Recurrent UTI due to sex

[ShoehornSheryl]

So I tended to get on average 2 UTIs a year until the last year or so when I now seem to be getting one every few months. It is ALWAYS linked to sex.

I follow alllll of the advice, showering, peeing etc etc but every now and then I get caught out. I have d-mannose but after a couple of months of no utis i figured the usual showering etc was enough so stopped taking it as a matter of course.

anyway, it seems like i have another one brewing (sex last night).

i know I have to have antibiotics but I’m scared the doctor is going to want to refer me for further testing. I don’t want further tests. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with me, due to it always being sex related. It’s just something in susceptible to. I also don’t want to take low dose antibiotics for a period of time nor every time we have sex (sometimes we are having sex 5 days a week! It seems too much to be on Antibiotics basically all of the time).

does anyone have any advice? Has anyone been in this position and successfully just got as hoc treatment as and when needed?

Used to have lots of UTIs and in my experience GPs are completely uninterested in further tests so I wouldn’t worry about that!!

If you really are having sex nearly every day then yes would agree than antibiotics after sex aren’t ideal- I started taking one every day to prevent UTIs (not that I was having sex that often, just what the GP prescribed) and of course ended up with thrush, which was maybe worse. I switched to taking just after sex which worked, and then eventually the problem just went away.

One approach that worked for a friend was not only peeing straight after sex, but also immediately drinking a pint of water so she would then have a really strong pee to push everything out! No idea if the science behind it really makes sense but worked for her, and worth trying if you’re suffering. Generally staying very hydrated so you pee lots anyway is probably sensible, I do think people who don’t drink much water (I’m guilty!) get more.

I just have an arrangement with my GP where I get nitrofurantoin to keep at home so I take a 3 day course whenever I get a uti and then just ask for more on my repeat prescription. I take d manoose every day , which I do think has helped a bit and drink cranberry everyday as well - covering all bases here . I did have leverage with my GP due to my other conditions which are affected if I get an infection .

Not daily!! A few times a month. If you are having numerous infections a year requiring antibiotics each time you might be better on a low dose or antibiotic after sex.

They work for 12 hours so if you had sex at night and again in the morning then I think you’d be covered. I probably take between 2 and 4 in a week

Position. That's what makes the difference for me.

I am much more prone to UTIs if I go on top, even though I pee and wash after sex every time regardless of position.

@bottomsup12 Can I ask what diet you had before you added things in please? Like what were the safe foods?

I have embedded / recurrent UTI and I do all the things like washing, d mannose etc. I also have really bad flatulence in the past couple of years since the UTI started up again, so I think I could have some intolerance or SIBO.

Doggy used to be a problem but this time it was missionary! I’d showered a couple of hours before, he’d had one a couple of hours before that I believe. No BM after showering for either of us. Peed before and after as I say, although the pee after wasn’t a very big one as it was bedtime so I’d cut down on fluids and already been. It’s so annoying not being able to find a natural way of preventing them. I’ve even grown my bloody pubic hair as I read it can help!

@Maplelady that’s interesting thank you. Do you have any issues with thrush? What about side effects? I have to have at least a slice of toast and glass of milk to take them otherwise I feel like absolute cack. I don’t really want to be chowing down at 11pm to pop a pill when all I want to do is (pee first!) roll over and go to sleep. Infact the fact I’ve got 3 days of shoving food down my throat when I’m not hungry to take antibiotics is already annoying me!

@New2024newname that’s great your problem went away. Can you think of a reason why that may have been?

I have this! My GP gave me a load of nitrofurantoin, she said it was a technique called 'pill in the pocket' so I take one after sex and so far since trialling this I've not had a uti (mine turn immediately into kidney infections)

I had this.

Nothing worked, pre sex wee, post sex wee, d-mannose, marshmallow tea (yep, that's a thing) and a million other things.

Eventually my amazing GP asked me if there was anything I'd heard about that I wanted to try (I'd done a LOT of research). I asked if I could take one antibiotic after sex. Cured it immediately.

@IBlameTheDog i fear that’s the road I’m going down. But I also feel like I’ll be on them permanently. We are pretty active sexually, as I’ve said averaging 5 days a week. I’m worried about my gut health, side effects, risk of thrush by being on them that frequently. And when do you stop? 6 months, a year, 5 years, forever?

I hear you. To be honest, we had sex less and less because the UTIs were just ruining my life. It would take weeks for me to get over them so we ended up having less sex anyway.

The antibiotics were a god send and my GP said one or two a week wouldn't cause me any long term damage, but I wouldn't know about 5 times a week?

I stayed on them the whole time we were together. The last time we had sex, I'd run out of trimethoprim and got a UTI which ruined Christmas for me and then we split up shortly afterwards (not because of that!) so can't really say how long you could stay on them. They certainly helped me for a good two or three years.

I'm really sorry you're going through this, it's the worst thing ever.

All I can tell you is definitely do not drink cranberry juice. It's a bit of an old wives tale to prevent them (and must be the unsweetened version) but it's the absolute worst thing you can drink if you have a current UTI. It's incredibly irritating for the lining of the bladder.

I would ask your GP for a trial of Estriol cream, even though you’re younger. I used to get post sex UTIs and it has completely settled things down for me. If i forget for a while, i know about it!

Trimethoprim doesn’t make me feel sick like penicillin does. I think it’s quite a small dose because it’s prophylactic, not actually treating an infection. No thrush so far, but that’s easy enough to treat

Have you already watched these videos by Professor Malone-Lee? He explains everything really well. Maybe there’s something useful for you.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=LBaeVUxi9ok