Recurrent UTIs

jbcorliss · 01-25-2008, 01:57 PM

Does anyone have this problem? They make me so sick and I get them as often as every two to three months. I use cranberry pills and probiotics every day, and all of the other precautions. I even saw a Urologist to no avail.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

bec415 · 01-25-2008, 02:05 PM

What symptoms do you have? I went to the gyn thinking I had an infection once and was tested for UTI and had one, so I took meds for it. When I had the UTI that I know about, I didn't experience pain urinating or the other symptoms that I've read about. I believe I have them a lot more often and just don't know it.

jbcorliss · 01-25-2008, 02:17 PM

No, I have the UTI diagnoses this often.

sgordon · 01-25-2008, 04:40 PM

Are you sexually active? If you are, make sure you get up and go to the bathroom after each "session". I used to get a UTI every 2-3 months as well, but I haven't had one since I've started doing this. It helps to flush out all of the bacteria that gets in during the act.

PBLayzod · 01-25-2008, 04:44 PM

I had to eliminate tampons and bubble baths.

JosieFB · 01-25-2008, 08:08 PM

I have just recently had two UTIs within 4 months of each other. I am not sexually active, so the infection isn't coming from that.I had only had one other in my life and it was years ago, and nothing like these. These last two caused me to pee blood and clots. They came on very suddenly. I woke up with the first. The second stared with a little discomfort in the morning that I tought was itching, and then it hit like a ton of bricks about 2 pm. Cipro cleared up the bloody urine in several hours, but the doc won't prescribe it unless I come in and get tested. It's awful to have to go to the doctor in that condition.

During the 4 months between the first and second I had been drinking cranberry juice faithfully everyday, and I drink tons of water. I asked the NP why this had happened. She suggested that as I age, the Ph balance of my body may be changing, and it is not acidic enough in the urinary tract to keep bacteria out.

She also said that I should always wipe front to back after urinating and of course after a BM.

Other things I have read

Get plenty of vitamin C - it keeps the urinary tract acidic
Stay hydrated - drink 80 - 100 oz of water a day
Don't drink sugary drinks - sugary urine encourages bacteria to grow in the urinary tract
Wear white cotton undies or undies with a white cotton crotch
Don't wear panti-liners everyday
Don't use feminine deoderants
Take showers, not baths
Don't use the same washcloth on your face and down there. Your face is full of bacteria.

Alliance · 01-25-2008, 08:25 PM

I had them so much...they were painful and burning and I had to go to the bathroom...every 2 minutes b/c it felt like I had to pee and when I did...ow!!
I went to my gyno and we discovered I had a bunch of fibroids and some were pushing onmy bladder. I don't know if that is why you're having them though. Go to your gyno and suggest they do a ultrasound. I gota hysterectomy b/c I had so many fibroids and my uterus was also in shreds. But it's been almost 2 years and I haven't had a UTI since.

soulfulqween · 01-25-2008, 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JosieFB

These last two caused me to pee blood and clots. They came on very suddenly.

She also said that I should always wipe front to back after urinating and of course after a BM.

Other things I have read

Get plenty of vitamin C - it keeps the urinary tract acidic
Stay hydrated - drink 80 - 100 oz of water a day
Don't drink sugary drinks - sugary urine encourages bacteria to grow in the urinary tract
Wear white cotton undies or undies with a white cotton crotch
Don't wear panti-liners everyday
Don't use feminine deoderants
Take showers, not baths
Don't use the same washcloth on your face and down there. Your face is full of bacteria.

This list is a very good one... And I am sorry just plain sorry that you have had such a hard time with this. I am just getting over a UTI now and I couldn't imagine it being like that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PBLayzod

I had to eliminate tampons and bubble baths.

I thought about doing this. I don't know if I could get used to pads again and I'd miss bubble baths terribly...but I do NOT want another UTI.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgordon

Are you sexually active? If you are, make sure you get up and go to the bathroom after each "session". I used to get a UTI every 2-3 months as well, but I haven't had one since I've started doing this. It helps to flush out all of the bacteria that gets in during the act.

See I think that is part of the reason I got this one...then again I am not certain...but it is a good rule of thumb and one I will be using from now on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alliance

I had them so much...they were painful and burning and I had to go to the bathroom...every 2 minutes b/c it felt like I had to pee and when I did...ow!!
I went to my gyno and we discovered I had a bunch of fibroids and some were pushing onmy bladder. I don't know if that is why you're having them though. Go to your gyno and suggest they do a ultrasound. I gota hysterectomy b/c I had so many fibroids and my uterus was also in shreds. But it's been almost 2 years and I haven't had a UTI since.

THIS maybe the real reason...I have had so much pain...this last period was very odd...something is amiss in there...I can't wait to schedule the internal u/s.

Damn being a woman stinks sometimes huh?

KJC0330 · 01-25-2008, 10:35 PM

Hi....

Before I was dx w/ PCOS I was dx w/ endometriosis via lap. Prior to being dx w/ the endo I used to get chronic UTI's;every 6-8 wks. I used every precaution I knew.... turns out my bladder was adhered to my uterus so I wasn't "emptying" my bladder properly. During my surgery they were able to fix it and I haven't had a problem in year.... Not to scare you but just a thought.... good luck

-K

Mustangsally82 · 01-25-2008, 11:03 PM

I agree with the sugar thing: before I was diagnosed with PCOS I had one summer where I couldn't get rid of a UTI, it went on for weeks. Since I was put on Metformin and have been avoiding really sugary things it has been much better: don't think I've had one bad enough to warrant seeing a doctor since then.

Another thing I notice is that if I'm not drinking enough water/liquids, I feel like I'm starting to get a UTI. I go to pee and it's not as much as I thought it would be and it kind of burns. So when that happens I push fluids as much as I can, ideally water or something without caffeine, as caffeine tends to dehydrate you. The more water you have moving through your system the better. This usually wards off UTIs as long as I drink a whole lot right when symptoms begin.

Something else I've noticed is that the day before AF and the first few days I tend to feel like I'm getting a UTI. I wonder if it's because of adhesions/fibriods like some of you said? It is a little different than a regular UTI, in that I'll go to pee and I'll feel fine until I get done, and then it'll kind of burn/hurt for five or ten minutes afterwards.

I hope you find a solution: the best advice I can give you is drink enough water during the day to keep your urine clear: yellow is not good! Try to avoid sugary things, and make sure the cranberry juice you get is 100% cranberry juice: sometimes they use artificial flavors or other juices like grape juice. I had a biochemistry teacher tell me that cranberry juice is the only juice that is still acidic when it reaches your bladder. The rest of the juices (like orange juice, which we assume is very acidic) have so much sugar and other things I can't remember that by the time they are processed and end up in the bladder they are not acidic but actually feed any bacteria that might be present and allow them to multiply quickly in a short amount of time. So drink 100% cranberry juice or just a lot of water and feel better!

sarahgmac · 01-25-2008, 11:11 PM

Actually I get frequent UTIs as well. I was told by a urologist, not only to pee after sex, but before and make sure you bladder is empty each time you go, by waiting a couple of seconds after you are done and trying to go again. (sometimes there is some leftover).

If you have visible blood you need to get a cystoscopy to make sure that there are no cysts or tumors in your bladder. My MIL had them and they are not fun.

Trinity1974 · 01-26-2008, 11:52 AM

I am so sick of Uti's I could scream... the week before AF I spent "eating" a rx for antibiotics yet again AF came the UTI went away all was well in my world.. one week later AF is gone and tada there was the UTI symptoms again. I follow all the typical UTI rules careful after sex If I got any cleaner I would squeak lol but still 3 to 4 times a month I have the gotta go.. gotta go right now feeling.. I dont always get the burning sensation mine is the pressure/urge to go thing. Mind you this has been going on since I was 13 :/

MontanaKiwi · 01-26-2008, 09:47 PM

Some people get misdiagnoised with UTIs when they have interstitial cystitis of the bladder....thinning of the mucous coating which leads to the same symptoms as a UTI and due to the irritations of the bladder bacteria can grow.
Making urine more acidic actually makes this condition worse as the mucus protecting the bladder is too thin.
Just another possibility.

melinda31 · 01-27-2008, 02:35 AM

I Just had a bad UTI, I hope this isnt something i will be having often, there terrible.

RoaryKennedy · 01-27-2008, 02:48 AM

They are terrible. In college, I went through a time where I'd get them continually, and it was always a vicious cycle, because as soon as I'd complete the antibiotics for the UTI, I'd get a wicked yeast infection (TMI!). I have read that recurrent UTIs can be the result of the e-Coli bacteria. How we get it *down there*, who knows.

My PCP told me to drink the 100 percent cranberry juice (not the juice cocktail blends that are so common), and to make sure I peed "even just a drop" after DTD. I had to see another doctor when regular doctor was out once, and he had me all freaked out and told me I'd need an u/s if they continued, as I could have misshapen kidneys or something like that. My PCP wasn't concerned about that, though. And I've only had a couple in the past five years, one of them right after I had my daughter and had a catheter in the hospital.

I hope you feel better soon! Ugh, the pain is awful. Have you tried the OTC urinary pain relievers (I think the brand name is Uristat), or a prescription pain reliver (peridium, I think it's called)? They numb you up so you can actually pee w/o pain, but at the urgent care, they told me not to take those before your diagnosis, since they turn your urine an attractive bright orange color and prevent them from seeing traces of blood and certain bacterias when they view under the scope, so it's harder to tailor the antibiotics to your infection.