Urinary Frequency Post-UTI

[nascargirl]

Had UTI one month ago diagnosed by just a dipstick test.  One week of Bactrim.  Went away.  The next week the symptoms came back but just the feeling I had to pee all the time when most of the time I just went a tiny bit.  Let it go for a week until my lower back started to ache.  Went to doctor, put on 10 day course of Cipro, said I would be called when the culture came back if the bacteria was something that needed a different antibiotic.  I am 6 days into the course of Cipro.  No burning, no urgency, just this constant feeling that I need to pee.  Sometimes I go and it is normal and other times just a tiny trickle. The actual urine amount is not abnormal.  I have twice before in my life had these unexplained symptoms.  Last doctor, 3 years ago, said to trust my body and wait it out.  I did and it went away.  Is it possible for your bladder to take a while to heal after infections, to get back to normal function?  It seems to be a bit less intense each day.  I am worried about cancer or diabetes.   I also have severe anxiety and panic disorder and health anxiey and PTSD and just began treatment under a psychiatrist today?  Could some of this be from my anxiety?  I think about my bladder constantly and when I get busy doing something else I don't feel it.
I am so frightened.
Thank you

[Lennox Hoyte, M.D.]

Many women suffer from Urinary frequency and urgency. The thing that needs to be ruled out is bladder infection (this can be accomplished with a urine culture- the kind that takes 3 days to perform, not the in office dipstick test). Once the bladder infection is out of the way, issues of prolapse, and uterine fibroids, or large ovarian cysts, also need to be ruled out, this is easily done with a bimanual examination by your gynecologist, GP,  or NP. If these are also negative, then you may have the condition known as 'overactive bladder'. Although the most common therapy is medication (e.g., Detrol, Ditropan, Enablex), other therapies exist. Examples of these are timed voiding, kegel exercises (with emphasis on the relaxation part), pelvic flor physical therapy (performed weekly by a trained pelvic floor physical therapist), and vaginal electrical stimulation (which can be self-administered at home twice daily for 8 weeks). Other conditions which can cause frequency/urgency, include kidney stones (these are usually painful, and accompanied by blood in the urine), and bladder cancer (this is very rare, but smokers can have an increased risk of this).