Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Joaniepat]

Cymalon contains sodium citrate, and the idea is to reduce the acidity of your urine, thus making it less irritating to the urethra. Sodium bicarbonate would do exactly the same. Half a teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate in a glass of water, three times a day, would be your cheapest option. Try to drink plenty of plain water in between.

Glad to hear you are feeling a bit better today.

JP x

[Shadyglade]

UTIs generally only produce bladder pain if that is the site of the infection. Infection further up the tract produces different symptoms.

[sidse]

That's interesting. My pain tends to be further down like a general irritation in that area. In my last one( the sample did come back as infected) the pain  was more widespread.

[Taz2]

I didn't think there was such a thing as a single dose AB!!!
I believe there is concern about the standard short course ABs that women are given for UTIs as they rarely clear infections fully and could be building AB resistant infections. It's very important that any uti infection is identified and appropriate AB treatment is given. All to often women get repeated infections because infections have not been cleared completely. DG x

Hi DG - the antibiotic sidse was given is fosfomycin, which is being used to target UTI's which are increasingly becoming resistant to other antibiiotics. Reading up on it is showing reasonably good results but seems to be only issued by hospitals rather than GPs. It has been used in the past before surgery etc. I believe. NICE guidelines suggest a single dose of 3 g in women. You can read about it here https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5057270/  I haven't waded through all of it but it may be hopeful for women who have repeated UTI's which don't respond to normal treatment.

Taz x 

[Dancinggirl]

Thanks Taz - very interesting. DG x

[sidse]

I guess that I was pretty lucky in getting the fosfomycin. It certainly worked very quickly after taking the dose. Still, it is probably not the kind of thing that you want to be taking on a regular basis.

[Joaniepat]

sidse, do you know which bacterium you have? Enterococcal infections of the bladder are quite common in menopausal women, and you need to have the correct AB for this, although Fosfomycin ought to do the trick according to the information on Wikipedia.

My last two UTIs were enterococcal, but so close together I'm not sure the first course of ABs really cleared it. I was given 7 days worth of Nitrofurantoin the first time, and 3 days worth the second time. I developed the infection just before Xmas and could not get treatment until the New Year, which perhaps was why it was difficult to shift. It did give me lower abdominal pain at first.

JP x

[sidse]

Hi Joanie,
I don't know which bacterium I had. My infection was also just before Xmas - I don't know how you coped with waiting until New Year for treatment.

[Katejo]

Agree - do not take ABs - vaginal atrophy mimics urine infection-type feelings.  The only way is to have a fresh urine test sent to a Lab. for proper testing. 

VA needs HRT!

   I have had a suspected UTI since early march. I first tried to use d Mannosa and also used Estriol cream but the symptoms kept coming back. I went to a GP and he sent a urine test away and gave me nitrofurantoin which didn't work (as I expected as I had had it before) and made me feel ill. I saw a different GP last week who told me that the urine test had been inconclusive and asked  me to do another one this week.  I asked for trimethroprim which he gave me but only 3 days worth. Over the Easter weekend, the symptoms returned so i started taking the 3 day course. It appeared to have worked and i felt better yesterday but the symptoms have crept back.  I don't think a 3 day course is enough for many people. I was told this by a hospital duty GP before.

I have just dropped a 2nd sample off for testing (48 hours after finishing the 3 day one). if the discomfort continues tomorrow, I am going to take 2 more days worth to make it up to 5 days. I have a spare prescription for taking on holiday.

Once this is over, I will make an appointment to see my preferred GP and ask to try Vagifem instead of Estriol.

[sidse]

It is so energy zapping isn't it katejo - having to go back and forward, taking samples etc. I have a feeling that mine is just going to linger on not getting fully better. Hope the antibiotics do the trick for you.

[Katejo]

It is so energy zapping isn't it katejo - having to go back and forward, taking samples etc. I have a feeling that mine is just going to linger on not getting fully better. Hope the antibiotics do the trick for you.

Usually Trimethroprim does the job. I was told by a duty doctor in A & E some time ago that the Tegretol which i take interacts with an AB and causes it to leave my body more quickly than usual. Thus it is necessary to have 5 days not 3. However I have mentioned this to more than 1 GP since then and they did not appear to agree.
I usually get an AB just as I am due to go on holiday when there is no time to see a GP or get a sample tested! This occasion is an exception to that.
I hope you find a solution too.

[CLKD]

It is a high dose AB for 3 days.  But you need to knock this on the head!  A good pain relief, good hygiene down there because many bugs live in the back passage, get urine samples checked in a Lab. to make sure they are clear.  Let us know how you get on!

[Katejo]

It is a high dose AB for 3 days.  But you need to knock this on the head!  A good pain relief, good hygiene down there because many bugs live in the back passage, get urine samples checked in a Lab. to make sure they are clear.  Let us know how you get on!

The last test was inconclusive but the symptoms were pretty typical. I have done another sample today but won't get the result until next week.

[CLKD]

Vaginal atrophy mimics urine infection-type symptoms!!  Maybe ask for VA treatment anyway?

[Katejo]

Vaginal atrophy mimics urine infection-type symptoms!!  Maybe ask for VA treatment anyway?

I do already use Estriol cream. I will apply some tonight before taking the additional 2 days of Trimethroprim.