Is a Uti an urgent problem

[Whattodonowadays]

Hi, all of a sudden I’ve got a uti! I’m weeing every 5 minutes, got the horrible pressure feeling and pain in my back. I know that’s what it is as I’ve had loads of them before. My question is, obviously it’s Saturday night, so I just wait to see the gp Monday? Or ring the out of hours doctor? I know I need antibiotics? Thanks.

Ring out of hours/111 without a doubt. You really don't want to leave it until you're weeing blood, trust me on that.

That said. I have a feeling you can go in to some chemists now and get antibiotics for UTIs....

I think I'd ring 111 now who will inevitably take until at least tomorrow morning to get back to you. If you haven't heard from them by the time you're up tomorrow then head to a chemist.

Find a pharmacy that's open near you that does dispensing

Don't wait - it could spread to your kidneys.

You can get prescribed them direct from some pharmacies. Don’t wait!

Please don't wait!

This happened to me last weekend. Was going to wait it out, but ended up at the OOH doctor at 4:30am on Sunday morning! Took the antibiotics and began to feel better within an hour. It was such a relief.

I really wouldn't wait OP, it just gets sorer and pain in the kidneys (bottom of your back) needs to be addressed asap.

Thanks for the replies, Problem is I live in the middle of nowhere! The nearest pharmacy open on a Sunday is 26 miles away! If I go to the out of hours gp that is 26 miles away as well! Will they have antibiotics to give me there? Or will they just give me a prescription anyway that I will have to go back and get tomorrow? If that’s the case then I may as well just wait until tomorrow and just go to the pharmacy. X

So urgency wise you 'might' be able to wait till Monday but to be honest you'll probably be better off dealing with this tomorrow morning. My second daughter ignored her UTI - didn't even mention it over Xmas but went back up to Uni to exams so continued to ignore it and it began to hurt! Since her exams were coming up. Late January she was rushed into Hospital with serious kidney issues and sepsis. She was in for 6 nights and v.v. ill. So in a nutshell, you can ignore it for a short time, but during that time it will get significantly worse. It's easy to ignore, it's one of those illnesses that can be ignored for ages and so when it goes totally ape shit it can feel very sudden. Yes you can ignore this, but be aware that UTI's can get better on their own, BUT they can also explode unexpectedly. Be careful and look after yourself. Don't bother cranberry juice! Water Water Water Water - yes it will make you pee more but that's kind of helping you.

The doctor or a nurse at OOH clinic at the hospital will hand you the antibiotics before you go. You shouldn't need a trip to the chemist.

I've been given them out of the doctors magic bag when I've been to out of hours in the middle of the night before. You don't get much choice but it's better than nothing

NHS website suggests you don't actually need to treat cystitis in a lot of cases and can wait and see

www.nhs.uk/conditions/cystitis/

Only suggests seeing a GP if symptoms haven't gone within three days

NHS website suggests you don't actually need to treat cystitis in a lot of cases and can wait and see

Ex-nurse. I absolutely would not do this!

@whyhere from experience I agree! But NHS online does indeed suggest a wait and see approach

I know 🙁Having had a daughter who followed their advice and ended up as an inpatient with serious kidney issues, I now follow my instincts.

I can't fathom why the NHS website DOES say that. IME, once you have any pain with a UTI, you'll need antibiotics for it. I know zero women who've ever managed to just drink off an aching, burning UTI.

You can fill in a form online with Boots and then pick up antibiotics later in the day. I did this last weekend.