture show 10,000 count bacteria, and my gyne said that it was very low and they treat only when it is above 100,000 bacteria count, but she left it up to me whether I wanted to treat it. AT the time I decided to wait since I was seeing the urogyne I had seen prior to the one I see now. Well, when she redid the culture, by that time I had a huge infection.
Why do I keep getting infections or bacteria in my urine every so often? I am VERY clean. I wash well down there, also wear cotton undies, Do Not even have sex at all, and always wash with soap and water after a BM. How could I possibly get an infection? Also, my urogyne wants to do catheter specimin for the culture to actually prove if there is actual bacteria in there. Well, in my opinion, a catheter is going to push bacteria up there and contaminate the urine also, so what the heck difference would it make? My urogyne is really nice and very open minded and I like that. But we have different views when it comes to the infection issue. For one thing, he claims there is usually always white blood cells present when you have an infection. Well, I dont always have white blood cells come up when I do the dipstick tests when I get infections. He also claims that just because there is small bacteria in the urine does not mean infection. He said we all have bacteria in out urethra's at all times and that alone will contaminate a urine sample.
We dont see eye to eye on this issue obvioulsy.
Have any of you ever had the lower bacteria count in your urine culture and it not be an infection, but just contamination? Is the catheter specimin any better or any more accurate really?
Jen

[GriffsMommy]

Jen,
I'm so sorry that you have to go through all of this infection or no infection crap! The first time I went to see my uro and told him that my gyn had diagnoised me with IC from doing the PST he said he wasn't so sure and wanted to do an in office cysto.

He took a sample from me that day and had it cultured. When I came back about 2 weeks later for my in office cysto he said the same thing that my urine sample seemed to be contaminated. Said that there was bacteria there but he said it was a "mixed bag" and he didn't feel that it was a true representation of what was in my bladder. So when he did my in office cysto he also took a sample directly from my bladder to have that cultured as well to see what that showed.

Of course I had to wait again to get the results of that one and he said again the same thing that your dr did that the levels were too low to be considered an infection. I unlike you NEVER seem to get infections like I mentioned so I pretty much think unless I'm in a never ending flare and I think there is some possibility of an infection it is a waste of my money to get a culture done because the ALWAYS come back negative and getting them done falls under my deductible with my crappy insurance.

[jen74]

Thanks Christine.
This is so frustrating, that is for sure. My only concern with the low count bacteria is that this has happened to me before where I would leave a sample and it would show very small amounts of bacteria. Well, the last time I waited it out for about a week and did not take anything, but still had bad pain and frequency and urgency which I do get with the IC as well. Well, I had another culture done a week later and I had a huge full blown infection. It took me over a month just to feel a little better after that.
I guess that is why I get worried about this. Also, I am really stuck in a hard place right now. I usually do my instills every Friday. I usually take a macrodantin before I do it to prevent a UTI. Well last week I took a couple of them since I felt I was coming down with a UTI. Well ever since my stomach and intestines have been soooo sick. I have a neuropathic dysmotility of the stomach and small bowel. Well I got soooo backed up(constipated) and bloated from the antibiotics( all anti-'Bs mess my stomach up, infact that is what I believe caused all my stomach issues in the first place).I have been sucking down miralax in hopes to get things moving again. Well now I have to make a decision. I mean do I just take the chance and take the one prevenative antibiotic again and pray it does not make my stomach and bowels worse or do I not take the antibiotic and hope to god I do not get an infection. Because if I get an infection then I will have to be on a weeks worth of them. I dont have good movement in the digestive tract so I get severe bloating and pain and sometimes nausea. I can eat like a small amount of food and it feels like I ate 10 whole turkeys.
Anyhow, thanks for listening Christine. This sure is a mess. Stomach disease and IC sure do not mix well together. I hope you are doing well today.
Jen

[leelee88]

Jen,
I have heard that the catherter from the instills can cause bacteria to form causing you to show small amounts of bacteria in your urine culures.

[jen74]

Hi Ronda.
Do you mean that using the catheter for instills will cause infections then? I do my instills on Friday nights. When I dropped of the urine, I had not done an instill for 7 days at this point, so I am not sure if the cath had causes this bacteria or not since it had been so many days since I did my last instill.
And as I said, I am so very careful when doing the instills, I am very clean I mean almost ridicuosly clean really. I wash my hands, then use gloves to draw all the meds up, and even put fresh gloves on again to do the instill. I also always use the antiseptic stuff(pivodine) on the urethra before inserting the cath. My urogyne for some reason does not believe that people with IC get as many infectons as they think they do. He is a very good doctor and smart and has a really good manner, but we dont see eye to eye on the infection thing. He said that just because there is bacteria in the urine does not signal infection. He said with infection there is almost always elevated white blood cells in the urine as well. For me this is not so.
He also said he does not have any of his IC patients taking prevenative antibiotics before doing instills. He said there is very very low risk of getting a UTI from cathing. I am not so sure about that personally. I mean we are sticking something foreign up there that technically does not belong there, so I think it does pose a higher risk of infection. I told his nurse this and she said that look at the people who have to self cath all the time several times a day, she said they dont get infections and they do not use all the percautions we do with the cleaning and they do it without even cleaning the area at all, especially if they are out and about or in a public restroom.
I just dont know. I really do not want to take antibitocis unless absolutely I have to. I have severe digestion issues and it is all because of antibitoics I believe. They are so bad for you. They can really mess up your system, believe me. I was perfectly healthy 5 years ago and I got a throat infection and had to take a round of amoxicillin and also then augmentin to kick the infection. All my tummy issues started after that and just got worse and worse as time went on.
But at the same time, I dont want to risk getting a UTI because then I will have no choice but to take the anti-B's and for a longer time, like seven days. I really think my stomach will completely shut down if I have to take antibiotics again. This is scary.
Jen

[leelee88]

Wow Jen,
That is strange...I know this sounds crazy but do you think cleaning so much down there might be killing the good bacteria that fights the bad bacteria..Its just a thought because I know my URO and GYN said no way to like douching..I honestly am lost with this one..Another thing that may be causing a bad reading is if you have a little yeast it can throw a urine culture off a little..I am going to my URO today hes an ass but knows his stuff so im going to ask him..I will get back with you on what he says..

Ronda

[amartaingirl]

prone

I think...that I am just prone to recurrent UTI's because my body is very acidic. I am just a nervous type person.

What to do about it?
Just take it one day at a time.

[ICNDonna]

It's very easy to contaminate a urine sample --- that's why most physicians will want a catheterized sample if there's any doubt at all.

Donna

[jen74]

Thanks Ladies.
Ronda: Thanks, I appreciate you asking your doc just to see what he says. I actually never douche. I just clean the vulva area very well using a mild soap(basis) every night. I never douche or put anything up there. I do however get alot of vaginal discharge after I have my period. I had a in office culture of the discharge I got from the vagina and it showed alot of white blood cells. Not sure what this meant, my gyne did not seem very concerned as she sent off a culture and it was ok.
I also thought about the risk of infection if I was not emptying my bladder completely, like I usually can have like an ounce or two left at times after I pee, but my urogyne said that this would not cause an infection, he said people have urine in their bladders at all times. He said if a person had a ton of urine in the bladder for hours on end, then they may get an infection that way. This makes sense because My hubby will pee in morning and not go again until like 8 hours later and he has never had any infections. He must have a huge bladder. My son also. He can pee like every 6 to 7 hours and this is even when he is drinking liquids throughout the day. So it does not make sense that I would get an infection from not emptying every single drop of pee out when I urinate.
Maybe it does have to do with a lack of good bacteria in the vagina, I dont know, but wouldn't my vaginal culture have picked that up?
Also, I do know that they say a catherized urine sample is better or more accurate, but I just read in Dr. Moldwins IC book that you have just as much chance to contaminate the urine sample with a catheter than you do with a clean catch method. Also, I would think a catherized sample would put you even more at risk to get a UTI. I could see if they found like a tiny tiny amount of bacteria in the urine or more than one kind, I would say it could be possible contamination, but 20,000 bacteria count sounds like alot for just a slight contamination. I may be wrong, but it just does not sound right, especially if a person has worsening symptoms.
This is all so confusing. I mean I do have IC which can cause the same symptoms of a UTI and I also have had infections in the past so it is so hard to tell the difference some times. Thanks again ladies.
Jen

[leelee88]

Jen,
Back from the Uro..


Some people, may have bacteria in the urine without any signs or symptoms of infection. This condition, known as asymptomatic bacteriuria, doesn't need treatment.
Diabetes and other chronic illnesses that may impair the immune system
Medications that lower immunity, such as chronic cortisone therapy or chemotherapy for cancer
Prolonged use of tubes (catheters) in the bladder
A woman's immune system may play a role in her risk of recurrent UTIs. Bacteria may be able to attach to cells in the urinary tract more easily in women lacking protective factors that normally allow the bladder to shed bacteria. More research is needed to determine the exact factors involved and how such factors can be manipulated to benefit women with frequent UTIs. Some woman have a low bacteria count but it does not need to be treated with antibiotics.



This is the info he gave me.. Dont seem like much help though..

Ronda

[leelee88]

Oh Jen
BTW what I posted was from a pamplet he gave me

[jen74]

Hi Ronda.
Thanks for that info. I do have autoimmune issues going on, so maybe that has something to do with it. Thanks again for that info, I really appreciate it.
Jen

[leelee88]

No problem Jen,
Yes that could be the a problem with your immune system being low..