Why does my urine smell sweet?

Symptoms

You’re overweight, you feel tired all the time and don’t seem to have any energy. You’ve noticed that your urine smells quite sweet.

You have vaginal discharge that looks like cottage cheese, your vagina itches or burns, and it is painful to pass urine, which smells sweet.

Your urine smells sweet, you’ve been taking vitamin B6 supplement for your pre-menstrual syndrome which is getting worse and worse each month.

It could be:

Type 2 diabetes, where your blood sugar is higher than normal and escapes into the urine. Were you to taste it, it would taste sweet.

Thrush (candida), and it’s not your urine which smells sweet it’s the discharge which can smell like honey, bread or beer.

Vitamin B6. Vitamin supplements can change the smell of urine. Certain medications may also change the colour and smell of your urine.

Stop it:

See your doctor, taking along a specimen of your urine. Try to lose weight, avoid sweet foods and sugary drinks, keep checking your urine for sugar.

As a first step try using an overthe-counter intravaginal cream for thrush, but if it’s unsuccessful, see your doctor or go to an STI clinic for help.

Stop taking vitamin B6. If this fails to stop it, see a GP and take a urine sample. Anyone starting a new medication should speak to their doctor if their urine looks or smells strange.