So I'm hoping I'm posting in the right place. I've had protein in my urine, off and on. I've also blood in my urine a few times. I went to Urologist who doesn't think it's my bladder. I went to nephrologist who specializes on Lupus. His response was "I wouldn't worry about it" That angered me as this is scary for me. Although It;s been months since I had "visible" blood in my urine. I want answers as to why and where does the blood come from.
Any type of irritation or bladder infection, kidney stones can cause visible blood in the urine Usually with lupus the blood is not visible but is present on microscopic exam Would be nice to have a definite answer but you will probably need a work up while there is blood not several months later to determine the cause. Altho I will tell you that once I had bright red 'blood' in my urine and I sure was panicked Turns out to have been the cherry Koolaid I was drinking
I often have blood in urine, for many yrs, before I was ever diagnosed with lupus but I have a tendency to get kidney stones. I have been getting them since I was 19, every so many yrs another ones passes or tries to, so that is usually why the blood in urine for me. Did you google to see what some of the reasons for this could be? Sad but I have had to learn much from the computer as my Dr's have not been the most helpful or informative, which really sucks!
Kidney stones or bladder infection can cause blood in urine, as noted above. But that occurrence is most often associated with the passing of the stone down through the renal system. A potential problem is possibly something else, unrelated to your Lupus. I don't want to concern you needlessly, but your doctors need to give you a clear explanation for why they are certain you do not have bladder or kidney carcinoma.
I am not myself a Lupus patient. I'm a moderator for Ben's Friends in a sister community for Trigeminal Neuralgia. But I am now going through a process leading to surgery for an early Stage 1A 19-mm tumor on my kidney. The process began when a routine physical revealed red blood cells in my urine, and my Internist decided to investigate with a detailed CT scan. As a 70 year old male, even for me the odds of a definite finding of cancer were quite low. But we checked anyway. At this stage, surgery should be a two-hour in-and-out office procedure to cryo-freeze the tumor. It gets much more complicated if a tumor develops over a long period of time.
Hi, I went through the exact same thing some years ago. I had all the tests plus an MRI and no-one seemed to know what it was. At one point they thought it might be bladder cancer but it was ruled out. At that time I had no idea that I had Lupus. All I can say is try not to worry about it. I hear this happens with us lupies. Get a second and third opinion if you feel better. As long as your kidneys are working okay Id try not to obsess over it. But I did too so I understand. I still get traces of blood but nothing to worry about either according to my kidney doc too. I honestly don't think these doctors know why this happens.
This happens to me usually from a kidney stone. I have been dumping fairly high levels of protein in my urine since I was a teenager. I freaked when I first looked at my test results but I altered my diet which seemed to help. My mom has had bladder cancer and the only symptom was blood in her urine. Since she was post menopausal they knew it wasn’t from any other reason. Did they scope your bladder? I’ve had mine scoped to check for cancer because of being on cytoxan. Just drink lots of water and try not to worry. Dehydration is our enemy.
The blood and protein in the urine should be taken seriously. I have lupus too, which led to lung cancer a few years ago. I got rid of the cancer with chemo about a year or so ago, but one of the chemo sessions left me with blood and protein in my urine and they quickly determined that I was in renal (kidney) failure. If I had waited much longer, the doctor said, it could have quickly killed me.
I am not trying to scare you, but this is nothing to mess around with. Other symptoms I had during that episode included severe joint pain. I could barely lift my arms, and getting out of a chair was extremely difficult.
Have you been taking chemo treatments? I would ask your doctor if this could be a possibility.
On the other hand, my doctor also said small amounts of protein in the urine are not anything to be alarmed about. Only your doctor can know what is too much.
Thomas Franklin
I’ve had blood in my urine for many years. Someone finally decided to dig deeper. They ended up doing a cystoscopy to look inside my bldder which was inflammed. The urologist said it was probably due to lupus as I didn’t have a bladder infection. No one has done anything mire which worries me.
Have have blood in my urine for aprox 2 years I have gone to two specialist. Urologist! Both said don't worry bith did a cystoscopy and one did about ten other test on my kidneys and bladder.one did s direct cath to bladder and conculded the blood is definitelyfrom my bladder due To v Lupus. I have been on prescription anti-inflammatory medication for 2 years to stop it no luck they don't work nothing to stops the bleeding the bleeding keeps getting worse now I'm anemic. I have severe inflammation in my feet my elbows my knees my hands my joints found something holistic that works on my joints about a month ago. I am waiting to see if it'll work on my bladder. Its painfull when the inflammation gets worse its down right painfull and bladder spasms are the worse Butthe supplements worked on my feet and elbows to the point I would stand up and fall. I could not use my arms to push myself up from s lying position. Now I as m foing much better. Hoping anf praying yhe supplements work on my bladder doctors have no answers. I hoo e I found the answer.if anyone wants yo know what help my joints contact me. I truly know what its like to suffer.
I have had this same issue ( blood in urine,kidney count BUN/Creatine high, and urine tests always show no bacteria but is abnormal “doctors and results say”… Ive had these problems before diagnosed in 2011, but also now have Sojourns Syndrome too. Im waiting now for a Kidney doctor Referral from my Primary Care doctor…
I have been told too, that kidney doctor possibly wont do much either, for this issue… So your not alone thats for sure, unfortunately. Why wouldnt they maybe do a kidney biopsy for our issues?
It’s a never ending thing with these doctor’s, Ugh EVERYTHING is lupus to them. Peeing blood is NOT normal : (
Kidney biopsy would not be indicated for blood in the urine. Biopsy normally assesses for tumor, which is localized, not general to the organ. CT-Scan would look for tumors or lesions.
Regards, Red
Lahern… I have a question maybe u could help answer ? Ive had only a kidney ultrasound, but didnt show anything? When i go to kidney doctor, how do i get them to give me a actual scan that will show more ,like the CT u suggested? I know those scans show much more… Thank u for responding too 
Niki, Ultrasound would likely have revealed any significant dense mass in your kidney. CT scan shows better detail, if one is trying to determine the type or nature of such a mass, but the resolution depends on what kind of machine was used. A question to ask of a Urologist is "will ultrasound detect Stage 1 carcinomas of the kidney, and if so of what minimum size?" The good news is that kidney carcinoma is most often very slow growing and in many people doesn't cause symptoms other than red blood cells in urine, until they become quite large (several centimeters). There is also some low level of risk in exposure to X-rays, so prudence in exposing the patient without good cause is good medicine.
Great advice … Thank you 
I do have blood in my urine mostly microscopic, but its there , and i have had many urinary problems and also kidney infections etc in my life… Im just afraid now because of the Lupus and my kidneys… Besides now of having some of the blood counts that never were much of a problem before, are now all over the place, like my BUN/CREATINE and abnormal urine results ( but they say no bacteria) but there is white cells and protein… I just dont want anything missed and ive heard they do kidney biopsys alot on lupus patients so i dont know?
I had a kidney biopsy when my kidneys were attacked. They are NOT just for tumors. Go to Wikipedia and look up Lupus Nephritis. If you have high creatinine in your blood and blood and protein in your urine, it is NOT something to mess around with. This is one of the ways lupus kills people. Find a doctor who isn’t an idiot. 
Hi Astrogrrl … Im grateful for you replying to me about the Kidney and urine counts… I feel like you do about being able to get a biopsy on my kidney, I WANT ONE DONE!! I just got my referral for a kidney doctor so waiting for appt. I also wanted to inform them thr Stage 5 Kidney Disease runs in my family on both sides ( both of my grandmothers had it and died from it because of ending Dialyisis) anyway Im not sure if that would make much of a difference in my case since they DID NOT ( that they knew of) have Lupus. So do I tell the kidney doctor that as well? And insist on a Biopsy? I saw a kidney doc years ago because i was having blood in urine and a possible stone but I was not Diagnosed with Lupus yet… And they did nothing except tell me to see urology 
help!!? 
astrogrrl said:
I had a kidney biopsy when my kidneys were attacked. They are NOT just for tumors. Go to Wikipedia and look up Lupus Nephritis. If you have high creatinine in your blood and blood and protein in your urine, it is NOT something to mess around with. This is one of the ways lupus kills people. Find a doctor who isn’t an idiot.
Please help, Astrogurrl, by replying back to my other questions about the kidney doctor etc… I would soooo appreciate anymore help you or anyone else can give me before i do go to new kidney doctor …?
thanks to all and hope everyone else is doing well as could be
Hi sorry! I didn’t come back and check this. I guess what I would say is… The kidney biopsy was NOT fun and I’m not sure they needed to do one on me because by the time they admitted me to the hospital my numbers showed that I was in kidney failure. I would suggest asking for a full blood work and urinalysis first, and look at the numbers. If you have high creatinine in your blood (over ~1.1 for a female), and you have noticeable protein and blood both in your urine, I would insist on your kidney doc doing something about it! Another thing to look for on your labwork is eGFR… It’s in the blood panel. It’s an estimate based on your creatinine, age, etc, of what your percent kidney function is. It’s only an estimate- but if yours is lower than 55 or 60 I would get them hustling. I honestly don’t think they needed to do the biopsy in order to get me started on treatment because I was bad off, but if you are only borderline they might want it to see how yours look. They tailor the treatment to the type of damage that you have.
I’m not trying to freak you out and it could be something other than a direct lupus attack … But kidneys are connective tissue, lupus can make your body attack them, and a lot of doctors don’t seem to know. So please take it seriously just in case!
Hope this helped! Let me know if you have any more questions.
Chris