if you are suffering from UTI symptoms only in the morning or if your UTI symptoms are much more worse in the morning, chances are that your UTI is not a UTI in the first place.
there are many conditions that produce symptoms similar to UTI but people experiencing them may notice that their symptoms are getting worse in the morning, sometimes they have their symptoms only in the morning.
keep reading to know what kind of condition you could be having and how to separate it from a UTI or to know if it’s just a UTI and you just noticed your symptoms early in the morning.
of course, going to the doctor can solve that problem for you but this article can also help don’t take it as a replacement for the doctor’s consultation.
first off, why do we think that it’s not a UTI?
it’s because there is little to no evidence that UTI symptoms can worsen in a significant amount in the morning.
in general UTI symptoms do not have a preferred time during the day to get worse in it, in fact, if there was one it would be during the night.
logically you could be sleeping (unnoticing your UTI symptoms) and when you wake up you start going to the bathroom more than you used to, so you would feel that your symptoms are worsening in the morning.
if you are having your symptoms only in the morning then that’s not a UTI, you should go to the doctor as soon as possible.
if it’s not a UTI what could it be?
if your UTI like symptoms are present only in the morning or if they are significantly worsening in the morning you could be having one of these conditions:
1) kidney stones
kidney stones are very well known for their morning pain.
according to apollo clinic, people tend to urinate less at night obviously so when they wake up in the morning, the ureters will be somewhat constricted, and if there was any stone in the ureter this will cause in many cases more pain for the kidney stone sufferer in the morning than in the evening.
kidney stones cause many symptoms similar to UTI symptoms like frequency in going to the bathroom, burning sensation with urination, pain in the back area and etc…
in fact, kidney stones can sometimes lead to or cause a UTI, in that case, you will have to deal with the kidney stones first then the UTI will be much easier to treat.
to separate them from a UTI, usually, the pain with the kidney stones is much higher than that of a UTI and it’s located in the upper back area not in the lower back area as in the case of a UTI also the burning sensation is stronger with the kidney stones.
in the end, you will need the doctor to confirm if it’s a kidney stone you are having they may ask you to do some laboratory test and some imaging tests also.
according to NCBI kidney stones, pain is usually described as 9 or 10 on a scale from 1 to 10 so that should give you a hint on how to separate it from a simple UTI pain which I think is around 4 or 5.
here is more information about kidney stones and how to dissolve them from doctor berg
2) chlamydia infection
this is a sexually transmitted infection you should suspect it if you had unprotected sex in the previous weeks or months.
this happens exclusively with men and it doesn’t apply for women because chlamydia infection symptoms worsen in the morning many times but only with men.
with women, there is no mention of chlamydia infection symptoms worsening in the morning from references.
while references like Aidsmap do mention that chlamydia infection symptoms worsen in the morning with men.
other references mention the symptoms that can get worsened in the morning, these symptoms are Discharge from the penis, burning urination, irritation around the penis opening.
in addition to the previous symptoms if you are having symptoms like pain during ejaculation, swollen or tender testicles, then you must check with your doctor for the possibility of a sexually transmitted infection.
symptoms like Discharge from the penis, burning urination, irritation around the penis opening although worsened in the morning they could also be present during other times of the day.
a chlamydia infection can kill the microflora present in your urogenital tract and also can weaken your immune system as it will be working very hard to defeat the infection so for these reasons chlamydia can indirectly cause a UTI.
but, in this case, you should aim at defeating the chlamydia infection first because it’s the most dangerous, an antibiotic like azithromycin is a good choice for chlamydia infections and for UTIs that happened as a result of them, but let’s leave that to the doctor to decide.
3) gonorrhea also called the clap
gonorrhea infection is very similar to chlamydia infection, both cause approximately the same symptoms and both are treated very similarly with antibiotics like azithromycin and ceftriaxone.
there is also another aspect in which gonorrhea infection is similar to chlamydia infection and that is some of its symptoms are exacerbated (get worse) in the morning.
according to the german channel and website DW, some gonorrhea symptoms will tend to appear more in the morning, symptoms like thick drops leaving the penis due to the accumulation of white blood cells (the immune system) around the bacteria causing pus discharge from the penis in the morning.
this is exclusive for men as was the case with chlamydia infection.
other symptoms of gonorrhea include itching in the genitals area, pain during ejaculation, pain in the lower abdominal area and etc…
if you have these symptoms in addition to the morning symptoms you there is a strong chance that you could be having a gonorrhea infection or a sexually transmitted infection please check with your doctor.
usually, the UTI does not strong discharge or itching symptoms most of the time they don’t have any of them at all, only if the UTI was caused by a sexually transmitted infection then that’s a different case.
and although there might be burning sensation with urination in the UTI case, pain during ejaculation is specific to sexually transmitted infections like gonorrhea or chlamydia, not a UTI.
gonorrhea infection can lead to a UTI and vise Versa in either case if you have a gonorrhea infection you should aim at eliminating it first.
ps: some antibiotics used to kill the Neisseria gonorrhea bacteria can kill completely or partially your UTI bacteria.
refrain from sex during the time you have a sexually transmitted infection, also bring your sexual partner(s) to the doctor that is very important.
many people do not notice the symptoms of gonorrhea, chlamydia or other sexually transmitted infection but coming to this article means that you are noticing some symptoms in the morning.
you could be having symptoms but you are ignoring them, the sooner you discover what is your condition the easier you will be treated.
4) vaginitis
from the name, you can know this condition is exclusive for women.
although symptoms of vaginitis are present all the time during the day, there are some cases in which these symptoms are more noticeable in the morning.
vaginitis is the inflammation of the vagina it’s caused by the invasion of foreign bacteria, viruses, or fungi (yeast infection) to the vagina.
Candida Albicans fungi are responsible for most of the vaginitis cases in which case it’s called yeast infection.
yeast infection has a tendency to worsen in the morning although the evidence on that is not too big.
watch out for symptoms of irritation or itching around the vagina, vaginal bleeding, pain during sex and abnormal amount, color, odor of discharge from the vagina.
you could confuse these symptoms with other conditions you will need a doctor and some laboratory tests to confirm.
try not to take antibiotics or other medication from your own to treat vaginosis as these drugs can have side effects and you could be worsening your situation, also antibiotics misuse can increase the problem of bacterial resistance for you and for the world.
general points for consideration
you should check my what can mimic a UTI article for more information
there is no evidence that pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) symptoms tend to get worse in the morning.
herpes symptoms also do not worsen in the morning
weather what you have is a chlamydia infection, vaginitis, kidney stones, UTI, or others, leaving your condition untreated will lead to it’s worsening eventually so you could feel this worsening in the morning because you were better the day before and so on.
taking care of your immune system is key when it comes to sexually transmitted infections, and that is for 2 reasons:
1) to prevent your sexually transmitted infection from paving the way to other infections to invade your urogenital tract like the UTI.
2) to aid the treatments given by your doctor in making full recovery and also to speed up the process.
when it comes to UTI, real and scientific home remedies are very important sometimes they can be more important than the antibiotics themselves especially in the case of recurrent UTIs, check my home remedies article.
resting, peeing after sex, showering before and after sex, whipping from front to back can be some home remedies for sexually transmitted infections.
eating healthy vegetables and fruits can boost your immune system to fight the infections, a little amount of exercise can also help but drink plenty of water with it, long walks if you can bother is not a bad thing.
stick to your doctor’s regimen, finish the antibiotics course completely.
having your symptoms worsening in the morning does not always mean that you have a sexually transmitted infection, it could be that you just noticed your UTI symptoms in the morning because you were tired at night.
the presence of pus discharge can be the separating line for you between a UTI and an STI.
all of these previously mentioned conditions can lead to UTI
this does not mean that these are the only conditions that worsen in the morning, but just that they the most common conditions known to worsen in the morning, and they have similar symptoms to UTI.
thank you for joining me on this article, don’t forget to check out my website KNOW & TREAT UTI for more information.