Cystitis: symptoms, tests and how it is treated

What cystitis feels like

Cystitis usually comes on suddenly. The most common symptoms are:

• frequent urges to urinate that produce only a little urine;
• stinging or burning when you urinate;
• pain or pressure in the lower abdomen, above the pubic bone;
• a feeling that your bladder hasn’t emptied completely;
• cloudy, strong-smelling urine, sometimes with blood in it.

With uncomplicated cystitis your temperature is usually normal or slightly raised. A high temperature with chills and pain in the lower back can mean the infection has reached the kidneys. To learn how to recognize that kind of pain, read our article on kidney pain and back pain.

In young children cystitis looks different: the child cries when urinating, asks to go to the toilet more often, starts wetting the bed again or simply runs a fever. A child with these symptoms needs to see a pediatrician. In older people the only signs of cystitis are sometimes weakness, confusion or urine leakage.

Similar symptoms can come from urethritis, vaginal infections, sexually transmitted infections and stones in the urinary tract. An exam and tests help tell them apart.

Can you treat cystitis yourself?

Antibiotics for cystitis are prescribed by a doctor. A drug that helped last time may not work this time: the bacterium may be different, and it may already be resistant to some drugs. If you take the wrong antibiotic or stop the course early, the symptoms may settle while the infection stays and comes back. Each course like that raises the risk that next time the bacteria won’t respond to that antibiotic either.

A urine sample for culture is collected before you start antibiotics. Otherwise the test may not show the bacterium, and it will be harder for the doctor to choose a drug if the first one doesn’t work.

The doctor chooses the drug, dose and length of the course based on your condition, pregnancy and chronic illnesses, and changes the treatment if the culture result calls for it. While you wait for your appointment, drink enough water unless a doctor has told you to limit fluids, and don’t hold it in when you need to go. For pain, you can take a painkiller your doctor has recommended before, at the dose in the leaflet.

Which tests you need for cystitis

The doctor usually orders two tests:

• a urinalysis, which shows white blood cells, red blood cells and bacteria;
• a urine culture, to find out which bacterium caused the infection and which antibiotics it responds to.

A culture is especially needed if cystitis keeps coming back, treatment hasn’t helped, you have a fever or lower back pain, you are pregnant or the patient is a man.

For a urinalysis, the lab asks for your first morning urine: collect it in a sterile container and bring it in within 90 minutes. You’ll be told how to collect a sample for a culture when you book.

Both tests are done at the Diagnost-Lab laboratory at 32 Sobornosti St, 4th floor. You can book by calling the lab or messaging it on Viber, and a Viber message will let you know when your results are ready. If you have signed a declaration with a Viva Clinic family doctor, a urinalysis with their referral is free. A urine culture is paid.

When cystitis needs a doctor the same day

Don’t wait for a routine appointment if:

• your temperature is 38°C or higher, or you have chills;
• your lower back or side hurts;
• you can see blood or clots in your urine;
• you are pregnant;
• a man or a child has cystitis symptoms;
• you are no better after two days of treatment, or the symptoms come back right after the course.

Call an ambulance (103) if you can’t urinate at all although your bladder feels full and painful, or if a high temperature comes with vomiting, severe weakness or confusion.

Why cystitis comes back and how to prevent it

In women the urethra is short and close to the vagina and anus, so bacteria reach the bladder more easily. That is why cystitis is far more common in women than in men. The risk goes up after sex, during pregnancy and after menopause.

If cystitis comes back twice in six months or three times in a year, doctors call it recurrent. Then the cause is investigated with a urologist and often with a gynecologist too. The urologist may order an ultrasound of the kidneys and bladder, which is done at the Viva Clinic polyclinic at 27a Sobornosti St.

A few simple habits lower the risk of another episode:

• drink enough water through the day;
• don’t hold in urine for long;
• urinate after sex;
• wash and wipe from front to back;
• don’t douche or use scented intimate hygiene products.

The Viva Clinic urologist in Slavuta sees women and men at 27a Sobornosti St or 3 Danyla Halytskoho St, and the exact address is confirmed when you book. You can book a urology consultation at Viva Clinic by phone or on Viber.