Sudden onset of heavy blood in urine.

You need to see urologist. He will likely want some tests like cystoscopy & MRI among others. Don’t delay.

I had it and it was from damage caused by radiation for the prostate cancer.

Man, I’m praying for you - that it will not be like what I went through with radiation induced hemorrhagic cystitis. The blood clots can block the urine causing painful urinary retention if they cannot be dislodged through normal urination. Irrigation would be necessary to unclog it. I went to the ER some many times I figured out how self-irrigate at home, a scary endeavor.

If it does not resolve itself there are several options:
- Pentoxifylline with vitamin E - could take up to one year to work.
- Hyperbaric Oxygen-reported to be effective for 90% of patients. (not me tho)
- Instillation of a chemical agent - there are many. (ALUM worked for me).
Let’s hope they are not needed.

Thanks, Having my scan on Friday.

@lsk1000 First i hope for you each day shops you improvement. My son started the hyperbaric therapy and after a week he thinks he’s getting a bit better. He had cancer, the doc said it was gone , but and next he found blood in urine. This hyperbaric treatment ? I wonder and certainly hope it helps.. he will see. Best wishes to you!

@knoctor , how did the scan go? What did you find out?

Here is my experience from last week:

I started peeing blood intermittently, but then it became pure blood with clots. The clots blocked the exit and I started getting pain from my bladder expanding. I finally realized I was in trouble and went to emerg at 02:00AM.

I have an AUS which was installed in September 2023. . The emerg doctor had to look up how to deactivate it, which took a while. The pain was bad by this time so I wandered around my emerg room pressing on my groin which seemed to help.

The doctor decided to deactivate the AUS. However, as a caution, she was going to use a small bore catheter in case the deactivation wasn't fully successful. The catheter went in but nothing came out. The nurse assisting had the idea to inject some saline to dilute the blood. More pain, but it worked - very slowly. I was then given a litre of saline IV followed by an injection which would make me pee often. That worked as well.

A urologist came on duty at 07:00AM and conducted a cystoscopy. He did a series of flushes to get my bladder clear. He was of the opinion the blood was the result of radiation damage. My last radiation series was in September 2024. He has ordered a CT scan of my bladder and kidneys.

BTW. Did I mention I was in pain?

Gary

@colleenyoung haven't heard from urologist as yet. I'm a retired dentist but have a pretty good knowledge of anatomy, etc. My best hope is that it was a one time deal, a blood clot in the ureter or small stone which cleared during a forceful urination. thanks for this website

My experience--which may be a very different case than yours. I had a robotic partial nephrectomy for kidney cancer. The surgery went well but one week later I started urinating blood. The urethra then got blocked with blood clots..not good. The hospital inserted a catheter but the blood and clots kept happening. They did an ultrasound and discovered I had an "AV fistula" where a vein and artery are misjoined (I'm not a medical professional). It supposedly happens in about 5% of partial nephrectomies and can lead to heart damage and heart attacks if untreated. They wheeled me to Interventional radiology, which did an embolization. I freaked out when they described the procedure but I pretty much slept through it and it went well. I have been fine since then.

I did have a partial nephrectomy years ago and had a tumor removed from he same kidney 2 years ago. Thanks for the info, will ask the urologist