Chronic UTI's or something else?

[smckenn]

I am currently on my 12th UTI for the year now. I seem to get better for a week and then it comes back. I have had a CT scan and urodynamics and everything checks out. I have seen my PCP, a urologist, my OBGYN and no one can figure this out. My cultures all come back negative...yet I continually am getting UTI's. I wipe front to back, I void after sex, I shower daily, I keep dry down there, I drink nothing but water (no caffeine, no alcohol, nothing), I'm taking cranberry pills, and I am on nitrofurantoin daily but the stupid things keep on coming back. What else could it be? Is there some other test I should ask for? Thank you.

[smckenn]

Hi. My problems are a fullness, burning discomfort in the abdomen, inability to get my stream going and once I do it's broken, a constant feel of needing to urinate. My tests come back negative but it does always show that I have leukocytes (white blood cells/pus) in my urine...just not nitrates.

My urologist also told me drink cranberry juice (no sugar added) or take cranberry pills...but I've also heard conflicting information about this. I'm supposed to take a macrobid daily to help prevent the uti but that doesn't seem to help. I also have been taking pyridium (3 days on, 4 days off) to help with the symptoms. It helps sort of.

The anitbiotics I've taken to get rid of the UTI is sulfamexazole, cipro (which seems to work the best), and the macrobid. But still as soon as I am off the antibiotic (the cipro or sulfamexazole) the UTI returns within a day.

I am sorry you're going through this as well. It's very frustrating to not feel well...ever...and to have no solution. I have another appointment on Monday for them to test for protein or something like that. So I guess we'll see. I've been to both the gyno and the urologist and my PCP and no one seems to have any solution. I'm at my wits end. :(

[nancy100]

Hi!
I have a similar problem. I have had recurrent UTI for the last 2 years.
All my tests were negative. Pap smear, KUB, HSV1..

I was also tested for herpes as i have had a few blisters a couple of times. But not in the last 8 months. My tests were negative and my current gynae feels i do not have herpes. I have no idea what i am suffering from and who can help me. Urologist or Gynaecologist? I saw a different group on this site "Urogynaecology" but dont have any experts in my area.
It is really frustrating and hampers day to day life. I can understand very well what you must be going through. Wish you all the best! Btw, my urologist also prescribed Cranberry juice and now i dont know whether i should still have it.
I have been given Urimax and Ciplox for the UTI. The ciplox isnt working for me as well now. I feel a burning sensation and continued discomfort in the lower abdomen and urethra. Is that the case with you?
Regards,
nancy100

[smckenn]

thank you so much for your replies!!!

[calamfred]

Hello,
     Just wanted to let you know about a condition called Interstitial Cystitis (IC) , it is a bladder disorder, and often feels like you have a horrible UTI, but the urinary cultures usually come back negative for any bacteria. There are several good web sites about it. It may be something for you to discuss with your Dr. And, 1 other thing is that for those of us with IC, cranberry juice makes the symptoms worse, in most cases. I also have had a bunch of kidney stones, and prior to finally being diagnosed with IC, I used to drink the cranberry juice like crazy, and wondered why my bladder symptoms did not get better??...now I know!  My OB-Gyn is the 1 who first suggested I be checked for IC, and she talked with my Urologist. They agreed to each do their tests, exploratory lap for OB-Gyn, which at the time was ok. My Urologist did a Cystoscopy with Hydrodistension, and found I have a "classic" case of IC...I am just so thankful for my Ob-Gyn; not that I am glad to have the IC, but that I finally got an answer...at the present time there is no cure for IC, but there are several treatment options. Good luck to you and hope you feel better soon.

[Mandy_H]

Aarhg... no wonder you are having a problem. It's that cranberry. Please, please read www.cranberryjuice.eu. It's like the opposite of what's good for your problem. Cranberry feeds the bacteria because it puts hippuric acid into the urine. In the UK doctors are starting to tell people to take a special sugar (an hour before sex) called waterfall d-mannose that binds to the bacteria. And don't urinate before sex - because if you do the bacteria has nowhere to go but directly onto the bladder lining. And cranberry also stops antibiotics from working becasue it gives them thicker cell walls. Cranberry is a multi billion dollar industry. Guess what... if the antibiotics don't work, loads of people take more cranberry. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
x Mandy