Early Signs Of A UTI

[Sparx]

I have been aware for Two Days that my Mother’s Urine has become stronger in smell but has been difficult to gauge its colour properly due to her Double Incontanace.
Mum drinks lots of tea, various fruit juices and plain water during the day and is well hydrated in my opinion.
My Mother has a history of UTI which have occurred many times whilst in a C/Home..
Mum has very poor mobility and I am aware that she can be non compliant at times so this is not a criticism of the CH..
When I have noticed changes in Mums behaviour at the C/H I have been told by Day Managers that it’s difficult to obtain a sample using Dip Strips..they normally initially check body temp and say they will try to get a Urine sample at some stage.
It has also been mentioned that they would discuss with her GP a small dosage of Antibiotics being added to her daily meds...this has not been carried out.
Since temporary removing Mum from the CH recently and becoming her Carer she is recently displaying some different behaviour patterns to when she first arrived Home Two Weeks ago.
Mums pull up pads are changed regularly when she is compliant and washed quite thoroughly at least once per day and often three times when she is compliant.
A week ago I purchased some Urine Dip Strips called One+Step 10 from Ageukincontenance and in their description it says for Professional and Home use...there is also a downloadable pdf on how to use.
My issue is the same as what the CH experienced is to get a clean Urine sample mid stream and is clear of any contamination of poo.
I’m thinking it may be possible to use the Urine Dip Strips on a pull up pant or bed pad that has been Urinated on by my Mother just to give me a rough estimate if a UTI is present ?
Please see attached photo of results of Dip Strip used on a Pull Up Pad.
Have anybody on this forum any experience of Urine Drip Strips ?
I will of course try to contact her GP tomorrow but with Covid-19 I’m expecting a delay

 

[TNJJ]

I have been aware for Two Days that my Mother’s Urine has become stronger in smell but has been difficult to gauge its colour properly due to her Double Incontanace.
Mum drinks lots of tea, various fruit juices and plain water during the day and is well hydrated in my opinion.
My Mother has a history of UTI which have occurred many times whilst in a C/Home..
Mum has very poor mobility and I am aware that she can be non compliant at times so this is not a criticism of the CH..
When I have noticed changes in Mums behaviour at the C/H I have been told by Day Managers that it’s difficult to obtain a sample using Dip Strips..they normally initially check body temp and say they will try to get a Urine sample at some stage.
It has also been mentioned that they would discuss with her GP a small dosage of Antibiotics being added to her daily meds...this has not been carried out.
Since temporary removing Mum from the CH recently and becoming her Carer she is recently displaying some different behaviour patterns to when she first arrived Home Two Weeks ago.
Mums pull up pads are changed regularly when she is compliant and washed quite thoroughly at least once per day and often three times when she is compliant.
A week ago I purchased some Urine Dip Strips called One+Step 10 from Ageukincontenance and in their description it says for Professional and Home use...there is also a downloadable pdf on how to use.
My issue is the same as what the CH experienced is to get a clean Urine sample mid stream and is clear of any contamination of poo.
I’m thinking it may be possible to use the Urine Dip Strips on a pull up pant or bed pad that has been Urinated on by my Mother just to give me a rough estimate if a UTI is present ?
Please see attached photo of results of Dip Strip used on a Pull Up Pad.
Have anybody on this forum any experience of Urine Drip Strips ?
I will of course try to contact her GP tomorrow but with Covid-19 I’m expecting a delay

I have used them before. Not the same make but they are usually good at showing signs of infection etc.
Getting it from the pad will give you some idea although the best way as you know in a clean sample.

 

[Izzy]

I used to use these for both my husband and my mother and found them useful. It got to the point that it was almost impossible to get a sample from my mother and her GP used to trust my description of her symptoms and prescribe an antibiotic. I believe that there is a way to collect a sample from a continence pad. I had a look at the Tena site and found this. It looks like it is designed to be used in care homes etc -

TENA U-test — Future Healthcare

TENA U-test is an in-pad detection aid for recognition of UTI´s through the detection of nitrite and leukocytes in urine. The test is placed face down in a clean pad and removed at next pad change. It is quick, non-intrusive and comfortable to wear. No separate urine collection is needed. Both...

futurehealthcare.uk

 

[RosettaT]

I bought a couple of test kits for my OH when he was wearing pads. I never used them because he went into hospital and came out cathetered. However IIRC you use a syringe to extract urine from the pad and then test but as I said I never used them. The Tena test mentioned above looks good and easy enough to use but again I guess depends on fecal contamination.

 

[Sparx]

A quick update on my Dip Strip test I did earlier.
I called NHS 111 and spent 90 mins before I spoke to a receptionist.
Within 2hrs a Dr arrived and examined Mum..he also asked to see a picture of my Dip Strip test and immediately confirmed Mum had a UTI...he issued some antibiotics and told me if I don’t see any improvement by Tuesday to call her GP to issue a different type of antibiotic.
Many thanks to the reply’s on this thread and apologies about posting in the wrong section.