do I tell my doctor or not?

[wishforchange]

Firstly thanks and also apologies to those who answered my very depressing other post (plus any of my friends who have read my horrible angry and self pitying journals).  I was having a bad day.  Apart from issues at home, I now realise that one problem is the urine infection is back with a vengence.  Early hours of this morning - spent hours stuck on the toilet, gripped by spasms, weeing sporadic streams of blood.  This is what happens when I stop the Trimethoprim.  When I went to the doctor last week I looked and felt well and agreed that it was all cystitis.  Am scared to push him as he prescribes all else I need so reliably right now.  I knew at the back of my mind this was still an infection.  My kidneys were hurting - forgot to tell him.  To get back to last night after taking everything I could painwise and more, such that I nearly overdosed, even with my level of tolerance, I also found my final, secret stash of high strength Cephalexin.  Just enough to get me through this infection.  So I took it three hours ago and am already feeling a bit better.  The dilemma is - do I tell my doctor?  I fear losing his trust, in that he will think I have some pharmacy hidden in my place, or am using another prescriber, neither of which is true.  I was just given these at the hospital once and did not take them as I was then treated by another doctor who was called in to see me and they didn't ask for the medicine back, maybe forgot about it.  I don't have a stash of any medications at home, but I do take controlled drugs and trust is everything with my doctor.  I want to tell him how ill I am today, and what I've done, but I think he will not understand how I came to have powerful antibiotics in my place.  If only I had been in this state when I saw him he would have for sure prescribed me exactly this.  The pain was so bad a few hours ago I was suicidal, and didn't care if I overdosed or not.  I could not stand up from the toilet for any length of time, could not even catheterize.  Phoned the on call (useless) nurse and she just told me to use the out of hours doctor.  I will never again use their service (personal reasons).  What happens next time and I have no antibiotics in my place?  How could I even get to the hospital when I couldn't get off the toilet?  The Cephalexin is working, the pain and bleeding are already tolerable, and this is just the first dose.  My instinct is not to tell my doctor, but I hate to lie.  Any thoughts?

[cjacks]

WFAC

I really feel for you.  You are going though a hellish time .

I'm very glad that you found the antibiotic.  You should tell your dr. the truth . What you did makes perfect sense , everyone with chronic illnesses have extra meds. We'd be foolish to throw out unused portions of a rx.  Just for this very reason.

And  you could ask your doc for some extras in case this were to happen again .  To get you though a week-end until he can see you.  My friend's mother has chronic urinary infections and her doc has given them extras.    My premise :  What if there were a hurricane or tornado or flood ( long week-end) and everything was shut down for a week or two ,we need to have our vital  meds.  

I'm glad that you're starting to feel better.

Hugs and prayers

Jo

[mary_kay]

Well said, Jo!  I agree that you should be honest with the doctor.  I can't imagine the doctor having a problem with it.  Quote of the day: "If you always tell the truth, you will never forget what you said."
So glad you are feeling better! Mary Kay

[wonko]

Lying about the medication would indicate to me that you do have a problem.  I think you should be open and honest with your doctor.  If you have concerns about your use, who better to counsel you than the doctor?  You only risk losing trust by NOT being honest.

I am sorry to read how trying the last several days have been.  You should not apologize for letting it out.  Hopefully, being able to share your experiences is in some small way of benefit.  It must hurt to hold  that much fear and emotion inside.  

Take care, and let us know how you're getting along.

[monotreme]

You do not have a "problem" as stated above.  You were just desperate for medication to stop your pain on a day that your doctor does not have hours.  Anyone prone to urinary tract infections who has woken up on a weekend or holiday with a severe infection in which there is blood in the urine should understand this.

I am glad you are feeling better.  However, you should call the doctor on Monday morning just to let him know what happened.  Don't feel bad.  It is not unusual for patients to have unused meds in their house.  Considering the fact that you have taken these antibiotics in the past  and you have a history of infections, I am sure your doctor will agree with your actions.

Please keep an eye on your temperature and if you see any more blood or have pain despite the meds, then you need to call the after hours doctor.  (Or go to a walk in clinic).

Elaine

[Deb61]

I'm so sorry you went through so much pain.  I can relate to getting UTIs.  I get a lot of them.  

I would tell your doctor about what you've done, most definetly.  I would also ask that very question that you asked, "What happens if this occurs again--what do I do?"  I posed that very question my doctor since I get so many infections.  

What I do now for infections, is to give him a call.  He faxes my prescription into the nearby pharmacy.  There have been some occasions, however, that he wants me to come in to the office on the next day (in lots of pain, etc.).  He then prescribes me a stronger antibiotic or pain medicines.  The pain medicine he gave me last time was perfect, it got rid of the pain without making me feel loopy.  

Most all of us have done the very same thing when in pain, but let your doc know so that you aren't getting a terrible infection twenty times worse when you have to stop the medicine.

Take care, sweetie.  I hope you get over this ASAP!!!!!

Deb  

[Quixotic1]

I would venture a guess that there are few of us who haven't taken some of an old prescription to tide us over until we could get ahold of our doctor.  I think most of the forum is not aware that many doctors in your area have you branded as a problem patient and have been quite evil toward you.  I understand your reluctance to bring this up.

I also believe you should go to an Urgent Care (Same Day Care, 24-Hour Care?)?) and tell them the story.  You had been on suppressive Trimethoprim.  Your doctor stopped it to see what would happen.  The infection came back with severe pain and bloody urine.  You had a few Cephalexin left over from a prior treatment so you started those, but don't have enough to treat.  You can give them a urine sample that will probably still be positive for blood and they can see.  

The only problem is that they will not be able to culture the urine, but it sounds like it is sensitive to Cepalexin.  You can also ask for the urinary anesthetic (Pyridium, Urogesic) if you can tolerate it.  It is the one that turns the urine bright orange and acts a topcial anesthetic to the bladder to help the bladder spasms.  Blood is extremely irritating to the bladder and the spasms it causes can be excrutiating!

The sooner you can leave off a sample of urine, the more likely it is to still show the blood and the pus cells, though any bacteria will likely be dead and not grow in culture.  That is what I would advise you to do.  I agree that it is important that you do not treat a probable infection completely behind your doctor's back.  But, if you present for care earlyI do not think that a doctor would fault you for trying to bring the pain of an infection under control with some old antibiotics.

Good luck, I'm sorry you're in this position,

Quix