# dip sticks **URL:** \ **Category:** Everyday living\ **Created:** [13 July 2018 17:04 UTC](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/t/dip-sticks/12944 "2018-07-13T17:04:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jacky\_n](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e79b87/32.png) [@Jacky\_n](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/u/Jacky_n)\ **Post date:** [13 July 2018 17:04 UTC](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/t/dip-sticks/12944/1 "2018-07-13T17:04:11Z")
Wondering if any one uses these to check for UTI, I looking at buying some and wondered which brands best. Any help please ---
**Author:** ![reddivine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dec6dc/32.png) [@reddivine](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/u/reddivine)\ **Post date:** [13 July 2018 17:10 UTC](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/t/dip-sticks/12944/2 "2018-07-13T17:10:11Z")
You do know you could get a sterile swab for free from the hospital.??? Jeeez don’t stick anything up there than ain’t sterile! Your more likely to give yourself a UTI that way!!! ---
**Author:** ![catwomanCarole58](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@catwomanCarole58](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/u/catwomanCarole58)\ **Post date:** [13 July 2018 17:14 UTC](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/t/dip-sticks/12944/3 "2018-07-13T17:14:47Z")
reddivine you don’t insert the dip stick into your anatomy, you dip it into your urine to test for a UTI. ---
**Author:** ![Jacky\_n](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e79b87/32.png) [@Jacky\_n](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/u/Jacky_n)\ **Post date:** [13 July 2018 18:00 UTC](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/t/dip-sticks/12944/4 "2018-07-13T18:00:07Z")
Oh dear sounds painful… i don’t intend sticking in anywhere but in the jar I’ve peed in… lol ---
**Author:** ![Poppy6488](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/mssociety/user_avatar/forum.mssociety.org.uk/poppy6488/32/79_2.png) [@Poppy6488](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/u/Poppy6488)\ **Post date:** [13 July 2018 18:46 UTC](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/t/dip-sticks/12944/5 "2018-07-13T18:46:10Z")
I was wondering the same question jacky. I ended up in casualty and admitted to a ward a few weeks ago. I had a uti as well as a chest infection. This exacerbated my ms symptoms and rendered me completely immobile. I was asymptomatic. This week I felt it was happening again. Apart from backache in the morning, I had no problems. Decided to leave a sample with the gp today. No appointment. She dipped it when she had time. Yes I have a uti. Prescription at reception and already being taken. Might have been a repeat of last time! ---
**Author:** ![Poppy6488](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/mssociety/user_avatar/forum.mssociety.org.uk/poppy6488/32/79_2.png) [@Poppy6488](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/u/Poppy6488)\ **Post date:** [13 July 2018 18:47 UTC](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/t/dip-sticks/12944/6 "2018-07-13T18:47:00Z")
A sterile one Jacky… Or just wee on it. ---
**Author:** ![Ssssue](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/mssociety/user_avatar/forum.mssociety.org.uk/ssssue/32/4182_2.png) [@Ssssue](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/u/Ssssue)\ **Post date:** [13 July 2018 19:40 UTC](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/t/dip-sticks/12944/7 "2018-07-13T19:40:53Z")
This is a link to a thread I posted some time ago about how to self test your wee for UTIs. > **[Self testing for UTIs.](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/forums/everyday-living/self-testing-utis)** > > Hello Here is the information I wrote some time ago about how to test for a UTI. It’s never a bad idea to have your urine tested regardless of the type of MS you have, if you have new or repeated MS symptoms, including strange cognitive symptoms. In... ​I hope it’s useful. Sue ---
**Author:** ![Crazy\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2acd7d/32.png) [@Crazy\_Chick](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/u/Crazy_Chick)\ **Post date:** [14 July 2018 05:47 UTC](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/t/dip-sticks/12944/8 "2018-07-14T05:47:06Z")
I use the same as Sue, Siemens urinalysis test strips and you can buy them on amazon or ebay. Its very easy to check. I have a routine with my nurse at surgery, she gives me so many bottles and if i think its a possible infection i send a sample down. Sometimes its negative but mostly positive. As I take a maintenance dose of antibiotics she tells me to double up for 3 days, if i am low she puts up a prescription. It has worked brilliantly for several years now. So far my infections have been cut down and also i have had to worry her less, and myself. Like sue said sometimes you get a mild discolour on leucytes but i find it happens if i am overly tired or hot or haven’t drank enough. I think its a really good way to deal with it. it works for me. ---
**Author:** ![Jacky\_n](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e79b87/32.png) [@Jacky\_n](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/u/Jacky_n)\ **Post date:** [14 July 2018 09:44 UTC](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/t/dip-sticks/12944/9 "2018-07-14T09:44:21Z")
Im not so convinced thou re testing TBH. I had pins & needles in legs, went to GP, they lost sample (my typical luck with MS so far, dont get me started on lost results) and so I went to MS Nurse, she tested it & it was positive but when it was sent to the lab for the correct antibiotic it was negative. So Im not sure if I should waste my time. So confusing, and not knowing what to do… ---
**Author:** ![Ssssue](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/mssociety/user_avatar/forum.mssociety.org.uk/ssssue/32/4182_2.png) [@Ssssue](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/u/Ssssue)\ **Post date:** [14 July 2018 11:50 UTC](https://forum.mssociety.org.uk/t/dip-sticks/12944/10 "2018-07-14T11:50:00Z")
That’s a really good point about heat causing the leucocytes to show up CC. I hadn’t actually thought about that. Makes it even more important to drink lots of water in hot weather as we’ve mostly had for the last few weeks. Sue