Changes that happen during pregnancy and after menopause can also make a woman prone to UTIs. Sometimes you don’t even know you have a UTI. Most often you will have symptoms, though. They come suddenly, with no warning.
About one out of five women will get a urinary tract infection (UTI) during the course of her lifetime.
How do we get UTIs? Usually, bacteria enter through the urethra and go to the bladder. They grow in the bladder and move to other parts of the urinary tract.
Bacteria can get into a woman’s urethra during sex. You should go to the bathroom right after sex to flush the bacteria out. Women who use a diaphragm for birth control have twice the risk of getting a UTI. Changes that happen during pregnancy and after menopause can also make a woman prone to UTIs.
Sometimes you don’t even know you have a UTI. Most often you will have symptoms, though. They come suddenly, with no warning. Here are some of them:
- A strong need to urinate
- More frequent urination than usual
- A sharp pain or burning in the urethra when you pass urine
- Blood in the urine
- Feeling like your bladder is still full after you pass urine
- Soreness in your belly, back or sides
- Chills, fever, nausea
See a doctor if you have any of these symptoms. A UTI can be serious if you don’t treat it. The doctor will test a sample of your urine to find the problem. An antibiotic to treat the infection and pain relievers, if necessary, are the usual course of treatment.
| Ask Yourself: | Yes | No |
| Do you have these symptoms: Fever and shaking chills Back pain in one or both sides of your lower back Vomiting and nausea | Seek emergency care | Go to next question |
| Do you have these problems: Burning when you pass urine Passing urine a lot more often than usual Bloody or cloudy urine Pain in your abdomen or over your bladder Nausea or a feeling like you’re going to vomit | See doctor | Go to next question |
| Do you have any of these problems: You urinate a lot, even at night. You feel like you have an urgent need to urinate. You feel like your bladder is still full after you urinate. It stings when you pass urine. Your urine smells bad. It hurts to have sexual intercourse. | See doctor | Go to next question |
| Have you had symptoms for more than three days, without getting better? Did medication the doctor prescribed give you side effects (e.g., skin rash or nausea)? | Call doctor | Go to next question |
| Do you get UTIs a lot? | Call doctor | Provide self-care (see below) |
Self-Care Procedures:
- Avoid alcohol, spicy foods and coffee.
- Drink at least eight glasses of water a day. Liquids help wash out the infection.
- Get plenty of rest.
- Check for fever twice a day. Take your temperature in the morning and then in the afternoon or evening.
- Take aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen or naproxen sodium. Note: Do not give aspirin or any medication containing salicylates to anyone 19 years of age or younger, unless directed by a physician, due to its association with Reye’s syndrome, a potentially fatal condition.
- Go to the bathroom as soon as you feel the need.
- Empty your bladder every time you pass urine. If you have a condition that keeps you from doing this, such as that which occurs in some people with multiple sclerosis, ask your doctor about using intermittent self-catheters.
- Empty your bladder after sex.