Cystitis - how to treat?

[cystitis101]

Have got what I strongly suspect is a UTI... have to handle in a sample to surgery at 9.30 (once bladder has filled up again) but I’m in agony .... can’t sit still for shaking in pain and can’t stop spasms in my tummy . Have been for a wee eight times since 7am and no let up . Wee full of blood . Have taken cocodamol, ibuprofen, a litre of water and a cystitis sachet to no effect ... what can I do? GP surgery said just to try to sit it out in the loo or sit on a bag of frozen peas . Never felt so uncomfortable in all my life, and I’ve been through this hundreds of times before but never this bad . GP receptionist said don’t panic, just get sample down to them ASAP . But have only just peed ten minutes ago so can’t do just now .

You need to be seen straight away. Go to A&E. Are you in England? I have been several times during the pandemic with elderly mum and DCs - always just turned up with no problems.

I can't believe your GP won't see you or prescribe ABs. I would've thought that self catheterising would make a UTI even more likely.

Scotland - we aren’t allowed walk ins unless immediately serious/life threatening apparently (friend works as SCN - says always ring 111 first) . It’s an hour drive so don’t want to nip in if just going to be told to phone 111 . Hopefully 111 answer and don’t just cut me off at 8 ... yes I thought that too but keep saying they never get any growth in lab therefore don’t see it worth treating apparently . I don’t fully understand it all .

GP phoning at half 9 - NHS24 emailed them at 5 to 8 asking for urgent appointment to be organised .

In NHS24’s words: ‘If they had seen you and put you on antibiotics on Thursday you wouldn’t be in this discomfort now, this is ridiculous’ .

Have dentist at 3 and uni exam tomorrow so determined to get things sorted ASAP .

@Thelema72

Drink as much water as you can, try a spoonful of bicarbonate of soda in juice, tastes vile but works, also sitting in the edge of a hard chair seems to relieve it for some reason Its hell

It obviously doesn’t cure it but i was honestly amazed at the bicarb bit

It really helped with the actual weeing

Hope it gets sorted for you soon

Its a ridiculous situation for you

Handed in another sample to GP . Still bleeding (I think) .

Nurse said that they’ll check for infection and someone will get in touch to see what they can do .

Still think I need to see an actual GP but not sure - nurse said she’s a bit unsure as not only have I got the urinary symptoms I’ve also tested for BV and thrush in the last two weeks, and having irregular bleeding, so said she might ask GP to ring too . Shattered .

UTI - pus, wbc, blood and protein .

Nurse said it probably should have been treated on Thursday but they didn’t ... have to walk back down to chemist later on for nitrofurantoin and hopefully cope with exam tomorrow . Fingers crossed .

Oh my god they should ha e given you antibiotics on bloody Thursday that is ridiculous. I hope they work fast for you, I had awful cystitis once and after the 2nd tablet I felt so much better.

I would actually formally complain about this actually. To leave you untreated with blood in your urine is not acceptable.

On the plus side I always find a drastic improvement after one dose of nitro.

Good luck in the exam 🙂

I have had similar in the past (the walk in centre refused to give me antibiotics and then less than a week later I was in hospital for 4 days with a severe kidney infection). It is appalling how badly cystitis and UTIs are treated and diagnosed.

I'm so sorry OP I hope you start to feel better soon. Definitely complain.

How are you feeling this evening?

OP this is awful.and I hope you're starting to feel better. As a fellow regular cystitis sufferer I wanted to say that I've been prescribed antibiotics over the phone for symptoms far less serious than yours. At least the antibiotics do tend to kick in quite quickly.

You poor thing that sounds horrendous. Robinson's lemon barley water always gets rid of my cystitis, yours sounds like you need something stronger but it may help relieve your symptoms a bit. Apparently barley is very soothing and cleansing for the bladder. Hope you feel better soon!

You poor thing.
You said you were allergic to nitro didn't you?

Don't take it if you're allergic they should know not to prescribe it to you!

@aibutohavethisusername

How are you feeling this evening?

Much the same to be honest . Been stuck on sofa all day - went to the loo about an hour ago and still very sore . Managed to eat dinner at least . Will take the second tablet about nine and hopefully by 11ish feeling much better . Only got 12 tablets . More desperate for bed than anything else - been awake since 4am .

I’m allergic in the sense it normally makes very sick yep; nurse said as no rash to give it a shot as only alternative seemingly is coamoxiclav - which I’ve had several time’s in last eighteen months so they aren’t sure it will work anymore . Said to see how I get on; if start throwing up they’ll give antisickness tablets or change meds .

It was disgusting how they treated you OP, I hope you formally complain. Hope you’re better soon!

OP just read the thread - this is awful. I hope you get sorted soon. Just one thing - the advice to drink as much water as you can - please don't overdo it.

I had a similar bout of cystitis as you some years ago, and in my efforts to clear it drank so much water that I ended up in hospital for several days. It is possible to overdo it and get water intoxication, which is very dangerous.

Poor you / I suffered terribly in my 20s and ended up having to emergency antibiotics to hand all the time. Got about 5 bouts a year and I would feel like I was dying about 3 hours after the first niggle...

I find I have to eat with nitro or else it makes me sick. The last dose at bedtime is a real pain - I normally end up with a banana 😁

Hope the tablets start to work quickly. I had to have a short course over the weekend which seem to have cleared things up. I wasn’t suffering to the same extent though.

Have they only giving you 3/4 days worth? 🤦🏻‍♀️ it's never long enough. Especially with your pain before they run out ask for more.

Obvs not for now as it sounds to me like you should be on some hefty antibiotics and fluids, but I keep a stash of dipsticks (Siemens, the exact same as they use at my GP's) and they've been very helpful for either putting a rocket up my GP that is something that needs to go straight to the microbiology lab, or putting my mind at rest that it is just an irritation. Persistent bleeding however is not okay. Make a fuss if you need to but get seen and get every relevant test. Kidney infection is not fun.

If dipstick doesn't show anything for me, I make sure I drink a big glass of water every hour for a day and if still uncomfortable in use UvaUrsi (bear berry) tincture three times a day. Has helped me avoid antibiotics for 4+ yrs but I'd escalate the home remedies ASAP if I presented as you have done.

Hope it gets better very quickly. Keep us posted, I'd like to know you're okay.

So back to sort of same position . No pain passing urine but pain in lower tummy, pain in my side and lower back . Hot and cold . And haven’t really eaten all week - no appetite at all . Slept 12 hours last night and am still exhausted .

I don’t feel hugely sore in my side though, it’s only sore to touch - surely if I had a kidney infection I’d be floored and very sore and throwing up ? Just feel vaguely ill and a bit of a sense of ‘should be feeling better by now’ - can’t work out if it’s the antibiotics or feeling worse .

You poor thing, I really sympathise (I am hugely prone to UTIs and kidney infections). ABs are the best thing, you could also have ciprofloxacin or trimethoprim (all on my cycle of treatments).

One other thing - DONT drink cranberry while you're on antibiotics. It works in preventing the worst of utis by covering the urinary tract, stopping the bacteria taking a hold. But it also can coat your tubes over the bacteria, making the infection worse and stopping the antibiotics getting to the bacteria (told to me by a very experienced urologist who clearly had had this conversation with people for years). And drink 6-8 pints of water a day.

Really hope you feel better soon.