Sudden changes in behaviors and an increase in symptoms may indicate that your loved one has a UTI. Behavior changes and causes that seem to affect one's personality may include sleeping issues, anxiety, depression, confusion, aggression, delusions, hallucinations and paranoia.
Upper UTIs
pain in your sides or back. shivering and chills. feeling and being sick. confusion.
UTIs also can cause delirium in older people, resulting in a sharp decline in mental abilities that triggers disoriented thinking.
This has to do with the blood-brain barrier, a special protection between the brain and the rest of the body. The blood-brain barrier keeps bacteria, viruses, and fungi that threaten the health of the brain from reaching it.
A UTI places stress on the body,” says Dr. Pearson, “and any type of stress, physical or emotional, can cause an older adult to become confused. For those suffering from Alzheimer's disease or dementia, a UTI can make dementia temporarily worse.”
Painful Bladder Syndrome (PBS)
The symptoms range from mild to severe and can happen sometimes or all the time. PBS is not caused by an infection, but it can feel like a urinary tract infection or UTI. Painful bladder syndrome is also referred to as bladder pain syndrome and interstitial cystitis.
If left untreated, a UTI can turn into a kidney infection, also called pyelonephritis. Pyelonephritis can cause serious complications, like kidney scarring, high blood pressure, and renal failure, which is why treatment is essential.
If the infection moves upstream to the kidneys, additional symptoms are likely, such as fatigue, weakness or feeling faint, and difficulty walking or thinking clearly. Other symptoms could include a fever of 101 F or greater, shaking and chills, upper back and side pain, and nausea or vomiting.
Bladder infections are a type of UTI, but not all urinary tract infections are bladder infections. A UTI is defined as an infection in one or more places in the urinary tract—the ureters, kidneys, urethra, and/or bladder. A bladder infection is a UTI that's only located in the bladder.
Sudden changes in behaviors and an increase in symptoms may indicate that your loved one has a UTI. Behavior changes and causes that seem to affect one's personality may include sleeping issues, anxiety, depression, confusion, aggression, delusions, hallucinations and paranoia.
Simple bladder infections may go away on their own in about a week — even without antibiotics. If you don't have any symptoms of a kidney infection and you aren't pregnant or at high risk of developing complicated UTI, you may opt for a “wait-and-see” approach to antibiotic treatment.
Generally, you should see a doctor if you begin to develop UTI symptoms that go on longer than two to three days. Without treatment, a minor infection could spread to your kidneys, putting you at risk for organ damage and serious blood infections.”
Having a suppressed immune system or chronic health condition can make you more prone to recurring infections, including UTIs. Diabetes increases your risk for a UTI, as does having certain autoimmune diseases, neurological diseases and kidney or bladder stones.
Best UTI Sleeping Position? The most comfortable sleeping position for anybody struggling with a UTI would be any that put the least pressure on your pelvic muscles, such as the foetal position, or if you prefer sleeping on your back, spreading your legs apart.
If you're like most people, you probably think of burning or pain with urination being an unavoidable consequence of a UTI. In reality, many urinary tract infections do not cause painful urination, and some patients with UTIs are completely asymptomatic.
Frequent urination. Feeling the need to urinate despite having an empty bladder. Bloody urine. Pressure or cramping in the groin or lower abdomen.
A mild UTI causes symptoms, including painful urination, constantly feeling the need to urinate and cramping pain in the lower abdomen. In the elderly population, a mild UTI can even cause confusion. Symptoms from a complicated UTI include fever, lower back pain, blood in urine, and even pus in urine.
Water is by far the best beverage choice for someone with a UTI. Drinking at least 12 8-ounce cups of water each day while you have an infection will help flush the bacteria from your system and can speed up the healing process.
Upper urinary tract infection
shivering or chills. feeling very weak or tired. loss of appetite. feeling sick or being sick.
Lower urinary tract infections can quickly develop into kidney infections over a few hours to a few days. If your health care provider suspects a kidney infection, they will obtain a urine sample and order urine tests. Sometimes, they may order an imaging study such as a CT scan.