Diabetes types

Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a metabolic disease that causes high
blood sugar. The hormone insulin moves sugar from the blood into your cells to be stored or
used for energy. With diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t
effectively use the insulin it does make.

Untreated high blood sugar from diabetes can damage your nerves, eyes, kidneys, and other
organs.

There are a few different types of diabetes:

 Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. The immune system attacks and destroys
cells in the pancreas, where insulin is made. It’s unclear what causes this attack.
About 10 percent of people with diabetes have this type.
 Type 2 diabetes occurs when your body becomes resistant to insulin, and sugar builds
up in your blood.
 Prediabetes occurs when your blood sugar is higher than normal, but it’s not high
enough for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.
 Gestational diabetes is high blood sugar during pregnancy. Insulin-blocking hormones
produced by the placenta cause this type of diabetes.

A rare condition called diabetes insipidus is not related to diabetes mellitus, although it has a
similar name. It’s a different condition in which your kidneys remove too much fluid from
your body.

Each type of diabetes has unique symptoms, causes, and treatments. Learn more about how
these types differ from one another.

Symptoms of diabetes

Diabetes symptoms are caused by rising blood sugar.

General symptoms

The general symptoms of diabetes include:

 increased hunger
 increased thirst
 weight loss
 frequent urination
  blurry vision
 extreme fatigue
 sores that don’t heal

Symptoms in men

In addition to the general symptoms of diabetes, men with diabetes may have a decreased sex
drive, erectile dysfunction (ED), and poor muscle strength.

Symptoms in women

Women with diabetes can also have symptoms such as urinary tract infections, yeast
infections, and dry, itchy skin.

Type 1 diabetes

Symptoms of type 1 diabetes can include:

 extreme hunger
 increased thirst
 unintentional weight loss
 frequent urination
 blurry vision
 tiredness

It may also result in mood changes.

Type 2 diabetes

Symptoms of type 2 diabetes can include:

 increased hunger
 increased thirst
 increased urination
 blurry vision
 tiredness
 sores that are slow to heal
It may also cause recurring infections. This is because elevated glucose levels make it harder
for the body to heal.

Gestational diabetes

Most women with gestational diabetes don’t have any symptoms. The condition is often
detected during a routine blood sugar test or oral glucose tolerance test that is usually
performed between the 24th and 28th weeks of gestation.

In rare cases, a woman with gestational diabetes will also experience increased thirst or
urination.

The bottom line

Diabetes symptoms can be so mild that they’re hard to spot at first. Learn which signs should
prompt a trip to the doctor.

Causes of diabetes

Different causes are associated with each type of diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes

Doctors don’t know exactly what causes type 1 diabetes. For some reason, the immune
system mistakenly attacks and destroys insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas.

Genes may play a role in some people. It’s also possible that a virus sets off the immune
system attack.

Type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes stems from a combination of genetics and lifestyle factors. Being overweight
or obese increases your risk too. Carrying extra weight, especially in your belly, makes your
cells more resistant to the effects of insulin on your blood sugar.

This condition runs in families. Family members share genes that make them more likely to
get type 2 diabetes and to be overweight.

Gestational diabetes
Gestational diabetes is the result of hormonal changes during pregnancy. The placenta
produces hormones that make a pregnant woman’s cells less sensitive to the effects of
insulin. This can cause high blood sugar during pregnancy.

Women who are overweight when they get pregnant or who gain too much weight during
their pregnancy are more likely to get gestational diabetes.

The bottom line

Both genes and environmental factors play a role in triggering diabetes. Get more information
here on the causes of diabetes.

Diabetes risk factors

Certain factors increase your risk for diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes

You’re more likely to get type 1 diabetes if you’re a child or teenager, you have a parent or
sibling with the condition, or you carry certain genes that are linked to the disease.

Type 2 diabetes

Your risk for type 2 diabetes increases if you:

 are overweight
 are age 45 or older
 have a parent or sibling with the condition
 aren’t physically active
 have had gestational diabetes
 have prediabetes
 have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or high triglycerides
 have African American, Hispanic or Latino American, Alaska Native, Pacific
Islander, American Indian, or Asian American ancestry

Gestational diabetes

Your risk for gestational diabetes increases if you:

  are overweight
 are over age 25
 had gestational diabetes during a past pregnancy
 have given birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds
 have a family history of type 2 diabetes
 have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

The bottom line

Your family, environment, and preexisting medical conditions can all affect your odds of
developing diabetes. Find out which risks you can control and which ones you can’t.

Diabetes complications

High blood sugar damages organs and tissues throughout your body. The higher your blood
sugar is and the longer you live with it, the greater your risk for complications.

Complications associated with diabetes include:

 heart disease, heart attack, and stroke

 neuropathy
 nephropathy
 retinopathy and vision loss
 hearing loss
 foot damage such as infections and sores that don’t heal
 skin conditions such as bacterial and fungal infections
 depression
 dementia

Gestational diabetes

Uncontrolled gestational diabetes can lead to problems that affect both the mother and baby.
Complications affecting the baby can include:

 premature birth
 higher-than-normal weight at birth
 increased risk for type 2 diabetes later in life
  low blood sugar
 jaundice
 stillbirth

The mother can develop complications such as high blood pressure (preeclampsia) or type 2
diabetes. She may also require cesarean delivery, commonly referred to as a C-section.

The mother’s risk of gestational diabetes in future pregnancies also increases.

The bottom line

Diabetes can lead to serious medical complications, but you can manage the condition with
medications and lifestyle changes. Avoid the most common diabetes complications with these
helpful tips.

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Treatment of diabetes

Doctors treat diabetes with a few different medications. Some of these drugs are taken by
mouth, while others are available as injections.

Type 1 diabetes

Insulin is the main treatment for type 1 diabetes. It replaces the hormone your body isn’t able
to produce.

There are four types of insulin that are most commonly used. They’re differentiated by how
quickly they start to work, and how long their effects last:

 Rapid-acting insulin starts to work within 15 minutes and its effects last for 3 to 4
hours.
 Short-acting insulin starts to work within 30 minutes and lasts 6 to 8 hours.
 Intermediate-acting insulin starts to work within 1 to 2 hours and lasts 12 to 18 hours.
 Long-acting insulin starts to work a few hours after injection and lasts 24 hours or
longer.
Type 2 diabetes

Diet and exercise can help some people manage type 2 diabetes. If lifestyle changes aren’t
enough to lower your blood sugar, you’ll need to take medication.

These drugs lower your blood sugar in a variety of ways:

Types of drug How they work Example(s)

Slow your body’s

Alpha-glucosidase Acarbose (Precose) and miglitol
breakdown of sugars
inhibitors (Glyset)
and starchy foods

Reduce the amount

Biguanides of glucose your liver Metformin (Glucophage)
makes

Improve your blood

Linagliptin (Tradjenta), saxagliptin
DPP-4 inhibitors sugar without making
(Onglyza), and sitagliptin (Januvia)
it drop too low

Glucagon-like Change the way your Dulaglutide (Trulicity), exenatide

peptides body produces insulin (Byetta), and liraglutide (Victoza)

Stimulate your
Nateglinide (Starlix) and repaglinide
Meglitinides pancreas to release
(Prandin)
more insulin

Release more glucose Canagliflozin (Invokana) and

SGLT2 inhibitors
into the urine dapagliflozin (Farxiga)

Stimulate your Glyburide (DiaBeta,

Sulfonylureas pancreas to release Glynase), glipizide (Glucotrol),
more insulin and glimepiride (Amaryl)

Help insulin work Pioglitazone (Actos) and rosiglitazone

Thiazolidinediones
better (Avandia)

You may need to take more than one of these drugs. Some people with type 2 diabetes also
take insulin.

Gestational diabetes

You’ll need to monitor your blood sugar level several times a day during pregnancy. If it’s
high, dietary changes and exercise may or may not be enough to bring it down.

According to the Mayo Clinic, about 10 to 20 percent of women with gestational diabetes

will need insulin to lower their blood sugar. Insulin is safe for the growing baby.
The bottom line

The drug or combination of drugs that your doctor prescribes will depend on the type of
diabetes you have — and its cause. Check out this list of the various medications that are
available to treat diabetes.

Diabetes and diet

Healthy eating is a central part of managing diabetes. In some cases, changing your diet may
be enough to control the disease.

Type 1 diabetes

Your blood sugar level rises or falls based on the types of foods you eat. Starchy or sugary
foods make blood sugar levels rise rapidly. Protein and fat cause more gradual increases.

Your medical team may recommend that you limit the amount of carbohydrates you eat each
day. You’ll also need to balance your carb intake with your insulin doses.

Work with a dietitian who can help you design a diabetes meal plan. Getting the right balance
of protein, fat, and carbs can help you control your blood sugar. Check out this guide to
starting a type 1 diabetes diet.

Type 2 diabetes

Eating the right types of foods can both control your blood sugar and help you lose any
excess weight.

Carb counting is an important part of eating for type 2 diabetes. A dietitian can help you
figure out how many grams of carbohydrates to eat at each meal.

In order to keep your blood sugar levels steady, try to eat small meals throughout the day.
Emphasize healthy foods such as:

 fruits
 vegetables
 whole grains
 lean protein such as poultry and fish
 healthy fats such as olive oil and nuts
Certain other foods can undermine efforts to keep your blood sugar in control.Discover the
foods you should avoid if you have diabetes.

Gestational diabetes

Eating a well-balanced diet is important for both you and your baby during these nine
months. Making the right food choices can also help you avoid diabetes medications.

Watch your portion sizes, and limit sugary or salty foods. Although you need some sugar to
feed your growing baby, you should avoid eating too much.

Consider making an eating plan with the help of a dietitian or nutritionist. They’ll ensure that
your diet has the right mix of macronutrients. Go here for other do’s and don’ts for healthy
eating with gestational diabetes.

Diabetes diagnosis

Anyone who has symptoms of diabetes or is at risk for the disease should be tested. Women
are routinely tested for gestational diabetes during their second or third trimesters of
pregnancy.

Doctors use these blood tests to diagnose prediabetes and diabetes:

 The fasting plasma glucose (FPG) test measures your blood sugar after you’ve fasted
for 8 hours.
 The A1C test provides a snapshot of your blood sugar levels over the previous 3
months.

To diagnose gestational diabetes, your doctor will test your blood sugar levels between
the 24th and 28th weeks of your pregnancy.

 During the glucose challenge test, your blood sugar is checked an hour after you drink
a sugary liquid.
 During the 3 hour glucose tolerance test, your blood sugar is checked after you fast
overnight and then drink a sugary liquid.

The earlier you get diagnosed with diabetes, the sooner you can start treatment. Find out
whether you should get tested, and get more information on tests your doctor might perform.
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Diabetes prevention

Type 1 diabetes isn’t preventable because it’s caused by a problem with the immune system.
Some causes of type 2 diabetes, such as your genes or age, aren’t under your control either.

Yet many other diabetes risk factors are controllable. Most diabetes prevention strategies
involve making simple adjustments to your diet and fitness routine.

If you’ve been diagnosed with prediabetes, here are a few things you can do to delay or
prevent type 2 diabetes:

 Get at least 150 minutes per week of aerobic exercise, such as walking or cycling.
 Cut saturated and trans fats, along with refined carbohydrates, out of your diet.
  Eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
 Eat smaller portions.
 Try to lose 7 percentTrusted Source of your body weight if you’re overweight or
obese.

These aren’t the only ways to prevent diabetes. Discover more strategies that may help you
avoid this chronic disease.

Diabetes in pregnancy

Women who’ve never had diabetes can suddenly develop gestational diabetes in pregnancy.
Hormones produced by the placenta can make your body more resistant to the effects of
insulin.

Some women who had diabetes before they conceived carry it with them into pregnancy.
This is called pre-gestational diabetes.

Gestational diabetes should go away after you deliver, but it does significantly increase your
risk for getting diabetes later.

About half of women with gestational diabetes will develop type 2 diabetes within 5 to 10
years of delivery, according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF).

Having diabetes during your pregnancy can also lead to complications for your newborn,
such as jaundice or breathing problems.

If you’re diagnosed with pre-gestational or gestational diabetes, you’ll need special

monitoring to prevent complications. Find out more about the effect of diabetes on
pregnancy.

Diabetes in children

Children can get both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Controlling blood sugar is especially
important in young people, because the disease can damage important organs such as the
heart and kidneys.

Type 1 diabetes

The autoimmune form of diabetes often starts in childhood. One of the main symptoms
is increased urination. Kids with type 1 diabetes may start wetting the bed after they’ve been
toilet trained.
Extreme thirst, fatigue, and hunger are also signs of the condition. It’s important that children
with type 1 diabetes get treated right away. The disease can cause high blood sugar
and dehydration, which can be medical emergencies.

Type 2 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes used to be called “juvenile diabetes” because type 2 was so rare in children.
Now that more children are overweight or obese, type 2 diabetes is becoming more
common in this age group.

About 40 percent of children with type 2 diabetes don’t have symptoms, according to the
Mayo Clinic. The disease is often diagnosed during a physical exam.

Untreated type 2 diabetes can cause lifelong complications, including heart disease, kidney
disease, and blindness. Healthy eating and exercise can help your child manage their blood
sugar and prevent these problems.

Type 2 diabetes is more prevalent than ever in young people. Learn how to spot the signs so
you can report them to your child’s doctor.

Takeaway

Some types of diabetes — like type 1 — are caused by factors that are out of your control.
Others — like type 2 — can be prevented with better food choices, increased activity, and
weight loss.

Discuss potential diabetes risks with your doctor. If you’re at risk, have your blood sugar
tested and follow your doctor’s advice for managing your blood sugar.

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Last medically reviewed on October 4, 2018

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


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FEEDBACK:

Medically reviewed by Marina Basina, M.D. — Written by Stephanie Watson — Updated on

February 26, 2020

Why Do I Have Clear Urine?

 Causes
 See a doctor
 Treatments
 Outlook
What is clear urine?

In medical terminology, clear urine describes urine that’s absent of

any sediment or cloudiness. If your urine is without visible urochrome or yellow pigment, it’s
considered colorless urine, appearing “clear” to you.

This colorless urine is sometimes due to drinking an excess of water, while other times it can
signal a problem with the kidneys. If your urine is consistently clear or absent of color, you
should see a doctor.
Read on to learn more about what clear, colorless urine means and how to treat it.

What causes clear urine?

From drinking excessive amounts of water to having an underlying medical condition, there

are many potential causes of colorless, clear urine. Some of the most common include:

Diabetes mellitus

Having diabetes can cause a symptom known as polyuria, or excessive urination. This occurs

when a person has abnormally high blood sugar. The kidneys will work to excrete excess
sugar along with much more water than usual.

Additional symptoms of uncontrolled diabetes include:

 weight loss
 fatigue
 feeling very thirsty
 sweet-smelling or fruity breath

If symptoms go untreated, you can experience dehydration or a life-threatening condition

known as diabetic ketoacidosis.

Diabetes insipidus

Diabetes insipidus is a medical condition that causes your body to make an excess amount of
urine — anywhere from 3 to 20 quarts per day. To put that in perspective, most people only
pass 1 to 2 quarts of urine per day.

The condition can cause you to drink large amounts of fluids as a means to compensate for
your urine output.

Four main types of diabetes insipidus exist:

 Central. This type is when a person has a history of damage to the brain and the
hormone vasopressin isn’t produced normally.
 Nephrogenic. Nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI) occurs when a person’s kidneys
don’t respond well to the hormone vasopressin.
 Dipsogenic. The dipsogenic type is caused by a defect in the thirst mechanism,
located in the hypothalamus.
  Gestational. This type occurs during pregnancy, when there’s damage or injury to the
part of the brain that controls thirst.

Diuretics

Sometimes when you take diuretics, or medications intended to promote urination and lower
blood pressure, you can have excess urine that’s clear.

Examples of diuretics include:

 furosemide (Lasix)
 bumetanide (Bumex)

Excess hydration

While many medical experts encourage people to stay hydrated, a fine line exists. Sometimes
people can drink too much water. As a result, their urine can be very clear.

This is also a concern because too much water can dilute the blood and lower a person’s
sodium to dangerous levels. In rare instances, the effects of very low sodium can be fatal.

Kidney problems

Conditions such as salt-wasting nephropathy or damage to the kidneys can cause the kidneys
to get rid of excess salt which can also cause urine without color.

Pregnancy

Women can experience a form of diabetes insipidus in pregnancy called gestational diabetes
insipidus. This can occur when a women’s placenta makes an enzyme that destroys
vasopressin, a hormone that can influence urine output.

It can also occur when certain hormones interfere with the function of vasopressin. Most
cases of gestational diabetes insipidus are mild and will resolve when a woman is no longer
pregnant.

These are just some examples of potential causes. Rarer medical conditions can also lead to
clear, colorless urine.

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When should you see a doctor about clear urine?

A person’s daily urine output is usually somewhere between 1 and 2 liters of fluid a day.
However, you may be urinating excessively if your urine appears very clear or colorless and
you’re urinating more than 3 liters daily.

While every person may experience urine that appears clear occasionally when they’ve had a
lot of water or other fluids, you should seek medical attention if your urine is consistently
clear and you’re urinating much more than usual for more than two days.

Other symptoms that warrant a doctor’s attention include:

 confusion
 dehydration
 a headache that lasts more than a day
 vomiting and diarrhea for more than two days in adults
 waking up to urinate more than one time at night with disturbed sleep

If you’ve experienced a recent urinary tract infection, kidney stones, or other types of kidney
injury, you should also contact a doctor if your urine appears very clear.

How is clear urine treated?

Treatments for colorless, clear urine will depend on the underlying cause. For example, if
you’re drinking too much water on a regular basis, reducing the amount of water you drink
can help.

Clear urine related to diabetes mellitus is often treated by administering oral medications
or insulin, a hormone that helps your body use blood sugar more effectively. Insulin helps the
body’s tissues move glucose into the cells where it’s needed and keeps excess sugar out of
the bloodstream where it can cause increased urination.

Other causes of colorless urine need to be identified and properly treated so that kidney
complications and problems with blood chemistry can be avoided.

What’s the outlook for clear urine?

Clear, colorless urine can be a temporary condition due to drinking an excess of water or it
can be a sign of an underlying medical condition. What’s most important is that you seek
medical care if you suspect you’re becoming dehydrated or if your urine is very clear and
diluted.

A doctor can perform a variety of tests, including blood, kidney, and urine tests to determine
the underlying causes and recommend treatments.

Last medically reviewed on July 19, 2018

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FEEDBACK:

Medically reviewed by Judith Marcin, M.D. — Written by Rachel Nall, MSN,

CRNA — Updated on July 19, 2018
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Why Is My Urine Foamy?

 Symptoms
 Causes
 Risk factors
 Diagnosis
 Treatments
 Outlook
Overview

Urine is normally pale yellow to dark amber in color and is also flat. A variety of factors,
from diet to drugs to disease, can cause changes in the color and foaminess of your urine.

If your urine looks foamy, it could be because your bladder is full and the urine is hitting the
toilet fast enough to stir up the water. But conditions that could also cause foamy urine are
causes to see your doctor about.

Find out what makes your urine foam up and what you should do about it if it happens.

What other symptoms can occur with foamy urine?

Urine can foam up briefly every once in a while. This is usually due to the speed of urine
flow.

Foamy urine is more likely to be a sign of disease if it happens often or it gets worse over
time.

If your urine is foamy, look for other symptoms as well. These symptoms could be clues that
a medical condition is causing the problem:

 swelling in your hands, feet, face, and abdomen, which could be a sign of fluid
buildup from damaged kidneys
 fatigue
 a loss of appetite
 nausea
 vomiting
 trouble sleeping
 changes in the amount of urine you produce
 cloudy urine
  darker colored urine
 if you’re a male, dry orgasms or releasing little to no semen during orgasm
 if you’re a male, infertility or having difficulty getting a female partner pregnant

What are the causes of foamy urine?

The most obvious cause of foamy urine is the speed of urination. Just as water foams up
when it comes out of the tap quickly, urine foams if it hits the toilet quickly. This kind of
foam should also clear up quickly.

Sometimes, urine can also foam up when it’s concentrated. Your urine is more concentrated
if you haven’t had much water to drink and you’re dehydrated.

Foamy urine can also indicate that you have too much of a protein, such as albumin, in your
urine. The protein in your urine reacts with the air to create foam.

Normally, your kidneys filter extra water and waste products out of your blood into your
urine. Protein and other important substances that your body needs are too big to fit through
the kidneys’ filters, so they stay in your bloodstream.

But when your kidneys are damaged, they don’t filter as well as they should. Damaged
kidneys can allow too much protein to leak into your urine. This is called proteinuria. It’s a
sign of chronic kidney disease or the late stage of kidney damage, called end-stage renal
disease.

A less common cause of foamy urine is retrograde ejaculation, which is a condition that
happens in men when semen backs up into the bladder instead of being released from the
penis.

Taking the medicine phenazopyridine (Pyridium, AZO Standard, Uristat, AZO) is another
less common cause of foamy urine. People take this medication to treat the pain from urinary
tract infections.

And sometimes, the problem is actually just your toilet. Some toilet cleaning chemicals can
make your urine look foamy. If this is the cause, the foam should stop as soon as you flush
the cleaner out of the toilet.

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What are the risk factors?

You might be more likely to have foamy urine if you have a full bladder, which can make
your urine stream more forceful and faster.

The urine can also get foamy if it’s more concentrated, which can occur due to dehydration or
pregnancy.

Protein in the urine can also cause foaminess and is usually due to kidney disease. You’re
more likely to get kidney disease if you have:

 diabetes
 a family history of kidney disease
 high blood pressure

The causes of retrograde ejaculation include:

 diabetes
 drugs used to treat high blood pressure, enlarged prostate, or mood
 nerve damage from a spinal cord injury, diabetes, or multiple sclerosis
 surgery on the prostate or urethra

Contact your doctor if you suspect you have kidney disease or retrograde ejaculation, or if
your urine continues to look foamy.

How is the cause of foamy urine diagnosed?

Your doctor will likely take a urine sample to test protein levels in your urine. One urine test,
taken over a 24-hour period, compares albumin levels to levels of creatinine, which is a
substance produced when muscles break down.

This is called the urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR). It shows how well your kidneys
are filtering your blood. If your UACR is higher than 30 milligrams per gram (mg/g), you
might have kidney disease. Your doctor will do other tests to check how well your kidneys
are working.

If retrograde ejaculation is a suspected cause for your foamy urine, your doctor will check for
sperm in your urine.

How are the causes of foamy urine treated?

Treatment for foamy urine depends on its cause. If your urine is concentrated, drinking more
water and other fluids will relieve dehydration and stop the foaming.

Treatment for diabetes and high blood pressure

When foamy urine is caused by kidney damage, you’ll need to treat the cause. Often, diabetes
and high blood pressure cause kidney disease. You can slow down the progression of kidney
damage by managing these conditions well.

Your doctor will recommend that you eat a balanced diet and get plenty of exercise to help
treat diabetes. You’ll have to test your blood sugar often to make sure it’s staying within a
healthy range.

High blood sugar can damage your kidneys. You might also need to take medicine that
lowers your blood sugar.

For high blood pressure, you’ll also want to watch your diet and stay active. Limiting the salt
and protein in your diet can both bring down blood pressure and prevent your kidneys from
having to work so hard.

Your doctor can prescribe calcium channel blockers, diuretics, or other drugs that lower
blood pressure. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers
are two drugs that lower blood pressure and protect the kidneys from additional damage.

Treatment for retrograde ejaculation

Retrograde ejaculation doesn’t need to be treated unless you want to father a child or the dry
orgasms bother you. Your doctor can treat this condition with drugs that are approved for use
for other conditions but that also close the bladder neck so that semen can’t get inside your
bladder.

Off-label use of the following drugs can help treat this condition:

 brompheniramine
 chlorpheniramine (Chlor-Trimeton Allergy 12 Hour, Chlorphen SR)
 ephedrine
 imipramine (Tofranil)
 phenylephrine (4-Way Nasal, Neo-Synephrine, Neo-Synephrine Mild, Neo-
Synephrine Extra Strength)
 pseudoephedrine (Sudafed Congestion, Nexafed, Zephrex-D)
“Off-label drug use” means that a drug that’s been approved by the FDA for one purpose is
used for a different purpose that hasn’t been approved. However, a doctor can still use the
drug for that purpose.

This is because the FDA regulates the testing and approval of drugs, but not how doctors use
drugs to treat their patients. So, your doctor can prescribe a drug however they think it is best
for your care.

What’s the outlook?

Foamy urine may not be a problem if it happens every once in a while. If it continues, it
could be a sign that you have kidney damage. Usually, this symptom appears late in kidney
disease, so immediate treatment is important.

Less often, it could be a sign of retrograde ejaculation if you’re a male, or it could be an

effect of a drug you’re taking. Treating the condition or stopping the drug that’s causing it
should stop the foaming.

Most of the time, foamy urine is nothing to worry about. Often, you can relieve foamy urine
simply by drinking more water.

But see your doctor if:

 the foamy urine doesn’t go away within a few days

 you also have symptoms like swelling, nausea, vomiting, appetite loss, and fatigue
 your urine is also cloudy or bloody
 if you’re a male, your orgasms produce little to no fluid or you’ve been trying to get
your female partner pregnant for a year or longer without success

Last medically reviewed on March 20, 2018

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FEEDBACK:
Medically reviewed by Suzanne Falck, M.D., FACP — Written by Stephanie
Watson — Updated on September 17, 2018