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Your pee has abruptly turned red and smells unlike it ever has before. You’re beside yourself with worry and your doctor is temporarily unreachable. What to do?
First of all, relax. It’s true that pink or red urine can indicate the presence of an underlying health problem, such as a urinary tract infection, prostate problems, kidney disease, or even a tumor. However, it’s more likely that you’ve recently eaten one of several foods that are known to temporarily turn urine pink or red. Such culinary colorists include beets, blackberries, blueberries, carrots, rhubarb, and processed foods with red food dyes. And as for your urine’s strange new smell, that may indicate that you recently ate asparagus, which is notorious for imparting a unique odor to your urine.
Drugs Can Alter Urine Color
Certain medications can also turn urine pink or red. Rifampin, a potent antibiotic prescribed to treat serious bacterial infections such as tuberculosis, legionnaire’s disease, and leprosy is one such drug. Yet another is phenazopyridine, an analgesic that’s often prescribed to relieve the discomfort of urinary tract infections.
If it turns out that you’ve recently eaten one of the foods or taken one of the drugs listed above, the sudden — and temporary — change in your urine color and/or smell will disappear in short order, and you’ll have saved yourself the expense and time required for a visit to your doctor. However, if no such foods have been on your menu of late and/or the urine’s color change persists, you’ll want to talk to a health professional to get to the bottom of the problem.
Urine a Key Health Indicator
All of which brings us to an important observation: Your pee’s color, smell, and frequency of urination can tell you quite a bit about what’s going on in your body and can often alert you to problems that might otherwise go undetected, at least until they’d reached a more advanced — and difficult-to-treat — state.
WebMD.com defines urine as “your body’s liquid waste, mainly made of water, salt, and chemicals called urea and uric acid.” Urine is produced in the kidneys as they filter toxins and other undesirable substances from the blood. As you’ve already seen, foods, drugs, and illnesses can all significantly alter the color and odor of urine.
What’s Urine’s Normal Color?
Urine’s normal color ranges from pale yellow to gold, according to WebMD. The color comes from a pigment called urochrome, which is produced in your body. Urine that has little or no detectable color indicates that you’re drinking a lot of water or taking a diuretic, a medication that flushes fluids from the body.
Urine that ranges from the color of dark honey to brown is a fairly reliable sign that you’re dehydrated and badly in need of rehydration. Pee in this color range may also be a sign of liver problems. Monitor your urine’s tint carefully, and if it hasn’t returned to normal in a day or so, consult your doctor.
What If Urine’s Orange?
Orange-colored urine most often indicates that you’re taking one of the following drugs: isoniazid, an antibiotic used to treat tuberculosis; high doses of vitamin B-2, also known as riboflavin; or phenazopyridine, the analgesic medication often used to treat urinary tract infections. It can also be a sign of dehydration or an indication of a problem with the liver or bile duct. If the orange color persists, see your doctor.
Urine that is blue or green is most often a reflection of dyes in the food or drugs you are taking. Drugs known to cause this type of urine discoloration are propofol, a combination anesthetic/sedative widely used for out-patient medical procedures such as colonoscopies, and promethazine, a medication prescribed to treat allergies and asthma. According to WebMD, a few rare medical conditions can also cause urine to turn green or blue, so once again consult your doctor if this discoloration persists.
What Does Foamy Urine Mean?
Regardless of its color, pee that is consistently foamy or frothy may indicate that protein is present in your urine. Because this can signal possible kidney problems, see your doctor if the foaminess continues.
As previously noted, asparagus gives urine a distinctive odor. A few other foods can do so as well. In the case of asparagus, the vegetable contains a sulfur compound that imparts an unpleasant smell to the urine. Vitamin B-6 can also cause a similarly unpleasant odor. Urine that smells strongly of ammonia is usually a sign of dehydration, which can be reversed by acting promptly to increase your fluid intake. However, foul-smelling urine can also be a sign of underlying health problems, including urinary tract or bladder infection, diabetes, or some type of metabolic disorder.
Most men and women pee four to eight times daily. Frequency of urination can be significantly affected by the consumption of alcohol and caffeine, as well as certain prescription drugs. As a general rule, urinating more than eight times in a 24-hour period or having to get up more than once a night to urinate is considered frequent urination. According to eMedicineHealth.com, there are two main causes of frequent urination: Polyuria, an increase in the total volume of urine your body produces, or some type of dysfunction in the storage and/or emptying of urine.
Among the medical conditions known to cause frequent urination are diabetes, particularly in its early stages; prostate problems; interstitial cystitis; bladder cancer; overactive bladder syndrome; pregnancy; and stroke. Diuretic use can lead to frequent urination, as can heavy consumption of alcohol, artificial sweeteners, caffeine, and citrus fruits. Another obvious cause of frequent urination is the consumption of more fluids than your body requires to function normally.
Symptoms of Frequent Urination
Although the cardinal symptom of frequent urination can be found in the condition’s very name, other symptoms can accompany excessive urination and help to confirm its diagnosis. These include a sense of urgency, a feeling of pressure in the bladder that makes you feel an urgent need to pee; and urinary incontinence, which is defined as an “inability to control the flow of urine, leading to either constant or intermittent accidental leakage.” Other symptoms of frequent urination include dysuria, pain or burning sensation just after urination; dribbling; frequent daytime and/or nighttime urination; and straining, having to squeeze or bear down to get the urine stream started.
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