Hey guys
I lost a crap load of weight in the 3 months of following a low carb/keto diet.
Recently ive had what i believe is a UTI. I have to urinate right after having urinated just 5 minute prior. I dony really feel a burning sensation but i do get it time to time after i urinated. I bought one of those urine tests that tests ketones, leukocytes, protein etc. I was positive in nitrite.
Then I decided to up my carbs one day (carb refeed day ) and i noticed that the symptoms subsided a bit. Have you guys had anything similar to this?
I am a guy, which guys dont really get utis, but it isnt unheard of.
Does keto/lowcarb mimic UTI symptoms?
Manny290
(Manny)
#1
Saphire
#2
Here are some of my posts on this. I am female so may not help. I no longer have this problem
https://www.ketogenicforums.com/t/gout-yet-another-weird-symptom/16862
One thing that I do now is have about two tablespoons of raw apple cider vinegar in water or seltzer every day. Not sure what the benefits are but I feel better in general may be a placebo
Manny290
(Manny)
#3
Thank you saphire
Glad im not the only one that is going or went through this
I guess i need to hydrate more and add salt since a low carb diet acts as a diuretic
Shortstuff
(Allie)
#4
I had this at first while my body was adapting. Leukocytes present, and blood, but no infection detected. Doc kept throwing pills at me that didn’t help so I stopped taking them and drank baking soda dissolved in warm water instead and gradually it got better.
jules4
#5
I don’t know if you’re eating any sweeteners? I can’t have much at all or I get those sort of symptoms…
Manny290
(Manny)
#7
No actually im not having anything that is sweet. I gave up sugar because I was having blood sugar problems. I was diagnosed Pre D.
Thank you for the reply!
Manny290
(Manny)
#8
Including no calorie sweeteners because I am afraid my blood sugar would spike. My mom always uses no cal sweeteners and complains about high blood sugar
Inowa
(Irene )
#9
Just recently I had a similar situation happen to me, UTI symptoms and with crazy chills! The only difference between this situation and past UTI’s were that there was blood in my urine and it was cloudy. I’ve never had this happen with UTI’s before. On a side note, My husband informed me that he has had a similar situation when he was on a lot of body building supplements but he does battle with kidney stones too). I googled UTI and Keto diet and stumbled across this forum. But here is what I ended up doing, I drank a ton of water with a shot 100% cranberry juice (no sugar added, the bitter kind)…it’s still loaded with sugar but I was desperate and have treated UTI’s this way in the past. After 2 hours i was feeling better but I was in bed most of the day my muscles weakness & exhaustion . My body was definitely fighting & healing from something. While resting I did some resurch and came across these supplements called D-mannose. People who were Skeptical about natural supplements swore by these so I ran to sprouts and bought these along with some PH urine strips and Keto strips. I took the D-mannose and continued to drink tons of water. I decided to
Continue these 2 in the am and 2 in the pm for a week because research (through consumerlab.com) showed that D-mannose proved to be more effective than antibiotics for controlling UTI’s and concluded, it couldn’t hurt)
From more research I learned that it may not have been a UTI rather a PH imbalance (too acidic) that could explain the burn? The PH test strips came out a little high on the acid side but At this point I had been drinking water all day and flushed everything out. I also got off my C and B complex vitamins for concern I was over taxing my kidneys. So now only time will tell. Most of the symptoms are subsiding with lots of water and trips to the bathroom. I do feel super amazing on this diet and my numbers are finally steady and below 100 every day so I’m really hoping I can push through these “keto bumps” and get a handle on my marcos. Hope this helps you or anybody else reading this. Btw, D-mannose do have some natural sugars so be sure you read the back…but I’m keeping these on hand… just in case! Have a happy Marco’s day!
Saphire
#10
I am starting to wonder about this as well. Whether it is real UTI or something caused by some type of keto reaction. I had some UTIs when I was much younger, about 20 years ago. I rarely had one in the last decade. Last summer when I was a few months in to keto I had one for awhile which I treated with supplements and ACV (the windex of supplements!) including D Manno, baking soda and a bunch of other things other than antibiotics. It eventually went away. I think I had one brief issue over the winter but it went away with drinking lots of water and maybe 1 cranberry pill (needed to finish the bottle anyway!)
Last month went to visit family abroad. Hot climate, long plane ride, lots of activities, time in the sun and not enough water. Welcome back UTI symptoms. I really pushed the water to the point that I was going to the bathroom every two blocks or so it seemed. The friend who I was hanging out with could not believe how much I was drinking and how much I was using the bathroom. I did not have ready access to a health food store and could not find raw unfiltered ACV so simply drank a ton and added some vitamin c goo (best way I can describe it). The symptoms were completely gone in 4 days without any supplements or medication
I find with keto, especially if I am losing, I going to the bathroom a lot. This is ok when I am home but I am in the car a lot and since I do not want to stop at a random fast food place. I tend to limit my liquids if I know I am going to be out of the house and before bed. So I find if I do not pound water when I can, I end up with the symptoms again
Tinampittman
(Christina)
#12
I too noticed about two weeks ago I could not stop urinating a lot all night on Sunday night even right after urinating. And it didn’t seem like regular UTI symptoms because there was no burning or pain only frequent urination and a ton of pee! Like so much that I got severely dehydrated and I was up peeing all night. But then the next day at work I did nothing and I had no need for frequent urination. So I did not do a urinalysis. Then that night again frequent urination, all night. So the next day I did the urinalysis at kaiser and they found a lot of leukocytes in my urine. So I took the antibiotics, but within three days it gave me severe diarrhea a d I was ordered off of them. Retook the urinalysis and I was clean. But I had kind of stopped with the keto diet like, I just really lost my appetite while taking the antibiotics. Today I recheck with a urinalysis and I have moderate leukocytes in my urine, and still just frequent urination here and there. But no pain and no blood in urine. My kidneys are healthy as well. What should I do about the leukocytes? More electrolytes would help?
SlowBurnMary
#15
Tons of pee can be a normal part of swooshes, too. This is why abundant salt intake is really important, esp for the first couple months of keto.
Also, bacterial balances in the gut/microbiome change when carbs are restricted and a bunch of processes ensue in the lining of the vascular system.
There may be new sensitivities that arise and pass away as these changes occur. I myself had a sensitive, warmish bladder for a short while - and have had several different phases of amazing water releases.
Tinampittman
(Christina)
#16
The weird thing is I have been on keto for more than just a few months though. And this just now started happening. And I have moderate amount of leukocytes in my urine analysis and an acidic urine as well. It’s frustrating to get UTI when you feel like you are on such a healthy life regimen
Tinampittman
(Christina)
#18
Yah it could be. But you would think being in such a healthy diet would sheild me from getting utis in the first place. Ughhh…I really do not want to take antibiotics again. I have stomach issues. Antibiotics wreak hsvoc on my gut
Shortstuff
(Allie)
#19
Bacteria will cause problems regardless, especially somewhere as delicate as the urinary tract. Antibiotics are nasty but sometimes necessary. I had to have some not long ago for an infected horsefly bite that made my whole leg swell up and stopped me walking, still rebuilding now with probiotics, water kefir, sauerkraut, and cultured yogurts.
kib
(karen)
#20
D mannose is a type of sugar that is not digested by the body, it passes through which is why it is so helpful for uti’s, it coats the bladder walls and urethra. Not contraindicated with keto.