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Orange urine: causes and treatments

by Alivia Nyhan
Published: Last Updated on

The urine is the product of the filtration process in the kidneys. Your kidneys filter between 120 and 150 liters of blood circulating through them every day. As a result of this filtering process, between 1 and 3 liters of urine are produced each day, depending on the greater or lesser fluid intake. Thus, through the urine, all the waste products of metabolism, toxins, and those products that should not remain in our body are disposed of daily.

In some cases, the urine color may be the first or the only manifestation that a problem is happening in our body. Depending on specific products or toxins, urine can change its standard color. One of those cases is when it turns orange, and in this FastlyHealarticle, we will explain the causes of orange urine and the appropriate treatments in each case.

How normal urine should be

Normal urine is light yellow or colorless. There is a pigment called urochrome that gives urine its characteristic yellow color. This pigment is produced due to the average daily destruction and degradation of dead blood cells. The urochrome thus produced is eliminated with the urine. Therefore, your kidneys make the urine transported by the ureters to the bladder, stored until its emission.

In this other FastlyHealarticle, we explain the characteristics of urine in more detail.

Causes of orange urine

When urine takes on a different color, in this case, orange, it could mean a good number of things that are not always related to some disease.

In most cases, the explanation is obvious and rarely a cause for alarm. Let’s see, next, the most common causes of orange urine:

  1. Dehydration

Your water (such as plain water, in drinks, or vegetables and fruits) dilutes your urine. If your urine is orange (or dark yellow), it probably means that you are not drinking enough water or are not getting fluids from other healthy sources. In the following article, you can learn about the symptoms and treatment of dehydration.

You may have noticed that your urine is darker in the morning because you do not drink water while you sleep. It is also normal for it to be darker after a workout due to losing fluid with sweat.

  1. Fruits and vegetables

Foods and drinks that are red, orange, or very dark yellow can make urine dark, in large part because of the beta-carotene they contain.

This includes carrots, mangoes, papaya, squash, and beets (although urine-stained beets may appear redder than orange).

  1. Vitamin supplements

Regularly taking high doses of vitamin C, beta-carotene, or vitamin B complex can turn your urine orange. It does not imply any alteration. The excess of these vitamins is expelled through the urine, and these chemical forms change their color to orange.

  1. Medications

Here are some of the more common medications that can cause orange urine:

  • Senna Laxatives: This herb is used to relieve constipation.
  • Phenazopyridine: present in medicines that relieve pain caused by urinary tract infections (UTIs).
  • Rifampicin or Isoniazid: Medicines used to treat tuberculosis and some rheumatic conditions.
  • Sulfasalazine: An anti-inflammatory drug used to treat intestinal inflammation, diarrhea, rectal bleeding, and abdominal pain caused by ulcerative colitis.
  • Doxorubicin – A potent chemotherapy drug that is given through a vein.
  1. Liver and bile duct disease

Cholestasis is when the flow of bile (the digestive fluid produced in the liver and stored in the gallbladder) stops. This allows bilirubin to escape into the bloodstream, where it accumulates and, as the kidney filters it, will eventually stain the urine.

Symptoms of cholestasis may include: very pale stools, yellowing or orange color of the skin and eyes (jaundice), itching all over the body, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, vomiting, and fever.

If you experience any of these symptoms, you should see a doctor to rule out a problem with the liver and bile ducts.

  1. Seizures

The orange coloration of the urine due to the accumulation of uric acid crystals and other chemical compounds such as hemosiderin has been described in people who have recurrent seizures. Although it is a rare condition, it must be considered in these cases.

Treatments for orange urine

The treatment to follow when urine turns orange depends on the cause that caused this change in normal urine:

  • If it was dehydration, drinking water corrects the problem.
  • If it is a food, vitamin, or medicine, when you stop consuming it, it spontaneously disappears in one or two days, so the compounds that change the color of your urine are eliminated from your body. When the normal yellow coloration returns, you will have verified that this was the cause, and you can restore its consumption without fear.
  • In the case of liver and bile duct diseases, each one will have specific management determined and treated in due course by the doctor.
  • In the case of seizures, the person should receive (in addition to their anticonvulsant treatment and medical monitoring) many fluids, intravenously or orally, depending on whether their condition allows it.

This article is merely informative. At FastlyHeal .com, we do not have the power to prescribe medical treatments or make any diagnosis. We invite you to see a doctor if you present any type of condition or discomfort.

If you want to read more articles similar to Orange urine: causes and treatments, we recommend that you enter our Kidneys and urinary system category.

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