For the last couple of weeks I've felt a dull ache on and off just below my abdomen, around my pubic bone. When I press on it, it feels v uncomfortable, like I need the toilet. It doesn't actually sting when I urinate, but it feels really uncomfortable and achey down there, and feels worse as my bladder fills. It turns into a sharper pain when I need to urinate.
Last Wednesday the ache got alot worse and I started constantly needing the toilet (even after I had just been and there was nothing more to come out). Went to the doctor, who said dipstick was negative, but she prescribed a 3 day course of antibiotics (nitrofurantoin) to be on the safe side.
However the symptoms hadn't improved, so I went back on Saturday, and saw another doctor. Again dipstick test was negative for bacteria (but small trace of blood), but he prescribed me a 5 day course of a stronger antibiotic (cefalexin) and has sent sample for lab testing (should have results by Weds/Thurs).
I'm still feeling very uncomfortable, especially at night, and I have trouble getting to sleep as I feel like I need the toilet. I have been taking the new antibiotics 3 days now and I haven't seen a reduction in symptoms. My concern is that I don't have bacterial cystitis at all (which is why the dipstick tests are negative and the antibiotics don't work) and that I may have something like interstitial cystitis instead.
I never had cystitis until a year and a half ago, when I had a bad infection that took 2 weeks and 3 antibiotic prescriptions to clear up. A few months later, I had another attack of cystitis, but like this one it didn't seem to respond to the antibiotics, and the dipstick test showed no bacteria (but it did show high levels of white blood cells, so my body must have been fighting something). Over time the symptoms eventually faded, until the last couple of weeks when it has flared up again.
It's so uncomfortable and I just want to know what's causing it and how to get rid of it. Has anyone had similar symptoms and did anything help?