Frequent urination

[emilzewinter]

Hello,
I posted a few days ago asking about a pregnancy scare and was told that I have no risk and I believe it, it makes sense, although I cannot deny that I am still somewhat scared/worried. When I woke up today, I felt like I had to urinate and went to the restroom and did. Seconds after, I felt like I still had to pee but nothing would come out. Two hours passed by and I have the same feeling, having to pee every 10 minutes or so but not much coming out and since I am a paranoid person, I start thinking that this might be due to pregnancy. What can it be? UTI? It does not really burn when I pee. I have been checking by myself to see when I am ovulating, by inserting fingers and observing discharge, I don't know if maybe I didn't wash my hands properly and had germs and that is why I have an infection?

[Heather]

Urinary tract infections don't always present the same way, or develop all the symptoms of one all at once.

What you want to do with something like this is give it a day or so -- and by all means, while inserting your fingers into your vagina isn't actually going to help you accurately monitor fertility, if you are going to do it, it needs to be with clean hands -- and see what happens. Drink some extra water, try and avoid things that irritate the urinary tract (like caffeine or booze, or taking bubble baths), take it easy, and if the urinary issues don't get better or get worse, then you want to call into your healthcare provider.

Too, if you have the kind of provider where making an appointment and cancelling is no big whoop, you may want to go ahead and make one. Because when UTI symptoms -- if that is what this turns out to be -- get worse, they can get worse fast, and you are not going to want to be waiting to get seen. This way, if things do get worse, you'll already have an appointment.

[emilzewinter]

Thank you for the fast reply. I have been going to the doctor frequently since I was having the pregnancy scare and my mom is overwhelmed by the subject so if I bring this up, I feel like she will think that I was still sexually active after the incident even though I have not and she would be more frustrated which is why I do not want to say anything yet. Will I be okay if I wait two days without doing anything? Why do you get UTI's?

[Heather]

Can I ask why you think you can't be truthful with her, and think she will not believe you?

Mind, even if you HAD still been sexually active, and she had hard feelings about that, as a parent of a minor, she's still responsible for getting you to healthcare when you need it.

Like I said, I think you can give this one a day or two and be fine, unless things get worse, in which case you should see someone as soon as you can. UTIs can spread to the kidneys, so you want to catch and treat them ASAP whenever possible.

UTIs occur because of bacteria that gets into the urinary tract from things like masturbation or sex with a partner, getting trace fecal matter from the bottom on the vulva when toileting or wiping, from dehydration and a couple other things. Sometimes the body can fight off that bacteria, but other times, it can't, and that's how infection occurs.

[emilzewinter]

It is not that I can't be honest with her, I just feel like I have put her through enough stress by constantly telling her that I think I am pregnant even though all I did was have manual and oral sex. I was able to stop talking about it for 5 days or so and I made her take me to the doctor multiple times and promised her I wouldn't be active anymore and I kept my promise, I don't want to bother her again. I will wait two days and if it is not gone, I will tell her about it. I don't know if me being stressed out is making me believe that I have to urinate more often or not.

[Heather]

I understand.

If it helps, know that if you have a UTI brewing, it may actually not have anything to do with any kind of sexual activity at all. They do sometimes, other times they don't, and it's just as common for people who aren't engaging in sex to have them as it is for people who are.

No matter what, you'd clearly benefit from chilling out and just giving yourself some self-care, so how about doing whatever you do to take care of yourself when you're not well or are stressed?

[emilzewinter]

I will. Thank you so much, Heather.

[emilzewinter]

I have another quick question about my period. I usually get my period the 29th on a 28day cycle, but last month I was stressing a lot and did start spotting the 29th but did not get my period until the 5th. Should I expect my period to go back to normal and come back the 29th this month? or the 5th? Thank you

[Heather]

Alas, we can't predict anyone's periods for them.

Sometimes when cycles are different, it is a one-off, other times it is because they are shifting and will be different than they have been for a while. But the only way to know which is going on is after the fact, when you can look at the patterns over time.