Urethra burning?

[pickledwillies]

I've posted about this a fair bit in the past month, and am having a total nightmare atm!

Long story short - had a UTI in early Feb, multiple courses of antibiotics didn't resolve it, so now on long-term antibiotics (cefalexin) and just started Hiprex prescribed by a Harley Street specialist clinic who have a theory of "embedded infection". My only lingering symptom is a burning presence in my urethra* *after urinating, not during. However, I had a week last week where I pretty much entirely fine, so was like yaay the cefalexin is working! But yesterday, the burning pain after urinating came back. So now I'm thinking maybe it's not an underlying infection?

I'm going to make another urogynae appointment, but things like STDs, kidney stones and menopause (I'm 32) have already been ruled out, so I'm not even sure what to ask for? I've Googled and everything seems scary and confusing. Do I need bladder instillations? Is it IC/PBS? Something to block the pain? Do I ask for an ultrasound/cystoscopy?

If anyone has had any similar experiences, please help :( It's been almost 2 months of this now and it's taking over my life. My nephew is due to be born soon, which I was so excited about, but all I can think about is my bloody urethra.

Go and see doc/nurse for halp/advice/guidance/reassurance etc

@DistinguishedSocialCommentator Thanks for your response, but we're a bit beyond that! Hence posting here. I've seen several specialist doctors, and am due to see another soon.

I've recommended these a few times recently - Azo Urinary Pain Relief tablets (I bought them from Amazon). Work really fast. Turn your urine the most ridiculous neon colour though so if you need to do a sample do it before taking these.

Promise I'm not on commission!

Good luck and I hope a FM can give you good guidance/recommendations here

@pickledwillies, have you had your urine cultured, to make sure the antibiotic is the correct one?

Have you tried potassium citrate

And you are not doing any exercise or gym work that presses down your pelvic floor?

I had this after a util and ended up on Amitryptaline which was one of the only things that helped. This was due to the antibiotics causing peripheral neuropathy which was a side effect of nitrofurantoin and ciprofloxacin that they prescribed me. The other was a women's physio who specialised in pelvic floor, mine had gone hypertonic due to the infection. Try buscopan as helps reduce bladder spasms which can lead to the burning sensation. Hope that helps you.

@tootsierubs thank you! Were you able to come off the Amitryptiline eventually? Also I'm wondering why the medication would cause tingling in that area? Isn't it more likely it was irritation from the infection, if it was the urethra? Thanks for your response and I'll ask my uro about this!

Hi, please listen to this brilliant new podcast on chronic urinary tract infections (CUTIs), highly recommend if you're wanting to learn more about the little know topic of CUTIs. Its brilliantly researched and a really important topic everyone should be aware of that aims to help women advocate for themselves in the face of stubborn GPs and a medical world that has historically ignored womens health.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/54Thd0K0vAkSeJrZGoyz56?si=tM-UFF3RTDKtwdWpxAnZtg

@pickledwillies just wondering if you ever got sorted OP.? Hope so.
im on hippies now and find that gives me a burning sensation in my urethra for about 3 to 4 hours then back to normal…..very irritating 🥺