Some foods and medications, such as asparagus or certain vitamins, can cause a noticeable urine odor, even in low concentrations. Sometimes, unusual urine odor indicates a medical condition or disease, such as: Cystitis (bladder inflammation)
In most cases, a strong smell isn't a sign of disease. It's usually from your diet and medications, or it means you need to drink more water. Certain urine smells can be a sign of some conditions, but your doctor might not consider that to be the case unless you have other symptoms.
Pee that smells like ammonia
The odor suggests that bacteria may be swimming around in your urinary system, most likely in your urethra, kidneys or bladder. Urine showing signs of a UTI also may be cloudy or even a bit bloody.
Urine (pee) is made up of water and waste. Pee smells different when there's less water and/or more waste. Certain foods, medications, and dehydration can cause smelly pee. Less commonly, smelly pee might be due to a health condition, like a urinary tract infection or diabetes.
Sweet-smelling urine may be a sign of uncontrolled diabetes or a rare disease of metabolism. Liver disease and certain metabolic disorders may cause musty-smelling urine.
Urine does not usually have a strong odor to it, but a person may notice an ammonia odor at times. Possible causes include certain foods, supplement use, a urinary tract infection, a liver or kidney problem, or dehydration.
Drink Enough Fluids
However dehydration leads to concentrated and intense-smelling urine. Try to focus on drinking six-to-eight glasses of water (or, if you're having hydration issues, clear broth) a day; your urine should be diluted and its odor will be reduced.
The most common symptoms of UTIs include changes in urination such as frequency, pain, or burning; urine looks dark, cloudy, or red and smells bad; back or side pain; nausea/vomiting; and fever.
Things that can often make your pee smell stronger include: certain types of food and drink, like asparagus or coffee. not drinking enough fluids (dehydration) some medicines.
The most common causes of bad smelling urine are dehydration, dietary changes, a side-effect of medication, or a urinary tract infection. Less common causes are other infections, high blood sugar, or liver damage.
Results of the present one month long study showed that many male and female participants were aware of difference in smell of urine of either sex. Those who correctly identified urine samples reported the smell of male as racy or pungent and that of female as piquant or poignant.
Trimethylamine has been described as smelling like rotten or decaying fish. As this compound builds up in the body, it causes affected people to give off a strong fishy odor in their sweat, urine, and breath. The intensity of the odor may vary over time.
Performing a urine dipstick test at home involves submerging a test strip in a sample of urine. The dipstick is designed to detect substances that are typically found in the urine of people with a UTI. Test kits often include multiple test strips and a color chart to help interpret test results.
A silent UTI is a urinary tract infection that doesn't show any typical symptoms. This type of infection can be dangerous because it can go undiagnosed and untreated, leading to serious complications like kidney damage or sepsis. Silent UTIs can happen to anyone, but they are more common in women.
When kidneys are failing, the increased concentration and accumulation of substances in urine lead to a darker color which may be brown, red or purple. The color change is due to abnormal protein or sugar, high levels of red and white blood cells, and high numbers of tube-shaped particles called cellular casts.
Liver disease can make your pee and breath smell musty. The odor is caused by the buildup and release of toxins in your urine. If you have kidney failure, you may smell a lot of ammonia when you go to the bathroom.
Severely ill patients often have characteristic smells. Patients with diabetic ketoacidosis have the fruity smell of ketones, although a substantial number of people are unable to detect this. Foetor hepaticus is a feature of severe liver disease; a sweet and musty smell both on the breath and in urine.
Liver disease
Always see your doctor if you notice your urine has an unusual, ammonia-like odor. Other symptoms that may indicate your liver needs attention include dark brown or orange-hued urine.
Foamy, frothy or bubbly urine.
People with diabetes may have a very high level of ketones in their bloodstream. When the body excretes these in the urine, they can make the urine smell like popcorn. A high level of ketones in the urine or blood occurs when a person enters ketosis.