I urinate a little more often than usual and I feel a heaviness in my lower abdomen. Could my symptoms be related to a urinary tract infection?

Question

Yesterday morning, I woke up with a heaviness in my lower abdomen. I had a funny feeling in my urethra area. Not pain, but a funny feeling. I urinated a little more often yesterday during the day. The heaviness in my lower abdomen disappeared yesterday and has not returned. I have no pain when I go to the bathroom. I urinate normal amounts. My urine is not cloudy and does not smell bad. I have no blood in my urine, but this morning when I got up, I had a small spot of dark blood in my underwear. In the last few days, I had sex and I didn't go to the bathroom right away, but about 1 hour later. I'm afraid I have a UTI. In 24 hours, the symptoms have not changed. The only symptom that remains now is the strange sensation in the corner of my urethra and the urge to urinate a little more frequently. I am traveling to the US and I don't want to go to the doctor for nothing... thank you very much! In fact, I realize that I may have a little bit of weight in my lower abdomen coming back this morning, but it's not much. Thank you very much!

Samantha Hui · Accepted Answer

Good morning Madam, A urinary tract infection is typically identified by a combination of signs and symptoms that you seem to already be aware of: difficulty urinating, suprapubic pain, the need to urinate several times or a small amount each time, blood in the urine, burning and pain on urination, and cloudy or smelly urine. Based on what you've described to me, your symptoms may be similar to a urinary tract infection, but only a doctor can confirm the diagnosis. If you were previously prescribed an antibiotic for a UTI less than 5 years ago and your current symptoms are similar to that previous UTI episode, your community pharmacist may be able to prescribe an antibiotic based on certain criterias. If you have not had an antibiotic prescription in the last 5 years, I recommend that you wait a little before going to see a doctor. If your symptoms are still present in 3 days, or if you start to have a fever > 38°C, mucopurulent or whitish vaginal secretions, lower back pain, or nausea, then you need to see a doctor. In the meantime, I recommend that you keep yourself well hydrated with 2L per day, do not hold back your urge to urinate and continue to practice good personal hygiene. I hope this answers your question, Samantha Hui, pharmacy student Under the supervision of Alexandre Chagnon, pharmacist