[behrenje]

Bubbles in urine - what should I look for?

by behrenje on Tue May 03, 2016 1:06 pm

Hello everyone!

It seems to be there are some very knowledgeable people in this forum who will surely steer me in the right direction.

I am a 46 year old male. I get a physical every two years because I am a firefighter. The physical which includes a cbc w/diff and a comprehensive metabolic panel.

- My bloodwork comes back within the normal ranges. The only thing that I have noticed is within the past 10 years is my A/G ratio has decreased, but it was still 1.26 in 2015.

- As far as my urine tests are concerned, only a dipstick method is conducted, and those have been normal. I believe M-protein is NOT tested for, however.

- I had two chest CT-scans in 2006.

- No bone pain. Every now and then I may get sore from working out or may tweak something, but the pain subsides eventually. I currently have some joint pain in my elbows from overdoing pull-ups, and two years ago I thought I injured my rotator cuff throwing ladders, but that pain subsided on it's own.

- OK …Why am I concerned you may ask. I will tell you. It is these tiny bubbles I get in my urine a few times a day that do not go away. I am confused about what urine should look like as far as when proteinuria is concerned. Big bubbles that go away? Tiny ones that subside? Both? When I am very well hydrated I do not see the tiny ones. I always see the big ones that go away rather quickly. I tend to see the tiny ones in the first void of the morning too. Is a 24 hour urine test warranted?

I am not expecting definitive answers on what I should do - just an opinion or two. I am fairly certain my primary care doctor might think I am nuts. That's why I thought I would start here.

Thank you in advance!

John

[Little Monkey]

Re: Bubbles in urine - what should I look for?

by Little Monkey on Tue May 03, 2016 1:16 pm

I can't speak to your specific issues above, but firefighters are at increased risk of myeloma.

[SAJJ]

Re: Bubbles in urine - what should I look for?

by SAJJ on Tue May 03, 2016 2:12 pm

I know you said you had your urine tested but perhaps ask that they culture it? Reason being my husband had the same thing (bubbly pee) and he had a UTI. He is 45 and once the infection is clear, his doctor plans to do a prostate exam.

Best of luck.

[Marla]

Re: Bubbles in urine - what should I look for?

by Marla on Tue May 03, 2016 2:54 pm

I'd encourage you to tell your primary care physician about the "bubbles" soon so that other tests and a 24-hour urine collection can be done to test for abnormal amounts and types of protein.

I had a similar experience in that I also experienced the "bubbles", large and small; amounts varied depending on fluid intake. That was my first clue that something was amiss. Physician did blood tests and then referred me to an oncologist who performed more tests, including a 24-hour urine collection. Further tests (including protein electrophoresis) of serum and urine indicated presence of "M protein", an abnormal protein seen in myeloma. Thus began my journey along this path. With treatment, the amount of the M protein decreases.

I wish you the best and hope you will keep us posted.

[behrenje]

Re: Bubbles in urine - what should I look for?

by behrenje on Tue May 03, 2016 3:44 pm

Thank you very much, Sajj and Marla, for replying. I will mention all of this to my primary care physician. You have been very helpful!

[Davidg]

Re: Bubbles in urine - what should I look for?

by Davidg on Tue May 03, 2016 6:09 pm

I have proteinuria (currently 2 g/ 24 hours down from 5). After peeing, the surface of the bowl looks like the head on a pint of beer (think lager or Guinness). You'd know if you had it. As your dipstick is normal, it's highly unlikely you have any significant amount of protein in your urine.

[Davidg]

Re: Bubbles in urine - what should I look for?

by Davidg on Tue May 03, 2016 6:49 pm

Post-script:

1. I should have mentioned that my proteinuria is albumin, not light chains. So I can't comment on what light chain proteinuria would look like (though I guess it wouldn't look much different). My "bubbles" are small and foamy.

2. You are right that dipstick can give false negative for light chain (Bence Jones) proteinuria. But what makes you think you have that anyway?

[behrenje]

Re: Bubbles in urine - what should I look for?

by behrenje on Tue May 03, 2016 7:50 pm

Thank you Davidg for the response. I feel that, since I have bubbles in my urine (even though I have had them my whole life - I just don't know about the tiny ones), I may have protein in my urine. If a dipstick comes up negative for protein BUT there is protein in it, it has to be Bence Jones, right?

I don't know, maybe I sound crazy ...

[Bar-none]

Re: Bubbles in urine - what should I look for?

by Bar-none on Fri May 06, 2016 10:44 pm

Hi,

Is your calcium level checked? I have talked with other patients who saw this with high calcium.

Best! BN

[behrenje]

Re: Bubbles in urine - what should I look for?

by behrenje on Mon May 09, 2016 9:02 am

Thank you for the reply, Bar-none! My serum calcium is normal.