urinary tract infection

[Jimjams]

I've posted elsewhere about ds1's recent wee problems- ie he didn't actually have a wee for 40 hours. Anyway he now appears to have a UTI. I really really really want to avoid antibiotics if I can- just spent the last 18 months trying to repair his gut. Obviously if he gets a temperature or something then I would give him them.

Anyway I'm trying to do the usual stuff- lots of water and cranberry juice. I chose cranbery, apple and grape mix as it had a higher % of cranberries in it than plain cranberry juice, no added sugar and no aspartame. Is there anything anyone else can recommend?

good luck with the specialist ks.

Ds1 still isn't weeing much. I'm going to ring the GP tomorrow- I think I want a proper urine analysis done - he has one earlier in the year so I know he was fine then. Just got to collect the sample.......

ks, if you are seeing a specialist it is likely that you will have some x-ray type tests. The most common is called a IVU or IVP, its an Intravenous Urogram (or Pyelogram, means the same). They inject you with dye that your kindeys excrete and take xrays every few mins. It shows up any malfunction in the kidney and any blockages in your uninary system. It doesn't hurt, but it can make you a bit lightheaded, and give you a funny taste in your mouth. I've had 3, and its a nice chance to lie down for half an hour.
Humans can function pretty well on 1/4 of one kidney, and it is most likely that your kidneys are healthy, but you could have a leaky valve somewhere that is allowing urine back up to the kidney (urinary reflux). Or you could have a kidney stone sitting there as they are a seat of infection.
Hope your appointment goes well - do let us know how it goes. Glad to hear you finally got an appointment.

I think I'll settle for an any stream urine sample ks My dad has always had a lot of kidney infections as well. No stinging but lots of backache.

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no you didn't worry me robinw- don't worry (I think I've been doing that to people on the MMR thread ). My GP's pretty good anyway. If DS1 wasn't autistic I wouldn't be at all worried- I just don't trust their pain response!

GP suggested that ks- but it didn't seem to work.

I'd forgotten about the 24hr urine collection! Urgh it was awful! They provided me with one jug thing and I said I'd need 2 (had got into drinking 4-5 litres a day by this time) and they didn't beleive me but gave me one anyway and, sure enough, I used them both!
Not sure why the pyelonephritis but no cystits, ks, but that is what I had too, I think it is because it is your kidney that is infected not your bladder and urethra, so theres not the irritation.
If you get a lot of infections they might do to you what they did to me and put you on a long term low dose antibiotic (I was put on Cephalexin for 4 months). It really made a huge difference and I had been off it for 4 months with no infections at all until last week, but I am sure it is related to pregnancy so I am back on the antibiotics again!
Hope your appointment goes well.

Hi this is really late but I hope you get to read this. My DD1 is 19 months and has had recurrent UTIs which have been really hideous and painful. She has had an ultrasound and is going for a DMSA scan next week as they believe one of her kidneys is smaller and scarred. The paediatrician thinks that because she is often constipated this could exacerbate the UTIs and so he has prescribed Movicol which is a laxative for 3 months.
We also consulted a homeopathic dr who said that often UTIs occur after antibiotics as the antibiotics also kill all the good bacteria. He prescribed CULTURELLE which is a probiotic and good for taking after antibiotics to get the bodies antibodies working again. For UTIs he prescribed D-MANNOSE which is a natural sugar and she takes it daily now in her water. She has not had a UTI for 3 weeks since following all of the above advice. Definitely worth giving them a go esp if you don't want to go the antibiotic route.>>