out of hours GP hasn’t rang me (appointment was 5.20am)

[ldnflatshareNC]

I called nhs 111 at 3:50am today due to blood in my urine and pain, this was also few days after having a severe uti so I’m conscious the same infection has returned despite finishing antibiotic course. I was told out of hours GP would call me back but not given a time

I then call back hour late at 4:50am due to worsening symptoms, pain and urgency increased and significantly more blood in urine. This time I was kindly offered time slots for telephone appointment with out of hours GP, and given the earliest availability which was supposed to be at 5:20am.

It’s now 6am and still not heard anything back
not sure what to do. Does anyone know how long wait times are for out of hours GP to call? I know the NHS is very busy but I’m genuinely in significant pain and infection worsening I really need antibiotics prescribed asap. If I end up waiting until my own GP surgery opens it’s very rare I’ll be able to get an appointment as they book up so quickly. I can’t sleep or work due to pain and urgency (if you’ve had a bad UTI you’ll perhaps understand)

Is there a walk in centre near to you OP? Ideal for things like this and usually open at 8am. The doctor could have been delayed with a different patient but if more than an hour you can call them back. Did your GP send off a urine sample as sometimes the bacteria that grows requires a different antibiotic and or longer antibiotic treatment. If you have more than 3 uti’s in one year GP should be referring you to gynaecologist for further investigation. Don’t have any pain in your back in the mid area? Could potentially be a kidney infection. Hope you feel better soon x

I think pharmacists can prescribe antibiotics for UTIs.

I was in Tesco the other day and I heard on the speaker that their pharmacy's can prescribe over the counter treatments for UTI's. Is it worth going to a supermarket near you and ask for antibiotics at their pharmacy?
I feel your pain, I had a really bad UTI once with blood in my urine also, it was awful.
Or, if you have the NHS app, go on that using the 'message your gp with a new problem tab', that takes you to PATCH's. A doctor always gets back to me via text message with a same day appointment once they open at 8am on that, saves you the faff of ringing up. Plus you are already in the system before they open.

I use to get a lot of utis one time it was awful- pain in my back, temperature, confusion. It had gone to my kidneys, I spent two weeks in hospital on strong antibiotic drip to get rid of it.

I'm pretty sure pharmacists won't prescribe if you have blood in urine especially as it is a recurrence.

By the way I would stick to gp or out of hours. You need a stronger antibiotic to shift it not the standard ones. If you are getting a lot of UTIs try to see if there’s a pattern and consider asking GP for a low dose antibiotic to take every day.

Can you get yourself into an uber and to an urgent care centre? They usually open at 8am. Your username suggests you’re London based so there should be a few around you.

If you’ve taken antibiotics within the last 6 weeks, a pharmacist won’t prescribe more. OP will need to see a a doctor

keep calling them or go to urgent care

If possible use a different phone (so your number is not unavailable) to call 111 back and find out what's happened.

Wih your worsening symptoms you need to be seen today - you're not required to sit at home without treatment if the appropriate service can't/doesn't see you. Hopefully 111 will come through or there's a walk in somewhere you can access, so it doesn't get to the stage where you have to resort to A&E, but also don't ignore a progressing infection.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/urinary-tract-infections-utis/

I would call again. How far are you from an out of hours/urgent care centre? Near enough to manage to get there despite the urgency? If so, then go there if calling again doesn't get a result.

Thank you, I’d never actually had a UTI before until last week. I was prescribed nitrofurantoin which worked very quickly from first day (especially considering how bad symptoms were and quickly the UTI progressed). I was prescribed 100 mg of nitrofurantoin twice a day for 3 days. I wonder if perhaps 3 days was too short and maybe 5 or 7 days course would be better. When I google it seems some doctors prescribe for 5 or 7 days first time round.

Second day on nitrofurantoin I had zero symptoms but I still made sure to drink plenty of water, no caffeine or alcohol.

I’m also someone who would previously do ‘riskier’ things like holding pee in for too long when busy at work, not drinking enough water, occasional mdma usage. Because I’d never had a UTI I never realised how bad they are for bladder

^ obviously very humbled by first UTI experience and will change these bad habits, also taking probiotic 🤣

Tbf it’s not normally this bad you got a rough deal. Nitrofurantoin is a go to for uti That’s what I take as a low dose to prevent them. But it sounds like it didn’t entirely clear it so yes a longer or stronger dose is needed. Luckily once it kicks on you will feel a lot better.
as a rule lots of water every day, cranberry juice is also said to help , wiping front to back when you go to the toilet (tmi!) , not holding your wee and having a wee or shower after sex can all help prevent them. Hopefully just a one off for you though.

3 days seems like a very short course, doctors in my country never prescribe such a short course because of the risk of it not dealing with the infection properly. Surely that just increases antibiotic resistance??

Also definitely wee straight after sex. I was constantly getting utis until I heard about doing this and never had one again.

I think it is possible you have kidney stones.
Worth asking about.
My experience of this was very similar to yours.
I hope you don’t as they are spectacularly painful but best to find out.

3 days nitro is standard treatment for UTIs and usually effective.

However you get some infections it doesn’t get rid of or the bacteria backs up to your kidneys and then you be need different antibiotics.

You need to make it clear to GP when it opens this is urgent and possible kidney infection. Mine always offers same day consult for suspected UTIs because a) quick treatment is usually effective and b) not treating can cause significant problems quite quickly.

I really hope you get seen soon and feel better soon too