Do NOT open if you are squeamish. (Health issue)

You've been warned. Kind of disgusting. You can still close this and visit another thread.

Last night I went to the bathroom and there was blood in the toilet. When I peed a bit more, it was bright red. Freaked me out, and I felt a bit lightheaded and had to sit down again with a case of the runs. Not wanting to call 911 for an ambulance, though I considered it, I called for a cab, but there was going to be a long wait. By then I realized that the lightheadedness and the loose poop was a panic reaction to the bloody urine. So I drove myself to the emergency room. I think it might have been 6:30-ish, not sure.

They got me in pretty quickly, took a history, asked for a urine sample, and did an ultrasound bladder scan, which showed 500 ml of pee still in my bladder. There was some talk of a catheter, but they gave me another chance to pee, and then there was 320 ml. I laid in the bed for a while, waiting for the lab results. They suspected an infection. Then I had to pee again, and this time there was no blood, and only 120 ml remaining, so thankfully no catheter.

The lab results came back negative, so they told me to make an appointment with a urologist on Monday, and released me. I peed again and this time it was bloody again, but the doctor said to go ahead and go home, drink a lot of water to keep flushing it out, and return if the symptoms got worse or there was pain.

It was late so I read for a short while and went to bed. During the night I peed sometimes with blood and sometimes without. At one point, I peed clear, then it turned bloody and I passed a whole bunch of clots, and then it turned clear again. At some point it hurt to pee, but stopped when I stopped. At around 4:00 a.m. when I got up to pee, the pain was so excruciating, and the volume was so little, that I seriously considered returning to the emergency room and asking for the catheter, which, miserable as it is, seemed the lesser evil just then. I went back to bed but could not sleep, and eventually I had to pee again. There was no pain (throughout, the only pain has been while peeing, and only a few times) but the fear of pain made me postpone peeing. I showered and gathered my medicines together, in anticipation of having to return to the hospital, and then peed. This time it started slow, then stopped, and I kept trying, and then, with moderate pain this time, I passed a whole bunch of clots, and then suddenly it flowed freely, still bright red, but no more pain at all, and I believe I emptied pretty well. So no return to the emergency room for the moment.

I am not posting this looking for a diagnosis. I'll get that from the urologist. I guess I'm just looking for sympathy and encouragement. Something like "I feel for you. My cousins's sister's boyfriend's dad had this, and they had him all fixed up in a week." Or better yet, "... it cleared up all by itself in a day."

I have no idea if this could be something life-threatening, and there's no point in speculating on that. I'll see the urologist and they'll do what they can. My biggest fear at the moment (other than more pain) is missing my December Snowshoeing trip.

 

Thanks, everyone. The pain was only while peeing, and only just before some big clots came out. And the bleeding began long before the first episode of pain, which makes it seem unlikely to be kidney stones, though I imagine the urologist will consider all possibilities.

I have an extremely low pain threshold. The one time before the big clots came, the pain was excruciating. But from what I've heard about kidney stones, they're probably worse. The pain stopped when I quit trying to pee. And it stopped once I passed the clots, and so far <knock on wood> has not returned.

Well, at the emergency room they told me I don't need to return unless it gets a lot worse or there is significant pain. Since the pain stopped once the clots passed, I figure I'm okay for the moment.

They told me to phone the clinic on Monday (this being the weekend) and make an appointment as quickly as possible with the urologist. I'm hoping the scheduler recognizes the urgency and gets me that appointment quickly.

 

I think I'm going to like it. Not as big an improvement over the Mini as I had expected, but definitely an improvement. More details on the One-Pound iPad thread.

 

Thanks, Dave, but the doctor knew when he discharged me that it had gone from bloody to clear and back several times, and that my last urination before leaving the ER was bright bloody again. Apparently, the bleeding is intermittent, and the doc seems to feel that is not serious enough to hospitalize me. Hopefully I'll get to see the urologist on Monday or Tuesday.

As of this writing, my last urination was very pale pink. Hopefully, no new blood, just the remainder from before.

And apparently a very small amount of blood can turn the urine very red.

Or maybe this will be my last post and I'll kick the bucket this afternoon. But I'm not going to play the hypochondriac. I went to the ER, the doc examined me and said Go home and call the urologist Monday, and that's what I'll do unless severe bleeding resumes and persists, or the pain becomes intolerable or I cannot pee.

 

No blood since early this morning! I'm hopeful that it stays this way. Thanks to everyone for your good wishes. I will definitely phone the clinic as soon as it opens on Monday and beg for the earliest possible appointment with the urologist.

I didn't mention that one of the nurses in the ER said that he had similar symptoms some years back and it turned out to be a cyst in the bladder. The cyst broke, releasing blood. It was a one-time occurrence. However, I have a history of benign prostatic hyperplasia (non-cancerous enlarged prostate) so I suspect a prostate problem. I presume they will be able to fix it, but it will probably require a tube up my dick, and that is no fun at all. (I've had two prostate operations, about 4 years apart. The last was 5 or 6 years ago. The second of those was when I got morphine after the operation. I like morphine.)

 

Wow. In my case they wanted to try medication first. Flomax, or something like that, which had unpleasant side effects, and in Spain I found one quack doctor who gave me saw palmetto, which does nothing at all. Back home, they wanted to try meds again, but pretty soon it became clear that those weren't working, and I had my first operation. I don't know what percentage the enlargement was, but nowhere near 25x.