Suspected UTI symptoms - any advice please?

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Hello everyone.

Sorry again not AIBU but posting for advice and traffic please.

Also couldn't be bothered to name change - sorry!

Sorry this is a bit grim but have a suspected UTI (urinary tract infection).

Have never had one before, but thought I might have an infection because of how I've been feeling.

It started on Sunday evening - i went the loo (maybe more than usual?) Each time, I felt as if I hadn't quite emptied my bladder even when I actually had.

I also felt uncomfortable after emptying my bladder, as if I had more in my bladder to empty. I've had a general feeling of discomfort around the bladder area and 'down there' too (sorry, don't know any technical terms to be more precise ) The discomfort I was feeling there reminded me a bit of how I felt during a cervical smear test a few weeks ago.

Have had nausea and headaches since earlier this morning, and an uncomfortable sensation as if something is pressing on my stomach and making me want to empty my bladder even when I have just gone to the toilet.

My stomach felt quite hard to the touch this morning too.

I've tried to eat relatively carefully since Sunday evening e.g. porridge oats, dried fruit and nuts (basically what I have in the cupboard at home!) and drinking lots of water for possible constipation. But haven't had a big appetite since then.

Off now to get some yogurts in the vague idea it might make me feel better.

I've booked a doctor's appointment for tomorrow morning just to get a second opinion. I thought briefly I could be appendifcits but I'm sure I'd be in a lot more pain if that were the case.

Any advice please?

Thanks :)

Sometimes one UTI can be followed by another if the first one doesn't clear properly. One supplement that can help against E.coli (a common cause of UTI) is d-Mannose. Research suggests that it may make it more difficult for the E.coli to stick to the bladder wall so it gets washed out when you pee.

I had an awful UTI last year when I was on holiday in France. Couldn't get antibiotics until I got home, but the pharmacy recommended this which was amazing and stopped the symtoms so quickly (I still needed antibiotics to get rid of it, but at least I was in less discomfort):

www.soin-et-nature.com/en/urinary-comfort-food-supplement/263-aromadose-urinary-comfort-phytosun-aroms-30-caps.html

I haven't been able to find it in the UK, but it is basically capsules of essential oils of rosemary, thyme and coriander so you will be able to find something similar in Holland & Barrett. Oregano oil capsules are supposed to be really good as well.

Hope you're feeling better soon - a bad UTI is a horrific feeling....it seems to affect your entire body!

Until you can get to a doctor, drink as much as you can and empty your bladder really frequently. UTIs are awful, I used to get them fairly often but haven't in a long time touch wood. Drinking loads and loads of water as soon as I felt the symptoms start often knocked it on the head.

Loads of water. And I mean loads. Pints and pints of it.

Lots of fresh cranberry juice. Ocean Spray do a good one.

I used to put a hot water bottle down there to ease the discomfort.

Make sure you see your GP asap, because if left untreated the infection can spread to your kidneys, and that's really grim.

Lots of fresh cranberry juice. Ocean Spray do a good one.

Haha, of course they do!

Sounds UTI like to me. (I get them so often i've had preventative daily antibiotics for months at a time)

General feeling like you're desperate and can't sit still even when you know there's virtually nothing in your bladder.
Feeling like you're not fully empty, burning sensation, and difficulty to actually start the wee.

I find sometimes that it is eased for a little while when i first wake up from sleeping.
Leaks are occasionally a symptom too.

Try to limit all bladder irritants. Caffeine, carbonated drinks, fruit juices,(especially black currant and citrus) cows milk, basically anything other than water. For mild cases those cystitis sachets do work, but sometimes you need a course of antibiotics. Either a 3 day course of trimethoprim, or nitrofurantonin (can dye urine orange).

Definitely advise getting antibiotics. Each time I've had a UTI, the side effects have dissipated significantly within 12 hours of taking the first antibiotic.

Also, there are sachets you can get from a pharmacy to put in water. Also advise using these! They take away that "not quite empty bladder" feeling for a good several hours. A lifesaver.

Thank you everyone. I really appreciate your advice.

I've got a doctor's appointment for tomorrow afternoon.

If anyone has any further advice, it would be great to hear from you :)

Thanks!

without sounding rude to everyone that's recommended cranberry juice - just don't do it..

As another posted stated, some bacteria hate it some don't and the cranberry juice you usually buy in the supermarket is crammed full of sugar anyway which bacteria love!

So just plenty of water, mix a teaspoon of bicarb In a glass of water and chug that down but don't go too mad, it's not good to have too much bicarb in your system.

if you can take a morning urine sample with you (keep in fridge as soon as you've passed it - make sure container is washed out with boiling water first), if you can shower first of all aswell before taking the sample that will ensure you don't get any contamination from your lady bits confusing the lab results. Morning samples are better than during the day samples- if you are drinking lots of water it can dilute the sample so it might not show up properly when they dip it.

This is coming from a recurrent UTI sufferer btw!

D-mannose is also great for shifting and preventing ecoli UTI's, just one drink a day is good for maintenance after your UTI is cleared.

Plenty of water, but again don't go too mad, hot water bottle, painkillers.

I hope you feel better soon OP!

Don't wait. Mine are at weeing blood within twenty four hrs. Our surgery you don't need an appointment, you just drop in a sample and you have a script within a few hrs.

Really don't wait, they can travel to your kidneys fast

I'm on day one of antibiotics and gone from barely being able to move yesterday until symptom free.

Recurring/persistent UTIs might also be a symptom of something else ... in MrsLHs case it's MS, which causes the bladder to not empty properly (any more than 100ml residual can be problematic) so self-catheterisation is a daily chore.

flaming If the sugar from cranberry juice is ending up in your urine you've got bigger problems than a UTI ! Your body can generally filter out all sugar from urine and if it's failing to it's a sign of diabetes. Obviously loads of sugar is bad for you for lots of reasons, but it shouldn't end up in your urine.

I was told to drink cranberry juice by my GP, and they said the stuff in the carton from Ocean Spray was fine. Also said I should drink a large glass of it every day as a preventative.

I suffered constant UTIs for nearly 12 months, and had to have a barium meal + scan, of my bladder. Came very close to being put on a daily low dose AB, until I was advised to drink daily cranberry juice + always wee just before/just after sex.

Seemed to work, and have only had a handful of UTIs in the last 20 years.

Thanks everyone for all of your help and suggestions! :)

Just to ask (this is a bit daft) but I haven't had an appetite really, because of feeling like I have a full stomach all the time.

I had some yoghurt earlier, which seemed to help, but I'm not really sure what else would be best or easiest to eat. It would be great if anyone has any suggestions please :)

Thanks :)

I get them ALL.THE.FUCKING.TIME!

Sick of them. I get them every time I go abroad so I ask my GP for a supply of Trimethoprim.

I have had UTI number 3769 in the last week. I stopped going to see my GP. I simply have a stash of sample bottles at home and drop a sample off at the doctors in the morning and hey presto - I have my antibiotics by mid afternoon.

I would say cranberry juice does help but the sachets you get from supermarkets and pharmacists (cystitis relief) are a Godsend and give 6-8 hours relief.

Drinking gallons of water never helped flush it out for me.

I am odd though - I know I have a UTI coming on because I don't like being close to people and prefer to stand away, be on my own etc. My Gran got them a lot and the care home staff always knew because her dementia symptoms worsened.

And you can get sugar free Cranberry Juice. No added sugars.

banging do you make sure to empty your bladder just before, then just after sex? This is very important. Also, when you go to the loo make sure you wipe front to back (stops germs being transferred and travelling up the urethra.

It's likely that you have a very short urethra which allows bacteria to travel up it quickly, and easily (this is what I was told by doctors).

My Grandma used to suffer with UTIs all the time, too.

Banging

Try d-Mannose some studies have been conducted that show it can prevent recurring UTIs at least as effectively as low dose antibiotics.

Ohhhh the tingly feeling that goes all the way to your fingertips! One of the most unpleasant feelings in the world. I've found that drinking a shed load of water and trying to hold off going for a wee til you really need a wee (there is a subtle difference in how it feels) helps to flush it through.

Go to the GP though, a UTI is not to be messed with.

Do NOT drink cranberry juice if you are in the middle of an attack. Where this cranberry juice idea came from i have no idea but it's completely incorrect. It's actually the worst thing you can do because it makes your urine more acidic which is the environment bacteria thrive in so it makes things worse! You need to make the urine less acidic which is why baking soda in water or barley water can be helpful.

GP for antibiotics definitely, but if this happens again consider an alternative solution. I am a 25 year veteran of UTIs and the thing that changed my life was D Mannose. Absolutely amazing stuff with some good clinical research behind it now. It will work for any bladder infections in which E. coli is the bacteria (which is 90% of them). I never leave home without it.

Cheaper (and less sugar) than juice

www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/holland-barrett-cranberry-concentrate-tablets-60004361

For quite a few days the only symptom of my UTI was abdominal pains. They would start quite mildly, then build in intensity to get really really bad, then fade away and disappear again. I'd be completely fine for a 12-24 hrs, then they'd start up again.

As is my way I tried to just ignore them and wait for whatever it was to go away, but they kept coming back. It was only a week later when I started to get the 'tingle at the end of peeing' thing that I realised what it probably was and went to the doctor. Antibiotics sorted me out quite swiftly. The stomach pains stopped very quickly, although the tingling took a bit longer to go away. I haven't had another UTI since.

At the insistence of a colleague, I bought loads of those probiotic yoghurt thingies after I finished my antibiotics - apparently they build the good bacteria in your body up again. No idea if they actually make a difference, but I figured they couldn't do any harm.