Purple urine: what does it mean and should you worry?

Causes of red urine in women

Urine has qualitative and quantitative indicators by which the condition of the entire genitourinary system is judged. Normally, it should be yellow, and redness is a clear deviation caused by pathology, temporary or physiological reasons.

Redness depends on the process of hemoglobin catabolism, which results in the formation of red pigments. An alarming sign is hematuria or the presence of blood in the urine in excess of the physiological norm.

When urinating, you should pay attention to the moment blood appears.

• The presence of blood in the initial phase of urination indicates that the inflammatory process occurs in the urethra.
• The release of blood clots at the end of intercourse indicates a bladder disease.
• The most unfavorable symptom is the appearance of blood both at the beginning of the act of urination and at the end. This indicates the presence of urolithiasis, renal tuberculosis, diffuse changes in the renal parenchyma, and injury to the venous plexuses.
• Hematuria, which is not accompanied by pain, is not caused by physical activity or food intake, and continues for a long period, may be a symptom of a growing tumor.

Menstruation

Redness in this case refers to a physiological factor associated with the process of endometrial renewal. In the ovary, the follicle, which contains an egg, grows and matures under the influence of hormones.

When the follicle matures, it ruptures and the egg enters the abdominal cavity and fallopian tube. A corpus luteum forms in place of the follicle. If pregnancy does not occur, the corpus luteum dies, and most of the endometrium falls off and is removed from the uterus during menorrhea. Formed elements of blood can get into the urine.

Coloring food products

Red urine in women (the reasons may be completely harmless) occurs due to eating foods containing natural dyes:

• beets, gives color using the substance betanin;

  

• blackberries, rhubarb contain anthocyanins, which color excretory products;
• blueberries, dark grapes, cherries often change the color of urine in people with low acidity in the gastrointestinal tract.

After stopping taking foods, the color of urine quickly returns.

Some medications

The cause of red urine is often due to medications:

• antipsychotic drugs;
• sulfonamides;
• antituberculosis drugs;
• antihypertensive drugs.

Some medications not only change color, but can also cause true hematuria:

• Warfarin.
• Heparin.
• Cyclophosphamide.

Intense physical activity

Strength training and increased physical activity affect the structure of muscles. When they are damaged, myoglobin enters the blood, which, in a free state, clogs large renal tubules. When muscle protein, myoglobin, breaks down, urine becomes reddish-brown in color.

The disorder, myoglobinuria, is often accompanied by difficulty urinating and lower back pain. When diagnosing the disease, sometimes its symptoms are confused with hematuria. The difference between them is that in laboratory tests with myoglobinuria, myoglobin is detected, and with hematuria, red blood cells are always present in the urine.

Loss of water

Causes of dehydration include excessive sweating, vomiting, diuresis, diarrhea, and acute malnutrition. The color of urine and the level of water in a woman’s body are closely related. Urine acquires a brownish-red color if a lot of toxins and chemicals have accumulated in the body due to a decrease in the amount of water.

Cystitis

Red urine in women, the cause of which is secondary cystitis, occurs due to inflammation of the bladder mucosa. This occurs when tissue vessels become damaged and begin to bleed.

Cystitis (inflammation of the bladder) is most often diagnosed in women

The color of urine changes from pink to brown. The causative agents of the disease are adenoviruses, Escherichia coli, and staphylococci.

Gynecological pathologies

Blood in the urine accompanied by severe lower back pain indicates endometriosis. It occurs when the lining of the uterus begins to grow outside of it.

Endometriosis can affect:

• the outer lining of the uterus;
• ovaries;
• fallopian tubes.

Without proper treatment, the disease leads to fertility.

Urolithiasis disease

Among renal pathologies, the disease occupies one of the leading places. More often affects men than women. First, microliths (sand) are formed, and then stones form in the kidneys. In the female body, large coral stones are more often found, which, in addition to the kidneys, can be found in the bladder and ureters.

Kidney inflammation

The anatomical structure of the female body is designed in such a way that the inflammatory process of the kidneys develops in them more often than in men. Symptoms of inflammation arise as a result of decreased protective functions, weakened immunity after colds, vitamin deficiency, and stress.

As the process begins, the amount of urine decreases, diarrhea, vomiting, and swelling of the face and legs develop. With nephritis, the composition of urine changes, first a microscopic amount of blood appears in it, and then a larger amount of blood.

Hemoglobinuria

This is a rare disease characterized by intravascular breakdown of red blood cells, occurring under the influence of many causes.

During illness, free hemoglobin is excreted in the urine.

Hepatitis and other liver problems

Chronic hepatitis C increases the enzymes alanine and aspartate aminotransferase (ALAT) in the liver by more than 15 times. The enzyme is concentrated inside cells. Elevated ALT is characteristic of fatty, alcoholic hepatosis, pancreatitis.

A damaged liver is unable to break down bilirubin, so it cannot enter the digestive tract for subsequent release. Accumulated bile pigment in large quantities affects the color change of urine.

The diseases are accompanied by symptoms:

• pain;
• jaundice;
• bloating;
• change in urine color to brownish-red.

Acute infections

When bacteria enter the body through the urethra, they multiply in the bladder. Symptoms include a constant urge to urinate, pain and burning when passing urine, and the presence of a microscopic amount of blood in the urine.

Internal organ injuries

Since organs have a large supply of blood, any injury can lead to hemorrhage. A small blow to the abdomen, any harmless injury can cause abnormal urine.

Poisoning with poisons, expired products

Harmful substances are often used in industrial environments. These are intermediate and final products of the chemical industry: varnishes, paints, insecticides that penetrate the gastrointestinal tract. Some of them are retained in the body, such as lead.

Chronic intoxication with poisons occurs without clinical manifestations until a critical level of carcinogen accumulates in the body. Red urine is one of the alarming symptoms. Kidney toxicity due to lead poisoning occurs when a person receives 1 to 3 mg of the substance.

In case of food poisoning, microbes that have penetrated the gastrointestinal tract begin to synthesize toxins. Food poisoning appears quite quickly, 1-2 hours after eating. Abdominal pain, fever, diarrhea, often with blood, and dehydration appear, which affects the appearance of blood in the urine.

Porphyria

A hereditary disorder of pigment metabolism, in which the content of porphyrins in the blood increases. The primary disorder begins in the liver. One of the symptoms is the discharge of blood along with urine and feces. The disease is accompanied by abdominal pain, vomiting, constipation, back pain, the skin is affected, and hyperpigmentation appears. The disease is hereditary.

Tumors

Red urine in women, the causes of which are hidden in neoplasms, often appears in old age. This is possible with cancer of the kidneys, renal pelvis, bladder, and ureters. Blood appears when a growing foreign body begins to compress blood vessels in neighboring tissues. Hematuria is usually painless in cancer patients.

Harmless reasons

The main question: “Why is the urine greenish when urinating?” Before you start panicking, make sure that the color you see is actually green. Different lighting can cause unusual shades of the usual whitish or yellow color to appear that are not actually there. In addition, some chemical treatments of eau de toilette can create unusual mixtures and shades. If you are confident in the color you see, then there are a number of reasons why urine turns green. You'll probably be relieved to learn that of all the "weird" urine colors, green is one of the most harmless. Main reasons:

• Application of various food colors in products: green beer, juices, lemonade, etc.
• Hypervitaminosis. If the body takes in more vitamins than it needs, it simply treats the excess nutrients as waste and tries to remove them. Because the urinary tract is one of the most efficient ways to filter and remove waste, many of these additional nutrients are eliminated by the body through urination. Yellow-green urine is an indicator of excess B vitamins.
• Healthy lifestyle. Oddly enough, this can cause your urine to turn green and give a scary appearance that could possibly cause strange colors to appear in your urine. Asparagus, a favorite among healthy lifestyle people, gives it an unusual hue (green urine) as well as a characteristic strange smell. The smell is sometimes described as rotting cabbage, ammonia, or rotten eggs.
• Food: asparagus, rhubarb, spinach, unripe apples and pistachios, sorrel.
• Side effect of medications taken. Drugs such as promethazine, thymol, cimetidine and propofol contain phenolic groups that are conjugated in the liver and subsequently excreted by the kidneys as green urine.

What does red urine and lower abdominal pain mean?

Transient hematuria (non-renal origin) is not accompanied by pain, and red urine with signs of pain indicates the presence of pathology.

What does this mean:

• Ureteral occlusion.
• Blockage of the urethra by a developed tumor.
• Aggravated pyelonephritis.

  

• Uterine fibroids.
• Renal carcinoma.
• Rupture of the bladder veins.

Red urine during pregnancy

There are many reasons why blood enters the urine during pregnancy, ranging from severe ones, bladder cancer, to less complex ones, viral infections and nonspecific kidney inflammation.

Pregnant women are often at risk of contracting bacterial infections as the growing uterus blocks the flow of urine. Stagnation of urine is an ideal condition for the growth and reproduction of bacteria. In addition, blood in the urine in pregnant women is possible as a symptom of diabetes and lupus.

Pink urine

The onset of microhematuria can only be detected using laboratory tests. Pink urine is a transition period of the secretion of red blood cells, invisible at the beginning, into the stage of gross hematuria. The second reason for pink color is food.

• Eating rhubarb and various dishes made from it.
• Taking medications based on aminophenazone and anthraquinone.
• The primary stage of inflammation of the bladder.
• The appearance of a benign tumor, urethral polyps.
• Alcohol intoxication.
• Damage to the body in the kidney area.

Additional symptoms that should alert you

It is necessary to undergo diagnostics and tests if there are warning factors:

• The red urine that appears is not accompanied by pain, but this process lasts more than 7 days.

  

• Urine becomes red-brown in color.
• Scarlet color is a sign of an inflammatory process occurring in the lower part of the urinary system.
• Frequent urge, red urine, elevated temperature - all this indicates the onset of an infectious process.
• If blood clots appear in the urine, you should urgently undergo examination.
• The combination of sharp stabbing pain with red urine indicates an acute inflammatory process of the kidneys or glomerulonephritis.
• Swollen joints combined with urine containing blood indicate an autoimmune disease.

The presence of red blood cells in urine cannot always be seen with the naked eye.

The first symptoms that should alert you:

• Nagging pain not caused by eating.
• Disruption of the urination process.
• Pain in the abdomen, lower back.
• Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, increased body temperature.
• Urine and feces are red.
• Swelling of the legs and face.
• Periodic leakage of urine.

Parents' actions

A change in the color of urine may indicate natural processes in the baby’s body and will not require intervention. If your urine remains red for several days, you should consult a clinic. To begin with, the doctor will prescribe a general urine test, which will help confirm or refute the presence of an inflammatory process. It may also be necessary to conduct research such as:

• ultrasound diagnostics of the kidneys and bladder;
• general blood test to establish quantitative indicators of blood elements;
• radiography;
• Nechiporenko analysis, which will help determine the presence of bacteria and the type of infection that provokes the pathological condition.

If there are any negative changes in the child’s body, you should not self-medicate. Only after a final diagnosis has been established and the exact cause of red urine can be determined, correct and effective treatment can begin under the supervision of a doctor, strictly following the recommendations.

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Diagnostics

Treating blood in urine requires an accurate diagnosis of the underlying cause. The doctor may ask about the woman's medical and family history.

The following diagnostic tools are used:

• Gynecological examination of the vulva, vagina, uterus, cervix, ovaries for gynecological disorders.
• Urine tests are taken for protein, blood cells, and waste products in the urine to identify kidney and urinary tract diseases.

To identify the source of hematuria, patients are asked to undergo an examination and, first of all, give a three-glass urine sample. The patient should urinate into three separate containers without interrupting the stream. Each vessel should contain a third of the volume of liquid. This urine test helps to distinguish between the types of blood that appear: at the beginning, middle and end of urination.

Red urine in a woman - hematuria

Depending on the reason for the evaluation, the doctor may examine the bladder and rectum. Visual tests will help detect stones, cysts, and endometriosis.

For this purpose the following are assigned:

• MRI scan.
• Ultrasonography.
• Cystoscopy.

Diagnosing the Root Cause of Discoloration

If you have completely gotten rid of foods that can cause discoloration, but the symptoms remain, you need to contact a specialist. He orders tests to determine protein levels, which are a sign of possible metabolic problems, blood glucose levels, etc. Greenish urine is an unusual intraoperative finding. Although this is intriguing, it is of little significance and does not require any treatment unless it is secondary to an infectious pathology. The patient's history and physician awareness can lead to quick recognition and avoid unnecessary testing. When the development of a disease is detected, its treatment begins. It is worth understanding that a change in the color of urine is a symptom of abnormalities in the body, and not an independent disease.

Treatment tactics

Treatment will depend on the cause. Inflammation in the urinary tract caused by bacteria includes antibiotic therapy. The stones may pass on their own without treatment. Large stones are removed surgically. If tumors are detected in the kidneys or bladder, patients are referred for examination to an oncologist.

Drugs

The choice of effective drugs is very large. The correct course of treatment is the prerogative of the doctor, depends on the etiology of the disease and is based on data from diagnostic studies.

Complex therapy includes vitamin preparations, physiotherapy sessions, and alternative treatment.

Folk remedies

Treatment of renal diseases accompanied by bleeding today successfully combines drugs and physiotherapy.

Taking herbal decoctions strengthens the body and eliminates most symptoms:

• Decoctions based on thyme . The plant has diuretic properties, analgesic properties, and is used as an immunomodulatory agent.
• Tinctures with sage. They are prepared from the leaves and are used for kidney and gall bladder diseases. They have hemostatic and disinfectant properties.
• Motherwort. The plant is included in most diuretics. Used as an antispasmodic.
• Flax-seed. Has a diuretic effect.
• Birch sap. Restores metabolic processes and is used for liver and kidney diseases. The juice cleanses the blood and kidneys.

If your urine changes color to red, you should not self-medicate. Early contact with a doctor to identify the cause, timely diagnosis, prevention, and regular examinations of women by a gynecologist are the key to successful treatment and a favorable prognosis for diseases of the genitourinary system.

Author: Belyaeva Anna

Article design: Vladimir the Great

Pathogenic factors

Pathological causes

There is a single pathological reason why purple urine occurs - “purple sac syndrome”. This is a relatively common and serious condition that should be of concern to both patient and physician. An amino acid called tryptophan enters the body with food, and part of it is processed into a biogenic amine - serotonin. The excess remains in the intestines. After this, indole is formed by processing this amino acid with microflora bacteria. Penetrating into the liver, indole, together with acids, forms a safe indican.

Further, in the form of waste, indican enters the kidneys from the liver through the blood. And if at the same time the patient has various types of urinary tract infections, then the bacteria that separate sulfuric acid from indican convert it into indoxyl. In an alkaline environment, it is converted by microflora into two substances with a red and blue tint. The mixture of these colors is why urine may turn blue-violet.

From the above, it is clear that the presence of chronic infections in the genitourinary system, urine with a high alkali content and the consumption of large quantities of foods with tryptophan (cheese, nuts, red and black caviar, sunflower seeds, bread) can provoke the occurrence of “purple sac syndrome” "

Non-pathological causes

The first reason, which is not related to the presence of disorders in the body, includes the use of various drugs. Antibacterial medications can turn urine different colors and, in rare cases, it may turn purple or blue. Drugs that are used for diagnostics, when leaving the body, are also capable of producing urine of this color. Usually the color becomes normal when these drugs are completely eliminated from the body.

When taking Cycloferon, which has an immunomodulatory and antiviral effect, the urine may turn purple. This is considered a side effect, which is indicated in the instructions for use of this drug and has nothing to do with the presence of pathology in the body. Cycloferon is indicated for the treatment and prevention of viral diseases.

And food products can color urine. If there are problems with tryptophan metabolism, foods containing large amounts of the substance can turn a person's urine purple. These include fish roe, various types of cheeses, almonds, certain types of fish and meat, beets, and legumes. With this problem, you need to consult a doctor to eliminate problems in the body. It is important to temporarily avoid foods with high tryptophan content.