Conception and cystitis

[AllABitHazey]

Does anyone else have experience of this? I have been a very long time cystitis sufferer and am just now ttc with my husband (1 month in).

My concern is that, to control cystitis, I always go to the loo immediately after sex and clean the area to avoid any contamination. Since we have been trying, I haven't changed this behaviour.

Reading a little bit of conception advice (couldn't help myself!) I am now wondering whether I will need to stop doing this. I didn't want to become one of the women who sits for ages afterwards, legs in the air, hoping for gravity to help, but....!

I'm currently thinking of keeping doing what we're doing, and then changing tack after 6 months if we're not having any luck.

The only other thing is that we do sometimes use some extra lubrication - mainly because he likes it on him during foreplay, and I see that this can hinder things. Again, thinking we might just do what we're doing for a bit longer and then change tack if needs be.

Finally, we are both pretty healthy and energetic, don't smoke, drink too much or anything like that. We eat well and have no history of anything in our families that worries me. Is it still worth having a doctor's appointment pre-conception? I'm taking 400mg folic acid but nothing else.

Any advice/comments would be greatly appreciated!

Hi - I've suffered with cystitis too and by FAR the best thing while ttc is to get up and pee straight afterwards. The legs in the air stuff isn't proven to work (the good swimmers will have shot up through your cervix at the point of ejaculation, and you don't want the duff ones anyway!) And nothing gets in the way of ttc like a UTI or, worse, a kidney infection!

I found that washing before and after dtd, and peeing straight after, avoids cystitis - I've been ttc a long time and after a bout of it when we first started this discipline has served us well. Re lubricant, make sure you're using a sperm friendly one like Preseed or Conceive Plus, as others like KY are usually spermicidal.

It's probably worth going to the doctor only if your smear test isn't up to date. Otherwise the best advice I've had is to have sex every other day from day 9 to day 19 of your cycle (provided your cycles are roughly normal length) and remember that it can take fertile, healthy couples aged under 35 a year to get pregnant, so you don't need to start doing anything other than having lots of sex initially.

Good luck!

Thank you so much FizzyFeet! I'll follow your advice gladly, anything to avoid the horrendous fate of cystitis.

I'll have to check the lubricant we use - can't use the Durex ones or KY because I've had an allergic reaction (only thing I've ever been allergic to is those and Durex condoms! Oh, except a few different BCPs that gave me severe migraines!)

I'm up to date on smears, and under 35, so we will just continue to see how we go. Exciting :-)

I always pee after sex for the same reason & I got up-duffed straight away.

Good luck!

Just to give you the other side of the coin, I've suffered severe cystitis for years now but don't usually pee after dtd. Since ttc, I have lain with my legs in the air and only urinated afterwards occasionally. Have had no uti symptoms at all.