MYSQLI SELECT with Limit not working - php

Question

I'm trying to find the number of rows in a table in the database depending on certain conditions with a limit feature so that i can count the number of rows there are matching the condition after a certain row in the table.
Thus i created my php query:
$q = $db->query("SELECT u.*, f.* FROM updates U LEFT JOIN friends f ON f.fid = u.userid WHERE f.uid = '$userid' ORDER BY u.up_id DESC LIMIT $limitID, 9999999");
$nr = $q->num_rows;
However even if there are more rows in the database after the $limitID, it says there are no rows.
If I try this:
$q = $db->query("SELECT u.*, f.* FROM updates U LEFT JOIN friends f ON f.fid = u.userid WHERE f.uid = '$userid' ORDER BY u.up_id DESC LIMIT $limitID");
$nr = $q->num_rows;
then it works, but it doesnt count after the $limitID. Any udeas?

Answer 1

According yo your query, it should be like
$sql = "SELECT count(*) FROM updates U
LEFT JOIN friends f ON f.fid = u.userid WHERE f.uid = ?";
// getting stuff using prepared statements
$row = $res->fetch_row();
$num = $row[0] - $limitID;
but I doubt it's really what you need either.

Answer 2

Using what Your Common Sense told me I managed to find an answer to my problem, so here it is:
$limitID = $upid;
$sql = "SELECT count(*) FROM updates u
LEFT JOIN friends f ON f.fid = u.userid WHERE
(f.uid = '$userid' AND u.up_id > '$limitID')";
$res = $db->query($sql);
$row = $res->fetch_row();
$num = $row[0];
if($num == 0){
// do nothing
} else {
echo "<span class='newPosts'>" .$num. " New Post"
. (($num>1)?'s':' ') . "</span>";
}
works perfectly