UTI Cystitus please help

[Itisnearlyspring]

For the past month I have had an irritated bladder. Symptoms are worse than night and it generally wakes me at 3am with a feeling of needing to wee and low tummy pain. There is however no pain/burning on weeing. I have been taking d mannose and drinking a lot of water for the past month which helps a little but is not curing it.

I went to the gp and he said that becuase it was cystitus (urine test came back negative for infection) antibiotics would be a waste of time and to just carry on with the d mannose.

Is this my life now? I am not usually one for taking antibiotics but feel I should at least try to see if they help so I am wondering about getting some from superdrug. Any thoughts or anything else I could take/do, the lack of sleep is making me miserable.

@Itisnearlyspring omg, cystitis is the worst...I used to suffer from it loads. Tips that helped me were, avoiding thongs, cranberry juice is king and always go for a pee after any nookie.🤭🤭🤭. Good luck.🤗🤗🤗

Sorry to hear - this was me.

Check out this long running thread

UTI Symptoms not going away & scared www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/4850557-uti-symptoms-not-going-away-scared

Thanks both, that thread makes very depressing reading though, I am sorry to hear people have suffered so long with it.

I was wondering if menopause was a factor but am on hrt already. I tried vagifem too but stopped becuase it made me feel sore, wondering if oestrogen cream would be better.

I had exactly this for a year, negative urine dips and MSU. I knew it wasn't a UTI, but as soon as I rang my surgery,was told to bring sample. Actually saw a GP at one point,ABC given,no change. Eventually I presented at the ED after 12 days solid agony and peeing everywhere few minutes. Not saying this is you, but after CT. Mine was caused by diverticulosis, and a bladder prolapse, and vaginal atrophy. I used vagifem bag tablets, estrogen cream externally.

Blasted phone, I typed ANTIBIOTICS!!

Vaginal oestrogen was what worked for me in the end. After tonnes of antibiotics for about a year it was what finally stopped the recurrence of non bacterial cystitis. If I were you I'd give it another go. Normal HRT won't touch this. Strange it made you sore though? In what way? D Mannose is geared towards bacterial infection.

Head to the CUTI Facebook page

I suffered from this all through my 20’s. It’s awful!
As above, cranberry, don’t get dehydrated, wee after sex.
But…once I was in my late 30’s, I happened to be chatting to my GP about unrelated matter, and commented that I’d not had a UTI for ages, they piped up, well its probably because you're not taking the Pill anymore! Very cross that no one thought to mention that the contraceptive pill could have been the cause all those years 😡
Makes me wonder if HRT will do the same for me, although everything I’ve read says it prevents rather than causes. Grrr!

I am wondering if mine might be related to prolapse. I saw a private physio a while back due to heaviness in the evenings and she said I might have a mild prolapse but tissues looked good 'plump' was her word. She also said I might have an overactive pelvic floor. She just gave me kegals to do though which don't seem to do much.

I am wondering if I should persist with the vagifem, I did read it can feel worse in the short term due to things healing but if tissues look OK I am not sure. It seems to me it is more likely that something has moved down there and not sure that topical oestrogen will help with that.

There are some good points about bladder prolapse and vaginal atrophy. I don't know about these but it's worth considering everything to get to the bottom of it. I'll just tell you what worked for me, just in case it helps you, or someone else, because I had UTIs for years, which then changed to an irritable bladder. I know it's a miserable condition, because it can go on for weeks and the doctors just say that they can't give you antibiotics if there's no infection.

D Mannose never worked for me. I used Uva Ursi tincture and I still keep some on hand in case of a UTI. For me it works faster and just as well as antibiotics.

Also I found out recently that I have a histamine intolerance. For the last few months I've cut out foods high in histamine and it's been a game changer for me. If I eat too many histamine containing foods, I feel it in my bladder within hours.

Itsnearlyspring. You can pop a finger into your vagina while standing up,see if you can feel a prolapse. I didn't specify, mine is a cystocele,(bladder prolapse) uterine or bowel pressing will also cause you to pee a lot. I've had cystitis and a kidney infection I knew it was neither of them, but I couldn't get passed the surgery receptionists! I had done pc excercises every single night for years. Course in my case the bowel was inflamed as well. The GP didnt do exam, luckily the ed Dr was lovely and ordered CT with contrast.,(also found a lesion on my adrenal gland) having investigations for that, they don't cause "symptoms")

Sorry I don't know how that post highlighted!

I had cystitis (and know 2 others who got it). Weird cos I haven't had it since a teenager...

Not in UK but got 2 courses of antibiotics, drinking Cranberry Juice and taking Dr. Vogel Cranberry Monarda and Solidago for it. It's cleared up, phew!

Cystitis is awful...

@Nannyfannybanny I am really not sure whether the PT I saw for my symptoms was that good. She seemed reluctant to examine me and then insisted on doing it lying down even though I said it is only when standing I feel the issues. I am wondering if I should push the nhs for an exam instead. I am not sure what I should be feeling for to be honest or what normal should feel like.

Can I ask did you get any specific treatment for your cystocele? Did the oestrogen help to improve it?

I haven't had any treatment for the cystocele. When I finally got an appointment....it was nurse and phone, after 6 weeks wait, eventually seeing her, she said vaginal atrophy, and prescribed the stuff, Sometimes this causes bladder problems. Friends physio son said to do the pcs 3 times a day, lying, sitting, standing. Have been waiting over a year for a gynae appointment,you can buy the pessaries online, but you have to know the correct size. Certainly wouldn't entertain surgery. Oddly enough a relative had a hysterectomy 2 years ago, which then caused a cystocele, shes had 3 operations, and was and still is,urinary incontinent.

I didn't know about the cystocele, at the time,I had the nurse appointments because I had a flare up of vulva/peri anal eczema.

I've had this. Painful bloated abdomen and constant need to wee but no burning.
I have had ultrasound scan and seen a gynae and urologist.
I have cystocele and rectocele but I've had those 25 years and they are not the cause.
The urologist was horrible. He just shrugged and said it's UTIs, just because they don't show up on tests doesn't mean it's not an infection, drink cranberry juice and loads of water. I can't tolerate cranberry as it's so acidic.

I did a dipstick today which showed up trace blood but everything else looked normal. Do people think it might be worth trying an antibiotic? I have some nitrofurantoin that should be arriving from an online pharmacy tomorrow but I am worried about making things worse. I think the pain is getting higher. It started more in my pelvis but is now around my belly.

I am going to do another sample for the gp tomorrow but it will probably be next week before it gets back from the lab.