question about a urinary tract infection

[threeangels]

I was just wondering if anyone knows if you can take Amoxicillan for a UTI. My dh has a prescription at home that he never used and he said it will work. The label says its used for bacterial infections including kidney and bladder and I think UTI's . I havent been diagnosed yet but it sure feels like one. Could possibly be a bladder or kidney infection though.

threeangels,
as another frequent sufferer, I would also recommend seeing the doctor. If you're pregnant, even more important - UTIs can start contractions. I use cephradine (another antibiotic), but other self help remedies include drinking cranberry juice every day (more preventative than anything), cut out sugary foods and drinks totally while you've got one(a large glass of full sugar lemonade is a really good way to make it A LOT worse, believe me), and some people say that lemon barley water helps).

Another good reason to see the doctor is in case they reoccur regularly - then they should do more than just prescribe antibiotics.

HTH

IIRC the cranberry works be stopping the bacteria from sticking to the walls of the bladder, which makes it harder for them to grow. I also found that making sure my bladder was empty before and after making love helped.

Thanks everyone.

Ks - My dh just started a new job recently and we havent filed the medical papers out yet. Our medical at his old job just lapsed. Now we have no medical. This weekend we are moving back home and he will not have the new medical for 4 weeks. I could go to a walk in clinic but we have absolutely no cash for me to even pay to them upfront (which they always want). This stupid infection had to come about at the worst week.

I did start the amoxi yesterday and the pain when I urinate seems to be subsiding. I think i will keep taking this a few more days and see what happens. By fri I will be able to go to a clinic if I need to. I thought I was pregnant a month ago but turned out I wasnt. The sad thing is that the last couple days and the next few we are suppose to be trying. We have been trying so much to get pregnant up until this infection that this is probally one of the likely causes why I got the infection. This is only my 2nd one that I can ever remember. Thanks for the advice.

Threeangels, sorry to hear of your disappointment last month and now a UTI. I know the circumstances weren't ideal, but if you go to the clinic having taking amoxicillin for a UTI, it might have "masked" the bacteria causing your problems, rather than cleared them up completely. So you might test negative there but the infection might return.
I'm another frequent sufferer and my GP uses amoxicillin as the first choice because it is still effective against e-coli triggered UTIs. But as KS says, other types of bacteria do cause these infections and amoxicillin won't be effective against them.
What helps enormously for me is cranberry juice (as mentioned by others), but if you find it too sugary and don't like the artificially sweetened brands, you can get extract of cranberry capsules which are as good. And a teaspoon of bicarb of soda in a glass of warm water tastes vile but immediately alleviates the symptoms.
Hope you are feeling better soon.

Thanks Marina. I think I will try and get some cranberry juice. My mom gets a lot of bladder infections and thats the first thing she heads to the store for.

Do you think that if the pain I'm feeling completely goes away after taking the amox I should still see a doc or do you think the infection will most likely be gone totally? I figured that once done with the meds and if there werent any symptoms for so many days afterwards then most likey it would be gone. Hopefully not just in remission for a little while though.

Actually cranberry juice is something that is always much better in the US than here - we only get juice drinks with about 7% cranberry juice and lots of water and sugar, in the states you can get fairly pure juice (minimal sugar) I think.

Good luck, threeangels, it's a horrible thing to have. Skip trying this month, get yourself sorted out once your medical insurance is through, then start again!

Im new here and came across this discussion. I found cranberry juice very good for urinary infections and if you dont like the plain then you can get it mixed with apple or raspberry. If you started antibiotics you must make sure you finish the course or it will return. I always used to get a pain on my lower right hand side during pregnancy when suffering from this infection.

I heard once that pumpkin seeds are helpful with UTIs or cystitis. Has anyone tried this?

We were at an hotel in Jersey visiting a friend who worked on the island when one of the girls came down with something like that and someone took her out to get some. She came back with a huge bag but I never heard whether they worked.

ks
if you keep getting UTIs, your GP should refer you to a urologist. Mine did after I kept getting UTIs every couple of weeks and this had happened over a period of about 6 months. The urologist prescribed some different antibiotics, and we discussed preventative measures (mine are also triggered by sex). Agree that going to the loo before and after is important - also showering before and after - and get dp to do so too!

The urologist told me that sometimes your body can get into a pattern of UTIs, and that if you break the pattern, you won't get them for a while. I'm not sure how true that is, but the new antibiotics (one taken before sex, and one after) seemed to do the trick. I can't remember exactly what they were called - it wasn't cephradine then, it was another one which had a trade name beginning with 'N' - sorry can't remember - dd is feeding every 2 and a half hours and brain has given up!

On the cranberry juice issue - agree that you have to pick your brand carefully. I go for the 'Ocean Spray' brand - it's 25% cranberry juice, and they do a low sugar version. Works for me, anyway!

Thank you ks. No need to apologize.

SueW - Pumpkin seeds are pretty interesting.

Having posted earlier, I've done a few google searches using pumpkin seeds cystitis and pumpkin seeds urinary and lots of info comes up.

I ate loads this afternoon which I'd picked up as reduced in Asda and I now feel very good about my health. Although was disappointed to read they are over 50% fat, even if it is 'good' fat!

Hi threeangels,
I am also a frequent kidney/urine infection sufferer and have been on amoxicyllin several times - it is a very basic antibiotic but all that is needed in the majority of cases.
Maybe once you get the medical cover sorted out you can drop a sample in to be checked just to make sure it is better. If you get any pain in your back/side that is made worse by tapping it, then you should see a doctor as kidney infections can be nasty and develop quickly, doing a lot of damage.
Cranberry juice is great, also drink as much plain water as you can (upeards of the normal recommendation) to flush out the infection.
Hope you feel better soon.

Susanmt - Thanks for the advice. I'm on my 3rd day of amoxicillian and it seems to be helping a lot. I will probally finish the pills and wait a few days and then go and have myself tested to make sure its totally gone. I'm kind of bummed out at the moment because my dh and I were already treying to get pregnant a couple days before this came about. The part that really stinks is that we were wanting to be pregnant this month of trying because we decided if it didnt work then we would have to wait until a few months past because we didnt want to have anymore kids born around the same time. Two are in Nov and 1 in Feb. Thats why we were hoping with a lot of work it might happen this month.

Oh well I guess it's not the end of the world. I can wait a few months then try. This infection has just been a little of a let down.

I do have one question if anyone can answer. Does having a UTI effect your ovulation cervical mucus? I'm very regular each cycle and always have a good amount of this as an indicator of ovulation time. I'm suppose to ovulate today maybe tomorrow and I have a no mucus just a little wetness. I'm thinking that maybe this UTI has messed up my ovulation. Hope someone can answer. Thanks

How are you feeling threeangels? Any better?

Susanmt - Thank you for asking. I'm feeling so much better. I think the amox done the job. Hopefully I dont have anymore problems reacurring after I take the last pill which will be tomorrow. Thanks again for your caring.

Threeangels,

The antibiotics will not affect your ovulation but often does upset the environment of the vagina, usually causing thrush infection. You may not be developing thrush but the apparent lack of mucus is probably due to the changes caused by the antibiotics. Eating live yogurt is recommended when taking antibiotics to replace the natural lactobaccilis which is present in the vagina (and elsewhere). Hope you could follow my rambling explanation.

Thanks Mears. I wish I liked yogurt.

Do you think I could pass on seeing a doctor if I dont have any symptoms for the next few days. I dont have medical because I stupidly did not fill out our medical papers because we ended up deciding to move back home. We will have new ins in about 4 weeks.

Threeangels
I missed out on your news of moving back home - last time I heard you wanted to but your dh's old job had been filled. Is there a thread to catch up on your news?

Threeangels, you can use yoghurt topicaly to help sort out the thrush. It sounds a bit messy, but if you wear a panty liner or pad it isn't too bad. The pH of the yoghurt also helps to restore that natural pH level of the vagina, and this also helps to get the right balance of normal bacteria. So you don't need to like the taste of yoghurt!

Threeangels,

You will not need to see the doctor if you no longer have any sypmtoms. It isn't really necessary to send a urine sample at the end of treatment unless you are still suffering symptoms. As long as you are well there isn't a problem. However, if your symptoms come back then it is important to send a urine sample away before you start antibiotics again to make sure it is the correct treatment. Make sure you keep up your fluid intake. Hope it was a one off.

Thanks mears and Hmb.

Hi Copper. I havent started a thread on my moving but I will fill you in. I dont know if you remember all the problems I was having with my mom and moving situation. Well ever since I moved I have been melancholy because I missed my family and my old church home. I hadnt spoken to my mom for over a month but I got so depressed I called her to tell her I want to move back home (after my dh and I talked of course) she was so happily hesterical because she has missed us so much. Living here has also been so expensive these past 3 months. On top of that we werent able to find a nice enough place to rent we could afford. I started to attending a nice church but I was missing my other church and friends. After all this I just decided I wanted to move back home and stay.

We went down to visit my family at Christmas and my dh was offered a position at our old church as the only IT computer person there. It's a large church of 5000 members and hes wanted this for the past year. My brother works there and helped him get the job. So we feel very blessed for this opportunity. We also found a nice house to rent while there. So now well be leaving on this Sat. My kids are so very happy and that really makes me happy. I just hate the reorganising all over again. Sorry its so long. Thank-you for asking.

Oh Threeangels, I'm sorry the move did not work out, but it's nice to hear you are heading back home where you want to be. Good luck with the latest move.