Help me! Chronic UTI's 12 in 6 months

[smckenn]

Please help me. No one seems to be able to give me othre options. About 6 months ago I got my first UTI ever. Since then I have had reoccurances and nothing seems to be the matter. They do urine cultures and tell me their fine....but yet there are always traces of nitrates and mostly white blood cells when we do my urine specimen. I've seen a urologist and have had urodynamics done and a cat scan. No one can tell me why I keep on getting them. I started on nitrofurantoin 5 days ago and I'm getting worse...I do not think it is helping my current UTI and I am feeling horrible. Is it possible it's something else that the drs are missing? What could they possibly be missing? Are there specific tests I should now ask for? I am so sick of being sick.

Thank you!

[David A Burks, MD]

Hi, Its not that simple.  A CT scan can tell you if you have a kidney stone.  If you have a cystoscopy and hydrodistention it may show the changes of IC.  The problem is that 20% of patients who have the classic symptoms of IC have a normal cystoscopy.  If your history is classic for IC, your physical exam is negative for a pelvic infection or problem, then we often label these patients as having painful bladder syndrome and treat them for IC with no cystoscopy.  Start with the urine culture during symptoms to rule out a UTI.------------------ David

[ICPain]

I am not a Dr, but a cystopy will tell if its IC a cat scan if its a kidney stone.  Push the issue of running more tests.
ICPain sufferer

[David A Burks, MD]

Hi,  Its is common for patients who have Interstitial Cystitis to have a few real urinary tract infections in the past, then start to have symptoms with no infection in the urine.  White blood cells in the urine don't necessarily mean infection and needs a workup if the cultures are negative.  A urine culture is key rule in or rule out the infection.  If there is no infection by the culture but you still have symptoms you may have IC. The symptoms of IC are urinary frequency, urgency and bladder, pubic area, or  vaginal pain, pressure or discomfort.  You didn't describe your symptoms in detail but clearly your Urologist or Urogynecologist needs to consider IC and do further testing. There are some women who get frequent UTIs and need to be on long term antibiotics. Getting the right diagnosis is the key to getting effective treatment.  Good Luck.