Can UTIs make you more thirsty?
Thirst is a common symptom of UTIs or cystitis. Dehydration may be a contributing factor, or your body triggers this response in a bid to flush unwanted bacteria out. Excessive thirst can also be linked to other conditions such as diabetes, so if in any doubt as to the cause, you should always check with your doctor.
Here I run through some of the different possible scenarios when it comes to excessive thirst, and what you can do to help:
1. It could be a UTI or cystitis
The first scenario that could leave you feeling thirstier, is that there is indeed a UTI such as a bladder infection, otherwise known as cystitis. Dehydration can be a common, contributing factor when it comes to UTIs, so this is one reason, straight away, that we could be left feeling more thirsty.
But then, if there is an infection, this means that there are bacteria in and around the bladder, and naturally, your body wants you to flush that out. So, this can also be what triggers a thirst prompt.
Now, we know how beneficial drinking enough water and being properly hydrated is, especially in light of UTIs. But there is actually some nice research that shows in a care home setting, so including older people, improving the hydration status and keeping the urine more dilute, did actually help to prevent the occurrence of UTIs. (1)
Then, on that topic of older individuals, it's also quite interesting in that the thirst prompt, and the internal urge to drink enough water, does also change as we get older.
This means, unfortunately, older people may be more likely to be in a state of dehydration but aren't necessarily getting the appropriate internal prompt to reach for the water, as these thirst signals tend to become less reliable as we get older.
Unfortunately, it seems that these thirst sensors get a little bit confused, and therefore, it takes less water to switch them off. (2) So, as we become older, our bodies may tell us that we're properly hydrated, we've had enough liquid and we're no longer thirsty, which is inaccurate, but also counter-productive in the instance of UTIs since we know how helpful it is to remain properly hydrated, and even needing to drink a little more than is normally required.
Therefore, we may need to be more consciously aware of our water intake, if those thirst receptors and thirst cues just aren't quite as reliable as they once might have been.
In the likely case of cystitis or a UTIs – if you have any of those tell-tale urinary symptoms including an increased urgency to pee, increased frequency of toilet trips, or burning when peeing, this would be a time to consider including our Uva-ursi & Echinacea Complex drops.
Of course, being careful to keep your regular water intake nice and high throughout the course of the day, you would take these drops separately in just a small splash of water, up to 5 times daily, and that can help to target some of those symptoms head-on and quite quickly as well. If you haven't seen improvements any improvement within 7 days, check in with your doctor.
Uva-ursi & Echinacea Cystitis Oral Drops. Cystitis Treatment for Women
£12.99 (50ml) Get it tomorrow, 28th November.
2. It could be interstitial cystitis
The second possible scenario that could leave us feeling thirstier, is if there is perhaps a case of underlying interstitial cystitis.
Interstitial cystitis can be a little bit more complicated in that, there are generally a wider spectrum of symptoms.
Constipation, for one, is very often underlying and intertwined with the symptoms of interstitial cystitis. Constipation also has strong links with hydration (a more obvious reason you may be craving more water), but then there could possibly be some more complicated inflammatory processes going on too.
With any degree of inflammation in the gut, or the urinary tract, your body naturally wants to work harder to try and flush this out, and these underlying process could therefore be responsible for prompting more thirst.
3. It could be a kidney infection
The next scenario I want to flag is the possibility of a kidney infection. See, urinary tract infections can occur at any stage of the urinary tract. The kidneys are higher up so, whilst that bacteria has to travel a bit further to reach the kidneys, it certainly can be done!
Generally, kidney infections are considered much more serious, so they would need to be diagnosed, and then treated under the guidance of your doctor. So, excessive thirst, along with other red flag symptoms such as back pain, or blood in the urine, could be some tell-tale signs that something a little more sinister is going on.
4. It could be something else
Now, this is not to say we've ticked off every possible reason for feeling a little thirstier than usual. There could also be other underlying that could be contributing such as diabetes, for example. This can also affect your urine output or your kidneys, but again, this is something that your doctor would strictly need to be diagnosing and managing.
And still, the list doesn't stop there. Excessive thirst could be linked to a whole host of other things, so if in any doubt, always check with your doctor.
