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?

What disappointed me is that the nurse and GP who refused treatment are both female. They must have had a UTI at some point, so they must know how painful it is and how the tests aren’t reliable.

What upset me the most is being treated like a hysterical woman, because I started crying when they said they wouldn’t give me any treatment for the pain. They said it was probably anxiety related, and I said I’m anxious because I’m in agony and you’re refusing to help me!

The NHS guidance is that they should be treating symptoms rather than the results of a lipstick or culture which are know to produce false negatives. Is would direct them to the NHS website as this is stated there. Unfortunately GPs have not kept up to date with the changes and this is causing people to get embedded infections. I believe this website https://cutic.co.uk/ also has info you can provide to your GP to explain that uti testing is unreliable. Good luck, with getting the GP to treat you. If you can't get treatment you can try Prof Malones-Lees team in Harley Street but unfortunately they are private so you have to pay.

The NHS guidance is that they should be treating symptoms rather than the results of a lipstick or culture which are know to produce false negatives
This is what the private GP said when I paid for an appointment and prescription. The NHS nurse and GP were adamant that they would not provide any treatment unless they saw a positive test result. DH said it’s probably a cost cutting exercise?

Do you have a coil?

No. I just randomly got a UTI after sex. It happens sometimes.

I do really hate being told real symptoms are anxiety related, I'm sorry you are being treated like this. Do you have anyone who could go with you?

I agree, 2 or more UTI symptoms means you should be treated without the need for a urine dip at the surgery.

I'm glad you've got some abx now but should it happen again I would be referring your GP to the guidelines.

Be careful going down this route.
I took loads of antibiotics and ended up getting c diff. It's not pleasant.
Took ages to get better.

Honestly I’m just at the point where I want the pain to stop. I either take the antibiotics and deal with the consequences, or I don’t take them and it spreads to a kidney infection.

@Shonla
Did you sort yours? I'm in the same boat as you were now and miserable

In the end I fixed it with thrush pessaries and Balance Activ BV gel, and I went to A&E where they gave me a one-off dose of some sort of antibiotic. One of the three worked - despite my GP telling me I didn’t have any of those things because all my tests were clear!

Brillant.

Edited because I see you have gotten better.