Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: Mich12 on April 17, 2015, 01:48:30 PM
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Hi there,
I am new here and so happy to have found this place! I am 47 and have been in perimenopause since I was 39. I am amazed how my body has and is changing with this change. :P
My main problem at the moment is I have had chronic yeast infections for almost a year which my ob/gyn is getting under control with weekly Diflucan but now my bladder is acting up. I only had one bladder infection in my life but the past few months it is either one long one that won't clear or a few. I have been on Macrobid and now on Doxycycline. My bladder hurts. I feel like I need to use the bathroom a lot. She is sending my urine out this time to be cultured...she didn't do that before - she just went by the dipstick. I was told no intercourse while I heal so my husband and I have not done a thing for a long time. :'( I am sad about that. She wants me to see a urologist for a cystoscopy so I made an appointment and I am scared.
My doctor put me on Vagifem a month and a half ago and now I get the hot flushes. I am surprised that I got this UTI despite being new to Vagifem...I read Vagifem was supposed to help with that.
Has anyone else had recurrent bladder infections and if so, what helped you?
Has anyone else seen a urologist for a cystoscopy and if so, is that test painful?
I look forward to chatting with everyone.
Thank you for reading. :)
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:welcomemm: I do wish that GPs would send the initial urine test to the Lab. to make sure that there is infection. I had intermittent infection-like symptoms then my GP realised what was happening - the only relief I had was sitting on the loo so that muscles could relax totally!
Vagifem is unlikely to 'cause' bladder problems, it's designed to ease the various feelings that happen there - for me it was like razor blades up there >:( - I use the other preparation, of course name escapes me
The initial treatment of both is 2 weeks of every night, then twice a week. However, when I felt that my symptoms were returning I had 5 nights of continual use again - it really is Trial and Error!
Have a browse round.
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Hi Mich. I used to have recurrent bladder infections and was put on a low dose continuous antibiotic but it was only through reading on the internet that I found out about vaginal atrophy. I went back to my doc who, miraculously agreed, and I was prescribed Vagifem. This did help but took around three months before I could dispense with the antibiotic. Eventually I went onto full HRT as my symptoms of hot sweats etc. made it difficult to cope with normal life.
You say that your bladder is painful? I have recently restarted Vagifem and have had to stop due to a painful bladder and lower tummy pain. I'm wondering whether your bladder pain has happened since starting Vagifem?
As for the cystoscopy I had one a few years ago and didn't find it painful at all - a little bit uncomfortable but not painful. I went back to work an hour afterwards but did remember to drink a lot during that afternoon to flush things through.
You will find lots of support and advice on here.
Taz x :welcomemm:
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I suffered with recurrent UTI's from a child. Mine was a defect with the plumbing which was fixed with an op however I still got many horrible infections, I also had VA during meno which mimics UTI's
My tips for avoiding probs are cranberry juice and bicarb of soda (not together)
Every day I drink cranberry diluted with warm water, I have abut 4 glasses per day
Every week or so I dissolve quarter of a teaspoon of bicarb again with warm water, it calms the bladder and reduces inflammation
Hope this helps
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Hi Mich, I feel your pain, literally. I haven't had sex since last February when I developed a UTI after sex with my partner. Since that time I have had two cystoscopy's, the first was done with no anaesthetic and was completely painless, the second was done under a general anaesthetic and a biopsy was also taken, that one caused a fair bit of bleeding and pain afterwards but by this time my bladder was painful a lot of the time anyway. The result of the second cystscopy showed a very swollen bladder with a lot of pin-point bleeding. I was given several courses of rotational anti-biotics and then my urologist wanted me to stay on Macrobid for six months. I came off it myself after two months as by this time I had been on anti-biotics for about six months and was starting to feel really unwell. I saw so many specialists last year that I began to lose faith in them in the end, one of them gave me a diagnosis of 'bladder pain syndrome type 3C', also known as interstitial cystitis and the supposition is that an infection has gone through my bladder lining into my bladder wall. At the moment I am just muddling through with a very compromised quality of life :'(. I need to step back onto the medical merry-go-round but I really lost faith in the medical profession last year, if you look back over my posts it is well documented.
I am on HRT at the moment, I gave up with Vagifem as I felt it gave me a strange smell :-\.
I hope you get yourself sorted soon as this really is the pits!
xxx
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I was getting them almost continually, and my urine samples were being sent off to the lab each time
Some evenings I had to just lay in bed as the discomfort of the feeling of bursting for a wee, then a tiny a bit trickles out was too much. That was a regular occurrence plus the smelly cloudy wee, it was embarrassing when at work
No one picked up the many antibiotics I was being prescribed, I had spare specimen bottles at home they were happening so often, many I managed to flush out with extra water intake
I asked for vagifem , first gp said I can't have it because I'm already on oestrogen orally but I read on here you can because it's a tiny amount located to that area in vagifem so another gp in the phone prescribed it, it's not working as yet on other things vaginally but so far I'm on day 12 and no sign of a UTI !
Xx
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:welcomemm: I do wish that GPs would send the initial urine test to the Lab. to make sure that there is infection. I had intermittent infection-like symptoms then my GP realised what was happening - the only relief I had was sitting on the loo so that muscles could relax totally!
Vagifem is unlikely to 'cause' bladder problems, it's designed to ease the various feelings that happen there - for me it was like razor blades up there >:( - I use the other preparation, of course name escapes me
The initial treatment of both is 2 weeks of every night, then twice a week. However, when I felt that my symptoms were returning I had 5 nights of continual use again - it really is Trial and Error!
Have a browse round.
Thank you so much for your reply, I appreciate it. :) I have been enjoying browsing around and reading, this is a wonderful place!
Take care. :)
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Keep asking too!
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Hi Mich. I used to have recurrent bladder infections and was put on a low dose continuous antibiotic but it was only through reading on the internet that I found out about vaginal atrophy. I went back to my doc who, miraculously agreed, and I was prescribed Vagifem. This did help but took around three months before I could dispense with the antibiotic. Eventually I went onto full HRT as my symptoms of hot sweats etc. made it difficult to cope with normal life.
You say that your bladder is painful? I have recently restarted Vagifem and have had to stop due to a painful bladder and lower tummy pain. I'm wondering whether your bladder pain has happened since starting Vagifem?
As for the cystoscopy I had one a few years ago and didn't find it painful at all - a little bit uncomfortable but not painful. I went back to work an hour afterwards but did remember to drink a lot during that afternoon to flush things through.
You will find lots of support and advice on here.
Taz x :welcomemm:
Thank you Taz x! I did start getting bladder symptoms after beginning the Vagifem. Hmmm I wonder if the Vagifem has something to do with this?
That is reassuring to hear about how your cystoscopy went, thank you for sharing. I was really afraid it would be horribly painful.
I will research vaginal atrophy - my doctor never mentioned this but perhaps this is what I have. :-\
Thank you for replying. :)
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I suffered with recurrent UTI's from a child. Mine was a defect with the plumbing which was fixed with an op however I still got many horrible infections, I also had VA during meno which mimics UTI's
My tips for avoiding probs are cranberry juice and bicarb of soda (not together)
Every day I drink cranberry diluted with warm water, I have abut 4 glasses per day
Every week or so I dissolve quarter of a teaspoon of bicarb again with warm water, it calms the bladder and reduces inflammation
Hope this helps
Hi there,
Cranberry juice sounds lovely, I will drink a bit more each day. I take cranberry pills now.
I appreciate your reply. :)
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We have 2 threads here about Vaginal Atrophy, I think I called mine 'my bladder etc.' and SuziQ's description is really informative!
I note that when I use the HRT twice a week-ish I get slight needing to wee symptoms for 24 hours
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I think that I had this sort of pain before when first starting Vagifem but thought it was to do with the womb. However, I had a hysterectomy last year so it can't possibly be womb related. The only thing I could think of because of the position of the pain - almost like a tennis ball sized pain low down in the abdomen - was the bladder reacting in some way. I will re-start it next week to see if the same thing happens again. I'm seeing my doc on 28th April so I'll mention it to her then.
If you use the search box in the blue bar top left of the screen and just type in vaginal atrophy dryness it will bring up all of the past posts mentioning this.
Taz x
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Hi Mich, I feel your pain, literally. I haven't had sex since last February when I developed a UTI after sex with my partner. Since that time I have had two cystoscopy's, the first was done with no anaesthetic and was completely painless, the second was done under a general anaesthetic and a biopsy was also taken, that one caused a fair bit of bleeding and pain afterwards but by this time my bladder was painful a lot of the time anyway. The result of the second cystscopy showed a very swollen bladder with a lot of pin-point bleeding. I was given several courses of rotational anti-biotics and then my urologist wanted me to stay on Macrobid for six months. I came off it myself after two months as by this time I had been on anti-biotics for about six months and was starting to feel really unwell. I saw so many specialists last year that I began to lose faith in them in the end, one of them gave me a diagnosis of 'bladder pain syndrome type 3C', also known as interstitial cystitis and the supposition is that an infection has gone through my bladder lining into my bladder wall. At the moment I am just muddling through with a very compromised quality of life :'(. I need to step back onto the medical merry-go-round but I really lost faith in the medical profession last year, if you look back over my posts it is well documented.
I am on HRT at the moment, I gave up with Vagifem as I felt it gave me a strange smell :-\.
I hope you get yourself sorted soon as this really is the pits!
xxx
Hiya,
I am so sorry you have been through so much! :( I do not like taking so many antibiotics - I am sooo prone to yeast infections and I am playing with fire taking them so much. I take a Diflucan each week to keep them under control but now I am on antibiotics each day and I have a feeling the yeast will return. :(
My husband and I were advised to not do anything sexually until I heal. It has been most frustrating. We have only been married just a year now and this is just the absolute pits having all these yeast infections and now this bladder issue when we are so newly married and in love. My doc said we cannot have sex like we are 20 years old (we don't!)!! :o :o :o And she said she can help build my tissues back up with the Vagifem. She said we thin out when in perimenopause and that is why I am having these issues. :(
Thank you for your reply - you hang in there too!! :)
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I was getting them almost continually, and my urine samples were being sent off to the lab each time
Some evenings I had to just lay in bed as the discomfort of the feeling of bursting for a wee, then a tiny a bit trickles out was too much. That was a regular occurrence plus the smelly cloudy wee, it was embarrassing when at work
No one picked up the many antibiotics I was being prescribed, I had spare specimen bottles at home they were happening so often, many I managed to flush out with extra water intake
I asked for vagifem , first gp said I can't have it because I'm already on oestrogen orally but I read on here you can because it's a tiny amount located to that area in vagifem so another gp in the phone prescribed it, it's not working as yet on other things vaginally but so far I'm on day 12 and no sign of a UTI !
Xx
Hi,
I am so sorry you are dealing with this too. :( I hope taking the Vagifem helps you and you don't get the bladder infections anymore. Antibiotics are rough to take, esp. all the time. And bladder infections hurt so bad! :'(
Hang in there!
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We have 2 threads here about Vaginal Atrophy, I think I called mine 'my bladder etc.' and SuziQ's description is really informative!
I note that when I use the HRT twice a week-ish I get slight needing to wee symptoms for 24 hours
Thank you - I will look those threads up. :)
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I think that I had this sort of pain before when first starting Vagifem but thought it was to do with the womb. However, I had a hysterectomy last year so it can't possibly be womb related. The only thing I could think of because of the position of the pain - almost like a tennis ball sized pain low down in the abdomen - was the bladder reacting in some way. I will re-start it next week to see if the same thing happens again. I'm seeing my doc on 28th April so I'll mention it to her then.
If you use the search box in the blue bar top left of the screen and just type in vaginal atrophy dryness it will bring up all of the past posts mentioning this.
Taz x
Thank you Taz x, I will do a search. :)
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Aaaaahh bless you, you've replied to us all individually :) Take heed of what your GP said, I really wish I had been more careful and not acted as if I was 19 :-\
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Aaaaahh bless you, you've replied to us all individually :) Take heed of what your GP said, I really wish I had been more careful and not acted as if I was 19 :-\
Thank you. :)
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Hi Mich12
You have described the symptoms of what I am going through this very morning. I have been on twice weekly antibiotics for UTI's and the last two tests from the lab came back negative, ie, no bacteria. I am now convinced I have vaginal atrophy. I was prescribed Vagifem a few years ago but stopped when the symptoms setted down and wonder if I now need to go back to the doctor and re-start taking them.
What I find confusing is that yesterday I felt great and today I feel rubbish and constantly wanting to wee. I also find that I have the most horrible headache and feeling of nausea, I guess this could be another downside to this atrophy thing :-\
My doctor has given me an emergency antibiotic to take but to be honest this doesn't really solve the problem I am suffering with down below.
I have tried cranberry juice in the past but it doesn't seem to work for me. Off to take some more paracetamol and hopefully as the day progresses it will improve. :(
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Hi Fee - just to say that if you needed Vagifem in the past then, usually, you will need it for ever. The atrophy happens because your oestrogen level has dropped and it wont rise again. It's a long term condition. I'd definitely go back to the GP for another prescription.
Taz x
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Thanks Taz, I will mention is to my GP at the next appointment.
I have taken an antibiotic this morning (I have an an emergency 5 day supply) and feel some relief from the pain already. Although the lab results show "no growth" I know there must be something lurking around.
I just love this forum, it has so much information and to think it was recommended to me by my GP. ;)
Fee
X
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Hi Mich12
You have described the symptoms of what I am going through this very morning. I have been on twice weekly antibiotics for UTI's and the last two tests from the lab came back negative, ie, no bacteria. I am now convinced I have vaginal atrophy. I was prescribed Vagifem a few years ago but stopped when the symptoms setted down and wonder if I now need to go back to the doctor and re-start taking them.
What I find confusing is that yesterday I felt great and today I feel rubbish and constantly wanting to wee. I also find that I have the most horrible headache and feeling of nausea, I guess this could be another downside to this atrophy thing :-\
My doctor has given me an emergency antibiotic to take but to be honest this doesn't really solve the problem I am suffering with down below.
I have tried cranberry juice in the past but it doesn't seem to work for me. Off to take some more paracetamol and hopefully as the day progresses it will improve. :(
Hi Fee,
I am so sorry you too are going through this. :( What kind of antibiotic are you taking? I took Macrobid for 5 days and now I am on Doxycycline. I get the urine culture result on Monday. She only went by the dipstick until this second infection.
It is very painful. I had a terrible evening last night. I am on my second round of antibiotics now and I have these pills here that turn my urine orange and relieve pain and I had to take one last night for the pain. :(
I hope you feel better soon!
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Mich2, I am taking ciprofloxacin and will take it for the next 5 days. My result should have been back from the lab on Friday but I didn't hear anything. The dipstick showed no infection in my sample but I have had this before and when the result comes back it's positive, I may hear something on Monday but I must say I am starting to feel better already acing just taken 1 tablet.
I am off abroad for 5 days from next Wednesday and may start taking one cefalexin at night. The Dr suggested I take this is a preventative antibiotic and it may see me through until I get back. Hopefully I feel better by then.
I hope you have a better night tonight, I would die for a full nights sleep :o
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I would ring for the Vagifem on Monday, ask for the prescription to be left for you. The sooner you begin the nightly dose for 2 weeks the better you will feel.
Going somewhere nice? (we have a holiday thread ;) )
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Good thinking, I might just ring a see if they will write a prescription without a appointment, I doubt it though.
I am going to visit the grandchildren in Brussels, I haven't seen them since New Year and desperately want to be well enough to have some fun with them.
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If you have had the prescription previously I can't see that there will be a problem unless the Surgery make it so. It's so difficult to get appts. these days ::) that I would say "In order to avoid taking up an appt which someone might need more than I do, could you ask the GP if he/she will prescribe Vagifem? as it helped last time. I am happy to speak on the phone if he/she wants to check" and add that you are out of the country from Wednesday. ;)
Haven't been to Brussels since I was 16 :o
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Mich2, I am taking ciprofloxacin and will take it for the next 5 days. My result should have been back from the lab on Friday but I didn't hear anything. The dipstick showed no infection in my sample but I have had this before and when the result comes back it's positive, I may hear something on Monday but I must say I am starting to feel better already acing just taken 1 tablet.
I am off abroad for 5 days from next Wednesday and may start taking one cefalexin at night. The Dr suggested I take this is a preventative antibiotic and it may see me through until I get back. Hopefully I feel better by then.
I hope you have a better night tonight, I would die for a full nights sleep :o
Hi Fee,
That is a good antibiotic. I am allergic to penicillin, Bactrim, and the Keflex and Erythromycin families of antibiotics so there isn't much I can take sadly. My dipstick was positive for infection and for blood so my doctor sent the urine sample out for a culture and she will know the result Monday she said and she might have to switch my antibiotic. :-\ I am not feeling better either. I was but then the pain came back - very odd.
Take good care. :)
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An update Mich12. I had to go back to the dr today, this antibiotic was making me so ill, I did manage to take 3 days out of the 5. I am now taking a prophylactic Cefalexin and if I have another bout it looks like a visit to Urology...again!
I hope things are better with you.
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Hi Fee
that is the main problem with a doc prescribing such a strong anti biotic, a lot of people cannot tolerate them.
Just to point out something just in case the doc has not mentioned it.
Take it easy if you like going out for walks and are exercising as it can have effects on your muscles and tendons (weakness).
I hope you get some relief soon.
Have you thought about going to a Medium or Higher HRT solution?
:-*
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An update Mich12. I had to go back to the dr today, this antibiotic was making me so ill, I did manage to take 3 days out of the 5. I am now taking a prophylactic Cefalexin and if I have another bout it looks like a visit to Urology...again!
I hope things are better with you.
Thank you for the update Fee! I hope this new anabiotic makes you feel better and doesn't give you those side effects. If your doctor sends you back to the urologist what do you think they will do? What did they do the first time you were there? I'm going to the urologist tomorrow and I'm nervous. :o
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Why isn't your GP suggesting treatment for VA :-\
Did you get to Brussels?