Print

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

[jessieblue]

Im so scared I have another UTI.  I only had antibiotics 2 weeks ago and I have had symptoms ofthrush all week.  Sudden redness burning and itching.  I have been using canesten 2% cream around the area and mamma naturals which contains coconut oil etc.  Tonight I notice my wee is cloudy and now Im so scared I have a UTI too.  Can thrush cause a uti? I dont know if I even have thrush or if its something else as I had a swab 2 weeks ago that was clean.  I also took flucanazole as I had some soreness after a course of antibiotics but yet the swab said no candida.  So this has thrown me and I dont know how to treat it.  Should I take another thrush tablet?  I know you ar not supposed to have a second one for another 6 months........  I am not coping very well at the moment and really losing the plot with so many problems that I dont seem to be able to help.

[AgathaC]

Hello Jessie Blue. I've also replied on your other question. Can I ask a question: are you doing all the basics? Drinking lots of water, eating, sleeping, taking some light exercise (walking), taking vitamin and mineral supplements? If I let these lapse, everything goes to pot and my anxiety rockets. It is sometimes bad even when I do all these things but I think it is better when I do keep on top of them. Sometimes when you worry about something you start looking too closely (cloudy wee, etc). Try and do all those things and keep calm. But of course go back to the doctors if you feel you need to. You're not alone on this horrid perimenopause/menopause anxiety journey xxxxx

[jessieblue]

Thanks Agatha, yes I drink water a lot...take d mannose daily use vaginal moisturiser.  I walk a bit every day I have horses that I go and feed.  I dont sleep much as I wake at 3 am with severe anxiety so my long day starts there.  I am alone mostly which is hard too but sometimes worse when others are around and I have to put on a front.  I dont take any other supplements.  I tried probiotics but got terrible diarrheoa so had to stop them.  I eat healthily and not very much but I am fat and bloated.  I feel so terribly unhealthy like my body is rotting.  I feel so trapped in my body and just want to be free of it if that makes sense?  I know spiritually I will be ok if I can just cast of this physical form. xx

[Dancinggirl]

My urine is often cloudy and whenever it is tested there is blood present - this is because of atrophy. I'd stop using Caneston if I were you, as I find this makes me itchy and sore. Perhaps buy some Multi Gyn Actigel(online) which is very good at restoring the flora balance and helps to treat thrush and bacterial infections in the vagina that may cause UTI symtpoms.
Do use Vagifem and keep using the vaginal moisturisers.
DG x

[Taz2]

I can't use Canestan either - makes me really sore and itchy.

If you feel you have a UTI I would advise against leaving it. I did this once and ended up ill for four months with a really horrible upper UTI and that's something you don't want. Will your surgery allow you to just drop a sample in for dipping? That's what I do now at the first possibility. It's better than allowing it to travel further up the urinary system.

I wouldn't take another flucanozole especially if nothing was detected on a swab. Your symptoms sound like VA to me to be honest. When I am late with my HRT patch - keep forgetting to change it on the right day - I get the soreness you describe together with even some bleeding from the perineum.

Good advice from Dancinggirl about keeping up the Vagifem and moisturisers.

p.s. Probiotics give me dreadful diarrhoea too!

Taz x 

[CLKD]

Canestan caused immediate burning  and I had to get into a cool bath for an hour.  Good job we weren't camping!

You could try LIVE Greek yoghurt eaten and applied. 

In the short term I would ask for appropriate vaginal atrophy treatment!  Your vaginal walls may have thinned due to lack of oestrogen, VA is great at mimicking urine 'infections'! which usually aren't.

[jessieblue]

Thank you all.  Its so hard to know what to do.  My feeling is the oestrogen products irritate me but that is the treatment I need.  I cannot try the vagifem until i have settled down, I am in so much discomfort.

[jessieblue]

Thanks Sparkle, I really wish I could find something that worked.  Im so scared of making things worse.  At the moment I can barely walk I am so inflamed.  I cant risk putting anything up there atm.  I have taken another flucanazole in the hope it helps. 

[Taz2]

It sounds more like VA than thrush to me. The vagifem applicator is tiny and even when really inflamed I found it was worth inserting it just to start the healing that only topical oestrogen could provide

Taz x

[CLKD]

I cannot try the vagifem until i have settled down, I am in so much discomfort..  R U able to explain more?

I don't think that it will settle until you begin to moisturise the area.  UTIs and thrush are natural: I had my first attack of the latter 10 days after stopping long-term use of The Pill, it was itching very high up: and vaginal atrophy certainly mimics UTIs with a vengeance.



What have you to hand, i.e. KY Jelly, Vaseline, LIVE yoghurt - get the outer vaginal area lubricated ASAP every 10 mins. initially.  As the areas gets less sore, insert a small amount of KY or LIVE yoghurt into the vagina as far as is possible.  Without moisture the walls can, in rare cases, fuse  which is why localised HRT can really help.

What have you to lose? 

[jessieblue]

Thankyou ladies.  Ill try to explain more.....2 years ago when I had the first UTI it came out of the blue.  I didnt have any vaginal symptoms or pain or anything.  I was able to enjoy sex and was unaware I had a problem.  The UTI came back twice in two months and an aggressive course of cipro gave me a really sore looking vulva.  I didnt really feel sore but the doctor examined me for piles and noted it was really sore.  So she gave me a flucanazole and I then asked about vaginal oestrogen to hold off any more UTIs.  So this was when I started the estradiol cream and later ovestin, both of which inflamed me down there badly.  So it seemed the first fluconazole tablet didnt really help but I took another a month later after a smear test showed candida and I had what looked like chemical burns down below at this time.  I had also taken canesten once cream internally that burned badly and caused bleeding.  The second flucanazole at that time seemed to gradually settle things but it took a while.  I tried the ovestin a couple of times always with the same bright red irritated vulva a couple of days after and symptoms of thrush.  I left all oestrogen creams off and used YES VM dails and occasionally multigyn .  Since then until 1 month ago no vaginal symptoms at all.  Last year I had 2 sessions of mona lisa touch but didnt notice any changes, however I was asomptomatic and was using it because I feared UTI so badly.  I didnt have a uti until 1 month ago when suddenly after trying the ovestin again I developed urethral burning and irritation followed by cystitis problems.  No one has ever diagnosed VA and I have had a gynacologist and 3 doctors examine me.  They havent said I havent either just not said anything.  I asked about trying oestrogen cream and boy do I wish I hadnt now!  So this is why I am reluctant to try vagifem because it seemed I was ok until i used oestrogen.  This bad flare up after using only oestrogel which doesnt seem possible.  Otherwise the trimethoprim must have given me inflammation but yet nothing showed on the swab.  Im so confused and Im not sure my doctor will be much help as they werent in a hurry to prescribe HRT anyway.

CLKD when you say UTIs are normal?  What do you mean.....you see they terrify me because I dont seem to get better easily and now I feel like I have another UTI and I only finished trimethoprim 2 weeks ago.  Trimethoprim has started all my vaginal pain and symptoms leading to huge anxiety about never getting better.  The anxiety is the worst thing over my health.  Like I am sitting here with such bad pain and irritation down there and the panic is building intenseley.  So I want to try and avoid UTI as it starts a whole cycle of awfulness.  It took me 18 months to let my husband anywhere near me again after the fear of having another infection.  Now that will be completely off bounds....I have no labido anyway but try to please him because I know he will leave me because of this shit.  I feel so worthless.  I know I dont cope very well with illness because of the anxiety involved and I do imagine it will get worse and worse.  Thats what scares me the most....that this is just the beginning and I will not be able to cope with any more pain. Maybe I will try the mona lisa touch again.....at least that is hormone free but I need to be pain free first as I dont think laser burns on my inflamed flesh would be too sensible.  How do you know for sure if you have a uti or VA?   Or thrush or VA?  People say tests that come back negative can be positive and I guess thats the same for swabs.  I am afraid to take multiple courses of antiniotics because they upset everything so much and it seems they dont clear the infection either.  The doctors dont seem sure what I have and neither do I.  Its so scary to me and Im so bloody depressed. 

[CLKD]

Everything that happens to the body is normal.  It's getting treatment that eases symptoms that can be so difficult.

A fresh urine sample must be sent to a Lab. for testing.  It is 'grown' to see if there are bugs which need treatment.  There are other ways of immediate testing of samples but this isn't the way that the NHS goes.

The broad spectrum Anti-biotic you have been given says to me that your urine samples haven't grown any bugs.  ABs certainly relieved symptoms for me at the time, the spasm after passing urine was really sharp: I sat on the loo with a cup of tea and a glass of dilute barley water  as it was the only position that I could get any relief!

Thrush is chacterestic in most cases.  Can be diagnosed with an internal exam or swabs sent to a Lab..  I had pessaries but can't remember what the Gynae Registrar gave me, it was in the 1990s.

Did the Mona Lisa touch help?   There is a thread here about the procedure, have you browsed it?

Vaginal atrophy mimics urine infection-type symptoms really well!  Which is why GPs get confused  .

[Dancinggirl]

UTI and thrush type symptoms are part of urogenital atrophy and sadly many doctors are still ignorant  about this problem. Vagifem will be your nest option for treatment.

The oestrogen creams have fillers that irritate many women, especially if you have a sore urethra.

The thrush treatment will also add to your problems as they are harsh and have fillers that can irritate.

You have used too many products that have irritated but you have not treated the underlying problem.

I think I have explained the strategies that have worked for me previously on this thread. I did a thread called ‘The Burning Club' that you may find helpful as you will see that what you are experiencing is quite common. 

The current heat wave won't be helping - you need to wear skirts and let the air get to your intimate area. Try drinking a glass of water with half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda morning and evening. If you can lie down and put your feet up for an hour midday that might help your bladder to relax. Try not to clench your intimate area - try to really relax when passing urine to fully empty your bladder. Use plenty of the YES moisturiser and as soon as possible start using Vagifem.

Try bathing your intimate area with water that has bicarbonate of soda as well - it can be very soothing.  Make sure you clean really well after opening your bowels to make sure nothing passes to the vagina.
Buy some Multi Gyn Actigel and just put a good dollop on the end of your finger and push this up inside and smear around the outside of your vagina - it will sting a bit at first but it is then soothing as it will help to restore the flora balance. Just use Multi Gyn for 2-3 days when you feel the burning is starting and then once a week to help maintain things.

Stop using the flunonazole and start being gentler with your intimate area. Read up on Mindfulness  and give it a go.

I still get flare ups of this horrible burning and soreness but I now know that these strategies will sort it in 2-3 days.
I am 62 and have suffered with this problem for many years as I had a premature meno - you can prevent problems from happening with careful management. DG x

[CLKD]

Granma swore by bicarbonate of soda for burns ...... in a paste with a little cold water and applied thickly.

[jessieblue]

Thank you all.  Dancing girl I will try the bicarb of soda.  The YES VM is stinging me badly at the moment when I apply it.  So it cant be a uti can it if im getting stinging from the vaginal area?  It feels so raw.  Thank you for all your help.  Im trying not to lose the plot but its such a difficult sensation to live with.  Do you all find that it comes and goes or is this something that will only get worse as time goes by?