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Women's health

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Original poster

Constant UTI I’m at my wits end :(

25 replies

mioz · 18/12/2022 21:32

Hoping someone can help. I got a UTI about 2 months ago which wouldn’t budge with over the counter sachets. Called the doctor and got a 3 day course of antibiotics which seemed to help initially but UTI came back with a vengeance. Since then I have been in and out of absolute agony, it’s so bad tonight I can’t walk and can hardly move from bed. I haven’t been able to get a doctors appointment for more antibiotics for the last 2 weeks but have a home urine test which shows high leukocytes and some blood. Is there anything else I can do except pray for a Drs appt?

OP posts:
HeBeaverandSheBeaver · 18/12/2022 21:46

Bless you.

I saw a notice in the pharmacy the other day saying they can now give treatment for Utis

Also have you tried d mannose. It's amazing. Use it as a treatment and then a preventative if you suffer a lot.

Go on the sweet cures website for info.

Amazon also sell d mannose but the info is all on sweet cures website.

unbearablepain · 18/12/2022 21:50

You need to take a much longer course of antibiotics, and asap.
These infections can get embedded, and trust me you don't want that.
3 day courses are ridiculous.

OtterInABox · 18/12/2022 21:55

You need to be really persistent when you call the doctor tomorrow. Insist on a longer course of antibiotics - say you'll accept a phone consultation or even just a prescription at this stage. Just to get the antibiotics in your hand

Ask them if it's in their policies to leave you with an infection and in pain.

Alternatively, pay about 40 quid for a private GP appointment. They can prescribe - which will cost more as it'll be a private prescription but it's worth beating in mind if you need to do it

But tomorrow - pull yourself up as best you can and advocate for yourself

Loafbeginsat60 · 18/12/2022 21:57

You can go to the pharmacist and get antibiotics for UTI and this is what you need.

If you are prone to them you could try Hiprex tablets - I've had UTIs for over 20 years but since taking these I have had one or two and they go away within a day. Life changer!

Sadless · 18/12/2022 21:59

Same been on 3 days of antibiotics then it came back again was given 7 days of antibiotics and told to take a sample in then got a text saying I needed different antibiotics. Last day today but was up in night last night don't think it's gone away. Need to contact your Dr's a uti is a same day appointment thing they can't leave you to suffer.

Sal

Original poster
mioz · 18/12/2022 22:02

Thanks all for your advice. I have been taking 2 d-mannose a day for a couple of weeks but no improvement. Will pull up my big girl pants and demand an appointment!

OP posts:
unbearablepain · 18/12/2022 22:11

Hit it with the antibiotics, at least 10 days probably now it's been so long. Don't let them fob you off with another 3 day course. Even if you need to buy extra days antibiotics online if they refuse, I would.

Then take high dose d-mannose and probiotics for the vaginal flora (optibac do a good one) after completing the antibiotics for say another week or two.

I had 2 years of agony from an under-treated uti which got embedded.

These 3 day courses should be banned.

unbearablepain · 18/12/2022 22:14

2 months??!! Yeah, get on antibiotics and do not stop until at least 7-10 days and a couple days after your symptoms are totally gone.

Don't leave it to fester any longer. It can cause big life-changing issues if left.

MechanicaHound · 18/12/2022 22:24

You poor thing - these suck. I've suffered with them on and off for a few years now. I agree with the others about getting a longer course of antibiotics. Try cefalexin it you haven't had it already.

Mine got so embedded antibiotics didn't work and I had to go on a sugar, caffeine and alcohol free diet for quite a while. I also take a probiotic, and drink hibiscus tea.

womblesofwimbledon87 · 19/12/2022 01:34

@MechanicaHound could I ask what you did with your diet please?? When you mean no sugar, how does this work??

I had an embedded UTI for 2 years 2013-2015, it was awful, I was genuinely suicidal with the pain and I never want to go back to that again.

I still get UTIs sometimes and I immediately treat with at least a week long antibiotics, and d mannose and probiotics after.

Just wondering about your diet and tea, any tips that you used to get rid of it, in case it returns.

kissmelittleass · 19/12/2022 01:44

Get more antibiotics asap do not hang about I have had urine infections on and off for 15 years or so and I winter of 2020 I had a three day antibiotic for one and got worse after finishing the three day course I couldn't get a doctors appointment and two days later I got sepsis.. I was told I got to hospital just in time and ended up in hospital for three weeks
Do not waste time please

Zodiacsigns · 19/12/2022 01:57

What is it with doctors and their refusal to prescribe antibiotics when necessary? I don't have a UTI but I have something else that's responding to antibiotics, except they give me a too-short course that doesn't cure it then it gets worse again and they give me a short course again same situation. Now they say I don't need any more when I blatantly do. It's so annoying. How do you make something that needs antibiotics go away, without them? I hope you feel better soon OP.

lorisparkle · 19/12/2022 05:33

Have they considered a kidney stone? I had recurring UTIs and when I was scanned for appendicitis they discovered a kidney stone.

Are you menopausal? The hormone changes can make you more susceptible to UTIs

Original poster
mioz · 19/12/2022 14:37

I managed to get an appointment, dropped a sample down which shows NO INFECTION (wtf?) but they are prescribing 7 days antibiotics. When I did the pee stick at home it was bright with infection but at least I got the drugs I guess! I’m not menopausal (I hope) I’m 29. Thanks all so much for your replies on this, posted last night when I was in pain and very fed up!

OP posts:
Hughsrunning · 19/12/2022 14:45

Oh @mioz I really hope that does the trick for you and that you feel better soon.

lorisparkle · 19/12/2022 14:49

Good to hear you got some antibiotics and hope it clears up and does not come back

MechanicaHound · 19/12/2022 15:58

It's fairly common that no infection shows up from the lab test, but that there is still infection there. The tests the GPs use are basic and in my experience useless.

My embedded uti was more of a dull constant pain and frequent urge to go, than a burning pain.

I cut out all sugar, caffeine, alcohol and spicy food such as curry. I also cut out tomatoes, but I'm not sure I'd do that again as it was so restrictive.

D-mannose didn't work for me.

Hibiscus tea is supposed to help and its a lovely drink. I also take apple cider vinegar, marshmallow extract, corn silk extract. The last two are herbal tinctures.

Rochyella84 · 02/01/2023 09:44

How are you now Mioz? I just posted and am exactly the same.
2 months of symptoms. 3 days nitro helped then it came back, 3 days trimethoprim did nothing, 7 days nitro helped but it came back. I’ve been muddling through on hiprex and d mannose and now I’m back on nitro for 2 weeks but I’m still symptomatic on day 4.

Bionesque · 02/01/2023 10:03

I re-registered just to reply to this, as, like @unbearablepain, I had multiple, embedded UTIs. I did a lot of reading and research, and this has been my experience/advice:

  • Get a urologist. Go privately and pay on a card if you need to. GPs just aren't equipped to deal with the complex issues women face in this area of medicine, and their tests are for shit. My urine sample came back negative at the doctors, but the very sensitive testing done at the urologist's showed inflammation markers 700x higher than normal.
  • You will probably need weeks of antibiotics - maybe different kinds. I was on all of them: macrobid, trimethroprim, ciprofloxacin. At one point I was on them for over three months at a time.
  • I had a cystoscopy, which showed a "snowstorm" of pus, which they flushed out. I had my urethra stretched, which has actually helped, but you then need to maintain urinary health to stop it from contracting again.
  • I changed my diet as per PPs above.
  • I was put on Hiprex 2 x per day, and I now use it 1 x per day, with D-Mannose.
  • Sachets are not advised by my urologist. The problem was that my urine was too alkaline, which he said was complex given that acid is also a problem! He told me to avoid them like the plague.
  • HRT. The great, often unspoken, truth is that many UTIs are meno/perimeno related, as the skin around the vulva thins and shrinks. So I am now on HRT (patches/progresterone/testosterone), including topical oestrogen (cream and pessaries).

All of this has gradually helped - in spite of going totally off the rails, diet wise, over the holidays, which is causing some mild discomfort and a short course of ABs, but several months ago, this would have had far more severe consequences. It can get better. It might not go away completely, but it can get better. But get a cystoscopy so that you can gauge the extent of any problems.

PeppermintChoc · 02/01/2023 10:09

You need to get your sample sent for a culture test and a longer course of antibiotics. Two weeks isn’t good enough. You need to be seen today. My doctors used to test a sample if I dropped it in, then send it for culture. Can you do the same?

Original poster
mioz · 02/01/2023 12:56

Rochyella84 · 02/01/2023 09:44

How are you now Mioz? I just posted and am exactly the same.
2 months of symptoms. 3 days nitro helped then it came back, 3 days trimethoprim did nothing, 7 days nitro helped but it came back. I’ve been muddling through on hiprex and d mannose and now I’m back on nitro for 2 weeks but I’m still symptomatic on day 4.

Bless you! I am well thank you. The 7 day course has cleared it’s up mostly, although I do get the odd little niggle which feels like it might be coming back. I have kept up the d-mannose which seems to be helping keep things at bay, I don’t know what I’ll do if it comes back again! Except cry. Sorry you’re having a rough time of it too! It’s really awful and I found getting Dr support over Christmas to be absolutely impossible.

OP posts:
Original poster
mioz · 02/01/2023 12:58

Bionesque · 02/01/2023 10:03

I re-registered just to reply to this, as, like @unbearablepain, I had multiple, embedded UTIs. I did a lot of reading and research, and this has been my experience/advice:

  • Get a urologist. Go privately and pay on a card if you need to. GPs just aren't equipped to deal with the complex issues women face in this area of medicine, and their tests are for shit. My urine sample came back negative at the doctors, but the very sensitive testing done at the urologist's showed inflammation markers 700x higher than normal.
  • You will probably need weeks of antibiotics - maybe different kinds. I was on all of them: macrobid, trimethroprim, ciprofloxacin. At one point I was on them for over three months at a time.
  • I had a cystoscopy, which showed a "snowstorm" of pus, which they flushed out. I had my urethra stretched, which has actually helped, but you then need to maintain urinary health to stop it from contracting again.
  • I changed my diet as per PPs above.
  • I was put on Hiprex 2 x per day, and I now use it 1 x per day, with D-Mannose.
  • Sachets are not advised by my urologist. The problem was that my urine was too alkaline, which he said was complex given that acid is also a problem! He told me to avoid them like the plague.
  • HRT. The great, often unspoken, truth is that many UTIs are meno/perimeno related, as the skin around the vulva thins and shrinks. So I am now on HRT (patches/progresterone/testosterone), including topical oestrogen (cream and pessaries).

All of this has gradually helped - in spite of going totally off the rails, diet wise, over the holidays, which is causing some mild discomfort and a short course of ABs, but several months ago, this would have had far more severe consequences. It can get better. It might not go away completely, but it can get better. But get a cystoscopy so that you can gauge the extent of any problems.

Thanks so much for all of your advice! Silk absolutely take this on board and will look at rectifying my diet too (now the last of the milk tray have gone 🐷)

OP posts:
Bionesque · 02/01/2023 13:01

mioz · 02/01/2023 12:58

Thanks so much for all of your advice! Silk absolutely take this on board and will look at rectifying my diet too (now the last of the milk tray have gone 🐷)

Show quote history

All the best, @mioz! And if you had to give up just one thing, make it sugar.

Rochyella84 · 02/01/2023 13:46

Pleased for you! Hope it doesn’t come back and hope to be in your shoes soon!

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