How do you know when you have a bladder infection?

Hi everybody,

I learned another new thing a couple of weeks ago. While we may be more prone to UTI's, we can also be misdiagnosed with UTI's when we don't really have them. According to my doc, there is a difference between colonization and infection. We should NOT just jump on the antibiotic bandwagon when a test comes back showing something. My doc said my tests could end up looking like WW3 is going on in there when there is no "infection" at all. He said it is more related to how you feel but it will always be difficult to tell.

Have others encountered this? When I was in the hospital for the intestinal blockage they did a urine culture and put me on antibiotics for it. Now, I'm guessing I didn't really need them (based on my conversation with my uro surgeon).

Mike