B*stard cystitis!

[Laquila]

I used to get this a lot, years ago, and usually it took antibiotics to shift it.

The most recent bout I had went from uncomfortable to excruciating in about two hours, but the antibiotics kicked in overnight, thank God.

I now have D-Mannose and have just taken 3 tablets - is it common for this to knock it on the head or am likely to still need antibiotics?...On a scale of nothing to horrendous, I'm only currently at 3ish, but every single nerve in my body is on edge, awaiting the misery, and I'm loosing all sense of proportion or reason 😳🙄😱

Walk-in centre is 35 mins away and closes at 9.30pm...id have to get someone to sit with the kids but maybe I just need to get up there ASAP. Oh FFS.

Sympathy. I just had a case if it too over the weekend. It arrived with my second period (since having DS). I haven't had it in years. I found the sachets in my medicine cabinet and took the 2 day course and drank ridiculous amounts of water. I'm back to normal today.
Can you get out to boots or somewhere to get the canesoasis stuff?

When I'm at danger risk 3 I flush my body with a couple of pints of water. Try that. I feel for you as I live in fear of it.

I've just had it for the first time in years too. I was a frequent flier and had an emergency kit then but it's long gone. On antibiotics now.

I had recurring cystitis for years. Really painful and debilitating. Then once I had it in spain and had to go to a spanish doctor who actually ran a proper test to identify what specific bug was causing it. He asked why I had never had this test run in the UK, and I told him it was because it was never offered to me or mentioned. He said "well we do things properly here". Test results came back. Correct antibiotics prescribed. Never had another bout.

As usual, women in the UK being fobbed off and/or ignored.

Thank you for the solidarity, I appreciate it!! Currently in the bath so hard to assess, but I'll drink some more water and give it an hour, I think...

D mannose should work but I double the dose for the first three or so days. I have got rid of severe cystitis this way.

Don't drink too much either side of the dose otherwise it will wash away straight away when you need to pee. Try holding your pee in for at least 30 mins after taking it.

Drink, drink, drink, drink. If you keep drinking as much as you can so your bladder stays full you won't get the excrutiating dribbles and it can flush out the infection completely too.

It's funny you should say that, @DeeplyMovingExperience - I just came across the NHS page for it and noticed that it said the following:

"It's a common type of urinary tract infection (UTI), particularly in women, and is usually more of a nuisance than a cause for serious concern."

...which was unbelievably fucking irritating 🙄 I've had caesareans that have given me less grief than cystitis. I'd be fascinated to know how many NHS pages have a similar message, and how many of those relate to conditions perceived as women's troubles.

I had a similar experience Deeply. Loads of ultrasounds and poking about looking for something structural. A very long course of antibiotics cured the infection but was only prescribed when I encountered a doctor who had trained under a national specialist.

My mum used to suffer with this really badly. She found it flared up whenever she ate/drank anything with citric acid in.
She has to check the labels of everything but hasn't had any problems since she cut it out her diet.

I've had it three times this year. I had it a couple of weeks ago, and couldn't go into work. It was a Friday, and the GP didn't call me back until Monday. Meanwhile I managed to get antibiotics from Boots online GP service on the Saturday. Such a relief!!!

The thing with cystitis is that you think you're being over dramatic, and then it becomes so bad it's indescribable.

@LynetteScavo that is SO TRUE

It is definitely seen as a women's issue and is therefore swept under the carpet. The Spanish doctor I saw was absolutely scathing about the fact that I had suffered for years and nobody had ever sent a urine sample for lab testing.

Wide-spectrum antibiotics (which are only given to us when we really press the doc for a solution) are not effective with ongoing cystitis. It's fucking outrageous that we are left to suffer like this because WIMMIN GO AWAY AND STOP COMPLAINING.

It's gross but bicarbonate of soda in a glass of water really helps do much, I always keep it in the cupboard now.

Solidarity! I’m suffering a really, really bad bout at the moment. So much pain, chills and that crawling feeling in my skin. Tried to drink it away with no success. Antibiotics not making a difference yet, I hope they do soon. It’s excruciating.

You are so right @DeeplyMovingExperience

D-mannose will work if it's e.coli. Other bugs need lab identifying and targeted antibiotics.

Potassium citrate or sodium citrate helps with symptoms as once they pass through the kidneys they are alkaline. This offsets the acidness caused by bacteria. Heat is better than cold, lots of cold water set off my symptoms in a way hot tea didn't. If you get infections a lot it can be the balance between progesterone and oestrogen.

Bicarb was my go to along with ibuprofen, weak black coffee and pints of water. Sadly I can't take much ibuprofen these days and the bicarb got binned some time in the last decade.

Haven’t had it for a while, but I’ve usually found that the sachets you can buy in the supermarket do work, if I start them immediately. Only time they didn’t was when it started on holiday and I was unable to get them. Needed antibiotics once home.
I never go anywhere without those sachets now.

Ask the gp to send to the lab even if dip test is inconclusive. I suffered horrendously for 4 years age 19-23 and it has ruined (ongoing due to physiological damage) my sex life/intimacy. Turns out is an ecoli bug I get which is unusual but also resistant to some of the meds. Had (touch wood) very little bother for the past 3yrs.

Admittedly I also had bladder surgery for stenosis

Oh and by the way I was genuinely suicidal at 20 because of this. Told an A&E consultant I was going to walk in front of the next bus I saw (they still didn't take me seriously!) it ruined my life by destroying my mental health. Felt like I was burning from the inside out but made to feel like a neurotic hypochondriac

@JacktomyDaniel I can absolutely believe it - every word of your posts. What a horrendous experience and bloody well done for coming out the other side

Update: pretty much as soon as I wrote my last post, I jumped in the car with husband and went to our nearest walk-in centre - by the time I was in the car it was excruciating and didn't let up for two hours. It then eased off a bit but it's coming in waves. It took ages to be seen but I'm now back home with nitrofurantoin, which worked very well last time so I have everything crossed...

The nurse that saw me advised a bladder scan and was surprised no-one had suggested that before 😳

THANK YOU to everyone who's taken the time to comment - it's much appreciated.

Take paracetamol and codeine for the pain, plus hot water bottle. You probably know this anyway, sorry