I’ve had recurring cystitis for about 12/13 years now (I’m 30). I’ve had it turn into nasty UTI’s quite a few times but mostly I use the sodium citrate sachets to ease the side effects. I would say I get it 3-4 times a month, sometimes a little less if I’m lucky. I’ve followed all the advice given to me like peeing after sex, not using perfumed soaps, loose cotton underwear etc. It’s not brought on by sex either as is often suggested. I don’t have a particularly active sex life and I tend to get it randomly without any warning as opposed to shortly after having sex.
I get it worse when I go abroad. I’m not sure if it’s down to being a bit more dehydrated due to the heat but I drink as much water as possible. It’s gets so bad that I no longer drink alcohol when I’m on holiday because I’m worried I’ll bring on the cystitis. It’s really annoying as I work hard all year and spend a lot of money on taking trips away only for them to have at least 2/3 days ruined because I’m stuck in the bathroom for hours in agony.
I’m going away to Spain next Thursday and I really don’t want to end up wasting any of my time dealing with cystitis. I haven’t been to my GP in a long time regarding this issue because they just tell me that there’s nothing they can do unless it turns into a UTI. But I’ve been reading up on it and trying to find literally anything that will help stop it coming on on holiday. The sachets are okay but they aren’t exactly convenient and they take a long time to kick in (often they don’t work at all). I saw you can get a low-dose antibiotic to take over 6 months to keep cystitis at bay when you get it regularly although I was never told this by any of the doctors I’ve seen previously. Would this be something I would be able to get prescribed even if I’ve not been to the doctor about the problem for a few years now? I can see me asking and then saying no because I could just be lying about the frequency as they’ve not seen it for themselves. Also if I was allowed to get it, is it effective? Has anyone else tried this and had it work well?