Urine infection and thrush...but doc won't give me antibiotics - help!

[Mrsbirchall]

Hi

I wondered if anyone else had shared this joyousness?!

I'm nearly 31 weeks pregnant and used to get cystitis all the time pre-pregnancy but somehow have luckily managed to avoid it so far..

Anyway, I recognised the usual signs starting on Monday and went to docs - sure enough, my urine sample showed a high white cell count and infection so he prescribed me antibiotics.

Fast forward two days and I felt 10 times worse yesterday- the worst part seems to be feeling INCREDIBLY itchy but not so much round my vagina but instead where I wee only..sorry if TMI..

Went back to docs yesterday and they told me that the urine sample they sent away had come back negative for bacterial infection so there is no point me taking the antibiotics anymore and to just apply Canesten cream a few times a day.

This just isn't enough though and am not feeling much improvment at all...

I know the signs of a UTI and am adamant I need something stronger - stings when I pee, constant itching but localised to urethra, going to loo all the time (yup, even more than the 3000 times a day I usually go!).

Has anyone else been through the same? I don't want to be stuck like this all over the Christmas holidays, with no GP to go to but wonder what I can push for if they say my sample was negative- yet it showed infection when he did the dipstick in the surgery on Monday...

Insist on another dip and culture? Possible you went in early, so culture negative, early wrong AB's and UTI has flourished so GP wrong?

Second another test. Another possibility, though I think unlikely, is that your results muddled w someone else's. Has been known to happen at times. But, if not, another test may at least give some idea as to any changes & what's really going on.

Thrush can actually give the impression of white cells in your urine and might be giving you the UTI symptoms (imagine the line of wee collecting white cells as it passes down). If you have the antibiotics, it won't do any harm to take them if you think they will help. I would see if a pharmacy are willing to sell you a pessary to get thrush under control.

Cranberry juice or tablets will probably help. Also probiotic drinks/yogurt to restore your gut flora. Finish the antibiotics before starting the probiotics though.

Hi. I know from my Mum getting repeated urine and thrush infections (being in her 60s and post menopausal, is apparently similar to being pregnant) that what her Gynae consultant has told her is that thrush can iritate the urinary tract. It makes you think you have a bladder infection as the symptoms are the same, cos of irritation and swelling, but it's actually thrush that has got into your urinary tract, not an infection. When this happens to my Mum, she gets a urine sample checked out at the docs for a urine infection to rule that out - which you've done. If you haven't got a urine infection, then maybe you could ask your GP for a pessary instead of the thrush cream. I just had thrush after taking antibiotics and the cream just helped the itching on the outside, but I ended up having to get GP to give me a 3 day course of pessaries to insert every night. This cleared it up. I'm also taking Acidophilus tablets from Holland & Barrett each day to keep thrush at bay and sort out my good bacteria levels. Not been told by a medic if this is safe or not, but figured out from internet research that it can't be that harmful to the baby as it's only like eating shedloads of natural yoghurt with probiotics in them. Plus I've totally lost faith in GPs for similar reasons as you. They know jack about pregnancy.

It would be worth going back to your GP and asking for another urine sample to be sent away (just incase you have indeed developed a UTI since you last saw them and sent a sample off), plus asking for pessary course too. Or, other option is, go straight to your antenatal assessment unit at the hospital - which is what my Obstetrician told me to do if I get another UTI again, as they are more sympathetic and will prescribe the right kind of antibiotic for you and generally know more than a GP would do. Call up first and explain you're coming in cos you want it sorted before Christmas and you're in pain etc.

Hope you sort it soon and that this is good advice!

Thanks for all your helpful advice.

I went back to GP today and they have sent off urine sample and swab - urine sample didn't show anything up on the dipstick though so they said carry on with Canesten but think I might need to get a pessary as mentioned, even though it doesn't feel so bad in that area but anything to help!