Can’t get treatment for UTI

[Shonla]

I have symptoms of a UTI but nitrafurantoin hasn’t fixed it. Every time I go to my GP they insist there’s no infection and my sample is clear.

The I go to the out of hours doctor in agony. They dip my sample and say it clearly shows there’s a UTI. They put the full results on my record and tell me to go back to my GP for stronger antibiotics.

So I go back to my GP, who tests my sample again and finds nothing, tells me the out of hours doctor must be wrong, and refuses to give me treatment.

What the hell do I do?

You can get meds for a UTI from the pharmacy. Thats what i did.

I’ve been to the pharmacy. They can only offer nitrafurantoin which hasn’t worked. A stronger antibiotic would need to be prescribed by a GP. And my GP won’t prescribe it because they say my test result is clear.

I can’t understand why the test is clear at the GP but later on the same day I test positive for a UTI at the out of hours service.

They should really be sending your sample to the lab, not just dipping it. Is there more than one GP?

They’ve sent it to the lab. The lab won’t even culture my sample because they’re dipping it and saying there’s no white cells so therefore no infection present.

The only GP I’m able to see is the emergency on call GP, all of the others require an appointment booked three weeks in advance.

So then I go to the out of hours service at the hospital begging for painkillers, and they dip my sample and find white cells and nitrites which indicates infection. They send me back to my GP for a prescription, who says the hospital is wrong and my sample is clear.

I’m at my wits end.

Afraid this happened to me, the infection became embedded, I went to The Harley Street UTI Clinic in the end, they looked at my urine and said I had a raging infection that needed longterm antibiotics, I have tried 2 lots but cannot tolerate them. I should really go back as I have had it for 2 years now and am in constant pain. My GP just fobbed me off and said my pain was "anxiety"

Complain to the practice manager. Out of hours say your sample is positive and you have symptoms. They can’t just shrug their shoulders and not treat you.

You can also get Trimethoprim from online pharmacies.

In the meantime I've found that codeine helps with UTI pain. Also order yourself some AZO online, it's a painkiller that literally takes away that horrible feeling and has literally saved my sanity on occasion.

I've had the same experience in the past and had to use The Online Pharmacy. They'll give you an online consultation and usually get back to you within the hour. You do have to pay around £30 for the antibiotics though.

Does the hospital not add this to your notes or records?
Send a prescription from the hospital?
I'm not in the UK.
This is terrible,
A kidney left untreated and long-term infections in a severely scarred, which makes the pain like I'm being stabbed or poked at its best.
Not good at all for you!
I thought like our hospital they could send on your issue so it's doubt with?
Op you must feel terrible

It may be an overactive bladder not a UTI and they are incredibly difficult to treat .

Does the hospital not add this to your notes or records?
Yes it’s on my records that the hospital dipped my sample and found white cells and nitrites. The GP just keeps saying the hospital is wrong because their own tests are clear. And the hospital keeps saying the GP is wrong and maybe their test sticks are out of date!

I’ve tried this. Unfortunately you need a prescription to get trimethoprim, even from online pharmacies.

In the end I paid privately to see a GP this afternoon and she was quite happy to prescribe trimethoprim based on symptoms. It was expensive but hopefully it works. It’s shocking that I couldn’t get treatment on the NHS!

Try your local GUM clinic, if there's a possibility, may as well get tested for STI's as some can make you feel like you have a uti. Nitrofurantoin won't work for chlamydia.

I know you have got the antibiotics nice, but why couldn't the OOH GP prescribe them ?

(deleted)

Oh this is a very good idea in future. My sexual health clinic always have appointments within a week or so and they do drop ins twice a week too. I have gone when I couldn't get a smear appointment and another time when I had uti symptoms I had an sti test while I was there

I was thinking the same.
For years I had the symptoms of UTI's but no infection.
A consultant urologist I saw for a different problem organised a cystoscopy and it showed I was suffering from Interstitial Cystitis, (Painful Bladder Syndrome).
Not saying this is what you have, but just a thought.
Based on my experiences and history, I maintain the belief that we women still have to fight to get the medical profession to take our gynaecological and urological issues seriously.

I had 2 uti which cleared up and came back withi. A week
I used Nitrofurantoin & trimethoprim as I always keep them as an emergency as I can get cystitis twice a year without fail

i also bought some from a few online pharmacy’s so I have it with me to use straight away
You do the online prescription on line

I also started taking DeManose tablets and got some AZ0 just in case

you can get these antiobiotic from an online pharmacy where you fill out the details / symptom
cheapest was £ 14 most expensive was £21 for a 3 day course

Dr Fox
health express
Superdrug
boots
Oxford pharmacy
simple online pharmacy
simply mess on line
all of these will allow you to do an online prescription for under £21 for antibiotics for cystitis

If nitro doesn't work you can try ciprofloxacin I was prescribed this once for a uti that wouldn't budge. It's very strong and not without risk however. Google to see if you're willing and you might be able to get an online gp to prescribe. Alternatively double the dose of nitro that has worked for me in the past.

They wouldn’t 🤷‍♀️

Said they would only prescribe the basic nitrafurantoin, and I obviously needed something stronger, which they wouldn’t prescribe without a urine test saying the bug I had was sensitive to that particular antibiotic. Told me to go back to my GP and get a urine test to identify the specific bug - which kept coming back clear!

There isn’t a possibility of STIs unless my DH of 15 years has cheated, which is very unlikely, and he has no symptoms.

But regardless my GP insisted on testing for STIs and I was clear.

Get a male partner, friend to phone with the same symptoms but replace UTI with pain in your penis and stand back and wait for them to get urgent appointments.

The difficulty I’ve had is getting them to accept I have a UTI in the first place. It’s hard to get treatment when the doctor is saying I don’t even have a UTI so therefore they won’t prescribe anything. The first sample was “contaminated” and subsequent samples were coming back clear because I was already on antibiotics.

Joking aside as I know it's agony as an IC sufferer for years.

In the time waiting to sort antibiotics look at your diet, avoid tomato's and look at the IC list of things to avoid. It won't "fix" the immediate issues but can prevent flares.

Exactly the same happened to me. I've been on antibiotics under Harley Street for 18 months now, I feel much better but still have some symptoms. Thousands of women are in the same boat, it's shocking. Look up the embedded uti group on Facebook for support and advice.