UTI that will not die!

[JacintaJones]

Hoping that somebody is around at this time of night to talk me down, I'm on a night shift at work and feeling very paranoid about this almost constant UTI I seem to have had since May.
I dont want to give TMI but it may be relevant so I will tell you that it initially started when DH and I had sex in our hot tub
The next morning I felt I was peeing razor blades so trotted off the the out of hours for a course of trimethoprim (3days)
This seemed to work but less than a month later, again after sex I woke up with a UTI so off to the OOH again for some nitrofurantoin this time, again clears it up for a few weeks and then again after a few drinks and sex I wake up with another UTI!
I had a longer course of trimethoprim for this one from my own GP.

I was symptom free until we went on holiday when it reoccured, I got a course of co amoxiclav this time which seemed to cure me.
A month later its back again, then back the next month which is where I am now, my GP sent a culture to the labs and its apparently an E coli infection, I am now prescribed cephalexin which doesnt appear to have entirely cured it and I'm 3 days in to a 7 day course.

I am being driven mad, scared to have sex with DH and petrified that I have bladder cancer (I suffer from health anxiety).

I have tried D mannose which takes the edge off the symptoms but they seem to return if I miss a dose so hardly curative. I still need regular antibiotics.

Theres no blood in my urine other tgan a trace when I have an infection but it is always strongly positive for leucocytes.

Has anybody ever suffered a constant UTI for six months? Did it ever go away, and if so how?
Any helpful advice would be very much appreciated. I am driving myself mad googling bladder cancer symptoms.

I've now had a uti for a month, felt a bit rubbish over first weekend, was hot, cold & achy, woke up Monday busting to go for a wee, went to toilet & it was agony, smelt horrible & full of blood. Rang GP & managed to get a phone appt, after describing my symptoms, doctor sent a prescription for Nitrofurantin over to chemists. Took for the 3 day course, blood cleared day after, still felt rubbish, did nothing but wee & sleep for next 10 days. Woke up on 3rd Sunday busting for a wee, feeling sickly, again in loads of pain & lots more blood, managed to catch a sample, rang 111 & spoke to a doctor who got me appointment at out of hours, I saw doctor who after dipping my wee said he'd never seen a dipstick so bright disinfection, blood & protein, he prescribed me 7 days Co-amoxiclav 625mg, took the full course & now a week later I can't stop going to the loo, I'm wetting myself a lot & having to wear adult pampers to keep me dry. Going to have to go back to doctors, I can't goon like this.

Sorry to hear that you're going through something similar Nat it really is miserable, isn't it?
Definitely get back to see your GP though as you must need further treatment.
Best of luck let me know how you get on/ what works for you.

You must finish the course of antibiotics prescribed.

Unfortunately all sorts of bacteria can and do lurk in hot tubs and particularly if the water is not disinfected thoroughly enough. Its not unknown at all to contract a UTI from those. You were unlucky in that bacterium got into your urethra. At the very least you need to know precisely what bacteria it is, has the lab taken cultures?.

I would not keep on googling bladder cancer symptoms as its not that and doing so is only making you feel worse. Do also talk to the GP about your health anxiety and get the causes of that also properly addressed.

I used to be plagued with UTIs in my early 20s. I would be in agony for most of each month and nothing seemed to work. They eventually just stopped and never came back when I reached my late 20s.

Some tips I have (which you have probably already tried) :

Drink 3 litres of water per day (juice and squash etc used to irritate me so I just drink water on its own)

Take a cranberry supplement tablet every day (Boots and Amazon etc sell them)

Avoid caffeine and certain types of alcohol (clear spirits like gin are fine for me but wine, Prosecco and bear seemed to always flare it up)

Sit on the toilet for a couple of mins after having a wee as sometimes a couple more drops still need to come out and they can take a bit longer. Always wipe front to back.

Always wee straight after sex and down a pint of water. Also avoid really rough sex unless well lubed up (sorry if TMI)

Dmanosse powder every day (I did this for about 2 years and haven’t taken it since as I no longer get the infections).

Take a turmeric supplement every day (it’s amazing for treating inflammation all over the body).

Don’t google symptoms as it will make you anxious which will then tense your body up and make you have flare ups of the cystitis. You need to be feeling as relaxed as possible to get over it. I was once 100% certain I had MS and I literally googled about it from morning to night on my days off. I ended up with such bad anxiety that I had a breakdown. Please don’t google things and just speak to your doctor if you are worrying.

When you feel the burning sensation, try and hold it for as long as possible before you try and wee. The more you go to the toilet the more the bladder will become inflamed.

Avoid too much sugar in the diet as this can cause cystitis in some women. I used to live on things like coke and chocolate but I now just have them now and again which has definitely helped.

Thank you for the replies.
My symptoms have actually subsided over the last 48 hours and I have two days left on the cephalexin so I am tentatively hopeful!

Its just so demoralising to be dealing with this same thing on a monthly basis, its hard not to assume that there's something sinister going on, I do realise that seems a touch irrational in the cold light of day.

Thanks for the helpful tips

You could have something called chronic UTI. It might be worth seeing a specialist about it.