Allergic to 3 antibiotics - what else treats uti's?

[RealLifeClanger]

I am now allergic to trimethoprim, nitrofurantoin and doxycyclene. Also have severe side effects from cefalexin. Are there any others that treat uti's that maybe won't make me feel like I've been poisoned? I've just had to stop nitrofurantoin yesterday after side effects got increasingly worse and now have hives cropping up even after stopping it.

I think its a case of weighing up how bad your symptoms are vs how bad the side effects are.

OIf its a lifethreatening infection maybe turned into sepsis. Then you've got to take the antibiotics available regardless of side effects.

If the symptoms are mild then you need to decide if you can bear the side effects or not.

There are only a limited number of antibiotics.

Personally I would avoid having these medications listed as you being allergic to them on your record unless ots a life threatening allergy.

Because one day you may get a severe infection. And the treating team will have nothing they can treat you with.

As above you try over the counter treatments- such as D Mannose.

Hipprex. Is an antiseptic but it not advised as a treatment for UTi but rather a preventative when you don't have a current infection- again to reduce the chances of resistance. This can only be prescribed and not bought over the counter. It is unlikely your GP would be happy to start this and you may need a referral to secondary care if this is something you want.

Obviously if referred they may do some investigations that may turn up a cause for your recurrent UTIs.

@Finteq thanks, I know, I'm at a loss myself tbh. I really tried to push through the side effects from nitrofurantoin but with every dose I was in more pain and felt much worse. I had nerve pain, burning skin, muscle pain, dizziness, fast heartbeat, exhaustion and near constant muscle tremors. Then I got hives, which made me think it has progressed to an allergy. Obviously will confirm with gp later. It's frustrating as I've taken this med for years and only started to have issues recently. With the trimethoprim it's a known documented reaction that I have so that's been on my record as an allergy for years. I'm not 100% sure on the doxicyclene though as that's listed on my records as well but I have no memory of taking it.

I have tried d mannose in the past but didn't have much success with it unfortunately. It also really sets off my ibs for some reason.

@RealLifeClanger I was prescribed hiprex when I had an active infection but it can also be used as a preventative. Mine was prescribed privately alongside antibiotics but I know the clinic does use just hiprex sometimes for people struggling with antibiotics. The clinic is the artemis cystitis clinic.

That's interesting @Tettritet . Probably can't afford private right now but maybe in the future.

So I have now been prescribed pivmecillinam. Really hope it's more bearable than the nitro.

Sorry to hear about your daughter - UTIs can be so devastating when they’re so little can’t they!

One of my prem twins had urine sepsis at 9 weeks old (3 weeks corrected age) and had a week of IV/IM antibiotics (he had 5 cannulas in that time and, when the last one tissued, they decided that giving them IM would be less traumatic than re-siting a cannula every time he needed a dose. As he had sepsis he was on IV cefuroxime, gentamicin and ceftriaxone which are typically the go to antibiotics for sepsis in such a young child as they cover nearly all causes of sepsis; they stopped the gent after 48 hours when they confirmed the source of infection after all the tests including lumbar puncture and blood cultures.

Thankfully the follow up scans showed no damage to his kidneys or liver but he was so ill and the GP had been dismissing us as nervous first time parents (we weren’t, we were in our 40’s, I’d been a paediatric nurse in a previous career and my husband has adult kids from his first marriage) for a week before he was finally sent up to the hospital for a “parental reassurance visit” - and that was only because I cancelled his first set of umma for the 3rd time as he was still poorly and asked for a second opinion!!

@RealLifeClanger has the GP surgery sent off a sample for MC&S (Microscopy, culture and sensitivities) testing? This will reveal the bug causing the infection as well as all antibiotics the infection is both sensitive and resistant to. This means they can target the infection with the correct antibiotics which is especially important when you have antibiotic allergies.

I have a history of UTIs, more recently caused by e-coli, and the MC&S have shown the most effective antibiotic for me is Pivmencillinam which the NHS don’t recommend as a first line treatment which means I usually end up being given something like nitrofurantoin or augmentin (am not able to have trimethoprim due to allergy to one of the components) before I get the inevitable phone call to say it’s not effective and a prescription for Piv is waiting for me at reception!!

I hope you get an effective treatment for it soon and feel better; the dragging feeling, frequency and pain like peeing needles is so demoralising and draining!

@LovedFedAndNoonesDead thanks, yeah they sent one on Thursday but it's not back yet. They gave me pivmecillinam thurs as well as I'd started getting symptoms again. I don't know how long to take it for though as the gp just said 'usually we give it for 3 days but I think you might need 5 days', then the pharmacy gave me 7 days worth! So confused. Will wait until the culture comes back and see what they say.

I still have some urgency and stuff but nowhere near as bad as it was. I'm on day 4 of it now.

@LovedFedAndNoonesDead also, sorry to hear what happened with one of your twins, sounds horrendous. You must have been fuming at that gp.

Hi OP If you’re approaching menopause it might be worth asking the GP for topical estrogen cream. I suffered with what presented as UTI for years. It was in fact a drop in estrogen. Estriol cream has changed my life x

Have you had positive urine cultures?
probiotics particularly yeast. Based may up your ability to cope with antibiotics

demanos is good
drinking lots of fluid also helps flush thinfgs. G

I’ve always been given a full 7 days course of pivmencillinam maybe because I have it recorded that on my notes that I’m prone to e-coli UTIs or maybe just because I’ve had more than 1 that is resistant to the 1st line treatments. However, I also know that some pharmacies will dispense a full box of tablets instead of having them sitting round on the shelf even if a shorter course of treatment is prescribed.

As you remain symptomatic, albeit at a reduced level to when you started the antibiotics, I would keep taking the meds and complete the course. I would also not hesitate to go back if you stay symptomatic after the 7 days, it may be a resistant bug behind the UTI.

And, yes I was fuming - we’re not at that surgery any more because we moved towns but if I ever hear of a GP at my new surgery with their surname I refuse to have appointments either them in case it’s him.

I also put in a complaint about him to the practice manager after we came home from hospital - especially for other first time mum’s benefit. He was so dismissive and even tried to insinuate I was using a virus as an excuse for not vaccinating my child - despite his twin being vaccinated first; then he said maybe I’d mixed up who was vaccinated and it was that twin (they’re non identical so I know exactly who was who!!) and he even said he would be arranging for us to go up to the hospital the following day to see someone so I was reassured it was just viral - and the hospital were horrified he’s seen this baby twice before and not sent us up there meaning I was heading to hospital at 7pm on a Monday night leaving his twin with visitors staying with us thinking I’d only be up there a couple of hours and not that we’d be admitted for a week!!

Thankfully, my gorgeous son came out of it no worse for the experience but, 6 years on, I am still very wary of the twins seeing anyone at the GP surgery for illness in case they dismiss me again - and my employment background is in nursing!!

@LovedFedAndNoonesDead oh no, I was really hoping I'd be able to stop at 5 days but I'm not sure if I should now. I was about to take my last one. I need to speak to the gp really I think. Still not got my sample results back, which is really annoying. Been chasing the gp for them and nothing yet.

Results should only take 72 hours - but, if they still don’t have them back, I’d ask the gp surgery to contact the lab to make sure the sample arrived intact and was actually tested! Sometimes they’re mislaid and, by the time they’re located, it’s beyond their timing for testing it.

I have the results now, unfortunately it's Citrobacter which is difficult to treat.