Another suspected urine infection in dd - when will it ever end cos I have just about had enough!

[Aero]

Anyone else got experience of this. It's driving me nuts and I have no idea how she just keeps getting this. She has constant problems with her 'minnie' and I don't know what to do to help her. She's just had a course of Trimethroprim (sp) a few weeks ago, which seemed to clear it up, but it has just returned. Next available appointment is Friday, unless we ring up for an emergency one in the morning and go through the whole triage over the phone process.......yawn. Why can't they just give you an emergency one when it's clear she needs to be seen!? That means I will call at 9am, the nurse won't call me until near 11am and then if she thinks dd deserves to be seen, we will perhaps get an appointment tomorrow sometime. Forgive the rant........I'm just so fed up with this and feel so helpless!

Wonder if she's around. Thanks dropinthe

Well, after three sleepless nights worrying about the leading questions the GP was asking me the other day when she said she thought there wasn't an infection present, not to mention no improvement in dd's condition, I got a call from the surgery this morning to confirm there is an infection. E.coli has been found in her urine so she has to take a weeks worth of double strength Trimethroprim to try to eradicate it from her body as clearly it didn't clear up properly after the last lot. She then has to wait a week and then produce another sample to make sure it's gone this time.

I'm glad you were right but obviously, I'm sorry for your dd and at least it sounds like they are taking this seriously and will test her again to make sure she's clear.

Glad you've got an answer now Aero, and she's getting treatment. Hope it clears up and doesn't come back.

I think the ecoli one is quite a common cause. Poor dd.

Please ask about being referred for kidney/bladder scans, Aero - there might be an underlying problem that needs addressing.

I hope she's better very soon.

Me too fis - though part of me is angry at always having to prove everything before treatment. She could have been having the treatment three days ago, especially as the symptoms are just as they were six weeks ago when this all started and an infection had already been proven then! I hated the fact that I just haven't been able to sleep for worrying about the those questions and what could happen if the GP was right and there was no infection! I'm almost glad there is an infection!! Ridiculous isn't it?!

I also think we need to seriously address the wiping thing! Dd is great at washing her hands, but doesn't always tell me when she's been for a poo. It's also difficult if she has to go at school where there is no help for her to make sure she's properly clean and occasionally she comes home with marks in her pants where it's obviously been difficult to clean up properly by herself.

ps - great link fis - thanks

Aero - it's worth asking about having the Trimethoprim prophlactically once this infection is clear. They can have a low dose everyday for a good length of time. My dd was on it for over a year I think.....and a referral too.

Hope you can catch up on your sleep!

yes I know what you mean - of course, you don't want it to be an infection but on the other hand, it's so nice not to be the neurotic, child-abusing parent that you're made to feel like!

Yes, the wiping issue - dd is 5 (in yr 1) and still can't wipe herself properly. It's bloody hard to get it right - it requires quite a lot of coordination and I'm sure they just don't have that yet.

Have they made sure that the infection is not trimethoprim resistant? Might be worth double-checking. My dd's first UTI bug was resistant to the antibiotics given. Just worth double-checking. Sorry am a bit of a UTI expert as dd is on prophylactic nitrofurantoin (will be for the next two-three years).

pleasure!

I guess they'll know that if there's still a problem after this course ajmum.

Yes, I will sleep better tonight knowing that I was right and that I do know my own child after all! Dd will sleep better too as I'll just put her in a nappy so her sleep is undisturbed. Poor wee thing has been getting up three or four times a night to wee plus wetting the bed every night. How she's stayed awake at school I have no idea! Better go collect her now though!

You're better off with ecover ( as mentioned earlier), rather the Fairy & the other non-bios as they have irritating compounds which bond with the skin. Also cotton knickers, which I'm sure is wearing already. What does she wear in bed ? always good to give it a good air - ie no pj's.

Could she be allergic to soap/bubble bath ? I was allergic to matey as a chid & was actually admitted to hospital as I had a discharge - they think I had put something up inside me. Never found out the outcome, mind you.

If she's had antibiotics, can you give her some acidophillus as probably needs a boost. Also good is bee propolis, which is like a natural antibiotic - 1/4 as powerful as penicillen without the side effects. Cost £4.95 from Holland & Barrett, takes foul, but can be mixed with fruit juice.

Re the nappies. I understand the idea of allowing your daughter some sleep, but I have to say that my recollection of being put back into nappies at the age of 5, when I thought I'd left them behind, is stronger than the pain and bleeding of that first urine infection. It was just plain embarrassing.

Re the wiping thing. I'm sure you've covered this, but it's really important to make sure that she's wiping towards the back, not forwards.

As for the GP's comments, I really wouldn't worry about it. I've seen various things published about UTIs in girl children which mention abuse in amongst washing powder suggestions. It's just a pretty standard line of enquiry - although the GP would have done better to treat the infection at the same time as interrogating you on your living arrangements.

Hi Aero, glad you have finally had some confirmation but about the waiting for it. Hope this now gets sorted. Are you "around" at the weekend?

Thanks RZ. She's happy enough to use a nappy for a couple of nights - we just ran out of dry-nights. Tbh, dd desperately needs the sleep and she knows it so has asked for one tonight - saves her and us a lot of stress. Agree about the treatment thing though - at least if the treatment was started and there was no infection, the GP could have just called and said to stop the treatment - it's all money though imo. I would never want abs for no good reason, but I think the symptoms I described to her and given that dd had only just recently had a proven infection would be a good enough reason to prescribe them.
As for wiping, we're working on that - she knows how to wipe from front to back, but I'm not sure that she's very competant at it yet. Still gets help at home, but at school it's a different matter.

Cadbury, yes, should be around at the weekend. So glad and relieved this is now being treated and taken seriously and hope the cause is nothing worse than wiping issues! Poor dd though between all this and the threadworm issue earlier in the year.............it's just endless for her!

Thanks too mojomummy - will try ecover.

Good luck with all of this. just to add my two pen'orth - I would try using no soap at all in the bath when she's sitting in the water, but add a couple of drops each of lavender and tea tree oil - natural antisceptic (sp?) and antibacterial. Hope your dd feels much better very soon

No soap at all been used this week tomps! But great idea about hte lavender and tea tree oil. We have both in the house (surprisingly) so will give that a go. Thanks.

Have had two calls from the surgery this morning - one from the receptionist to say I need a routine follow up appointment for dd next week. I would have called to ask for this anyway. The other was from the HV to say she'd been passed information regarding dd's bedwetting etc. Now what's that all about? Don't get me wrong - I really like our HV and tbh, she'll know me well enough to know there are no concerns, but I'm wondering why the GP felt the need to involve her. The bedwetting IMO is a symptom of her UTI. The rest of the time she's mainly dry at night. With the worry of her line of questioning last week (which I fully intend to speak with her about and let her know how upset I was about it), I just don't know what this HV visit will really be about. [worried (as if I don't already have enough to worry about) emoticon]!!

Perhaps it's just that your GP is a complete f**kwit, who doesn't realise that many reasons for bedwetting have a physical cause at root...? Anxiety, yes - stress, yes - those can also have an effect, but since your daughter has been diagnosed with infections, that seems to me to be a less fruitful line of enquiry than investigating physical causes. Which a health visitor is going to be able to do diddly squat about, I would have thought. I wet the bed at an age later than you might have expected for precisely the same sort of reasons as your daughter.

There was a casenotes programme on Radio 4 recently about bedwetting. Transcript here . The bedwetting bit is towards the bottom - past the bit about nits.

I was thinking about your GP's line of enquiry over the weekend, actually. I appreciate that she is doing his child protection bit, but you've got to think that any girl who develops a urine infection as a consequence of abuse, is going to show other physical signs, abrasions whatever. And she has examined her, after all, hasn't she???

Exactly RZ! Also if I were worried that they'd investigate those sort of things, I'd hardly keep bringing her to the GP would I! Of course she's wetting because of the infection. HV has no need to be involved, although I do like her very much. I'm glad there's to be a follow-up and I'm hoping they will want to scan her to check there's been no further damage - which would be a much greater worry to me than the questioning regarding our living arrangements. Have to say GP is nice enough though, but my confidence in the whole system is diminishing because I keep having to shout so loudly when my children need treatment. I feel I know them best and I don't abuse the system. We only go when there really is a problem - hence me not taking her the first day she was sore iyswim!

Interesting link to - thanks.