White Blood Cells In My Urine

[HoustonGirl]

Does anyone know if a finding of white blood cells or pus in the urine is mostly a symptom of infection or could it be present in IC too? I went to my primary today and he gave me Cipro for three days. He said that there were white blood cells in my urine but no red ones. The signficance of the red ones, is that those are the ones that are almost always in my urine due to my IC I think, and I am really puzzled why I no longer have the red blood cells, but white ones instead. He is not a Urologist, but said that the people he sees that have IC don't have the white blood cells in their urine. I also wanted to mention that there were no nitrites found. Please help! Thanks.

Sara

[mich2604]

Hello,

I cant really answer your question. My NP at my uro office says white blood cells are in my urine because of the IC. But my PCP and my hollistic dr tell me white blood cells are a sign of infection.

I do know that after i got the IC diagnosis my NP stopped giving me cipro each time i had white blood cells in my urine.

I think i read somewhere on this site that white blood cells can be from the inflamation.

sorry i couldnt help more.

[HoustonGirl]

Humm.... That's not good news I guess. I am wondering though if the fact that I don't always have the white cells and given that I am in significantly increased discomfort with the white cells, that this may indicate in this instance that it could be an infection. I guess I'll know soon if I start to feel better or not. I too thought that the white cells could be from the inflammation that goes along with the IC, but wanted to believe my doctor when he told me that of course. Crossing, my fingers and toes...

:help:

[mom_in_ma]

Honestly, it could be either one...infection or a flare...for white blood cells to appear in your urine. I get them when I'm flaring. That said, they can also be a sign of infection, so it's hard to know unless your dotor ordered a urine culture.

It can't hurt to try the cipro and see if you start to feel better. Sorry that this flare came out of the blue for you. Really, I completely understand your situation. I'm there too....was in a blissful remission and stress brought on a flare that's taking a long time to go away. But remember...as I said in another post...you were in remission before and you will get there again.

Hope you feel better.

[Golden Girl]

White cells, called WBC's are the body's response to bacteria. They are not normally found in urine. Nitrates are some sort of response to infection, breakdown of WBC's etc. (I'm a RN and I learned all of this too many years ago lol!) Early in a UTI neither would be present. RBC's in urine can also be part of the body's response to infection. So UTI's are diagnosed by more than the presence of bacteria.

[Jamey]

Have your dr culture for staph or strep. I usually have the same thing and I've had a staph infection in my bladder for over a year.

[Briza]

Does anyone know if a finding of white blood cells or pus in the urine is mostly a symptom of infection or could it be present in IC too? I went to my primary today and he gave me Cipro for three days. He said that there were white blood cells in my urine but no red ones. The signficance of the red ones, is that those are the ones that are almost always in my urine due to my IC I think, and I am really puzzled why I no longer have the red blood cells, but white ones instead. He is not a Urologist, but said that the people he sees that have IC don't have the white blood cells in their urine. I also wanted to mention that there were no nitrites found. Please help! Thanks.

Sara

Hi Sara
One of my first major IC flares started with something very similar when I was in the dx process. I don't get UTIs but the test showed white blood cells but no nitrates and I did have visible blood in the urine and all the symptoms of a UTI. I was rxd a round of Cipro and Pyridium... that made my symptoms go away for a few days but then they came back with a bang. Had another urine test which came back completely normal.

I believe this is a common occurence when dealing with IC. I've read about the same experience from other ladies here on ICN more than a few times. And the way your dr treated it with Cipro seems the way it's often handled. Even if there isn't an infection, some antibiotics have an anti-inflammatory property to them, which helps some people feel better temporarily. I think that may have been what happened in my case.

BTW, my urine was sent off for further testing/culturing and no infection was found.

[Gisèle]

My last urinalysis, I had WBCs(and nitrites) in my urine, but when sent off for a culture, nothing showed up. I am pretty much in the process of being diagonsed for IC, and this convinces me even more that I have IC. About two weeks ago at my family doctor, she gave me cirpo b/c of the WBCs, and it did nothing. A few days ago at my urologist, he saw that I did have WBCs in my urine, but didn't mention infection, he switched only my antibiotic from cipro to levaquin to see if I would get better(I am not.)
I hope you find out what it is. Good luck!