bladder infections

[charlie5kids]

I've been on antibiotics almost staright for 3 and1/2 years. As soon as I'm off antibiotics for 2 weeks a bladder infection comes right back! I've suffered on and off for the last 10 years. 19 years ago I had kidney stones when I was pregnant. I've had scopes done and ct scans and everything shows normal. I had a cyst removed from my left ovarian 7 years ago and I had endometriosis removed off of the outside of my bladder 6 months ago! But the  last 3 years I haven't been able to keep this infection away. My urine has been sent to the lab every time and comes back showing that it is infected! I'm tired of seeing doctors because they don't really have anything that they can do for me! I know it can't be good being on antibiotics all the time! I'm taking amoxicillin. They work the best for me and any antibiotic that I take when I have another infection it takes 10 days before I even feel better! If you have any suggestions that could help please let me know!

[David A Burks, MD]

Be careful on long term amoxicillin.  The antibiotics in the penicillin family can cause vaginal yeast infections and diarrhea in women by affecting the normal vaginal and colon bacteria.  The better drug would be macrodantin 100mg at night if your cultures are sensitive to it.  Long term cipro is also not good because it will cause antibiotic resistent bacteria to eventually grow. Since you are structurally normal and there is no obvious focus of infection long term antibiotic suppression may be your only answer.  Talk to your doctor about macrodantin, which is the best antibiotic for UTI prevention.

[David A Burks, MD]

The question is whether you have a recurrent infection or a persistent infection.  A recurrent infection is treated with an appropriate antibiotic (determined by a culture) and the infection is eliminated.  Then there is a period when you have no infection, then a new infection occurs.  A persistent infection is one that was never eliminated but just suppressed while on antibiotics.  It is caused by a focus of infection somwhere in the urinary tract. It's caused by the same bacterium. Sources of a persistent infection include a kidney or bladder stone, an obstructed kidney or ureter, or a chronic deep seeded infection of the kidney or bladder tissue that takes long term high dose antibiotics to clear.  You need to see a Urologist who can order x-rays or an ultrasound of your kidneys and can look into the bladder and urethra for evidence of a persistent infection. There are people who get very frequent recurrent infections and need to be on long term suppressive antibiotics for control.  Good Luck.  

[charlie5kids]

I have  mild prolapsed uterus, and rectum and maybe bladder that are probably causing  my bladder infections?  I just found out that I have prolapsed uterus,and rectum. I'm seeing a urologist who is going to do some tests to see if I have a prolapsed bladder. Because I'm 37 and fit the doctors didn't take me seriously after I had my fifth child. My babies were all 8lbs with big heads and my last one came out face up! I noticed after my fifth baby that I had a lot of pressure on my bottom end. But they did examinations and said everything was fine! I also had two operations done and ct scans which made me think that they would have noticed it then. My doctor that I have now pointed it out to me that I might have a prolapse. The reason my other doctors never noticed anything is because they examined me while I was lying down. Everything goes back into place but when I sit or stand it all comes back out. I still have to get checked with my bladder but my rectum and uterus are prolapsed. I'm sure a lot of women that are told they have overactive bladders like I was told "even though I had positive tested infections" probably have the same problem.

Thanks for your help! I had showed your letter to my doctor which then made him think there was another problem. Problem being prolapsed uterus. He also prescribed me long term antibiotics (Macrobid).
Really appreciate you responding to my emails!

[David A Burks, MD]

Yes, the extrarenal pelvis is a normal variant of the structure of the kidney.  It has no effect on the bladder.

[charlie5kids]

My last cat scan showed that I have bilateral extrarenal pelvis! My doctor wasn't sure if this might be causing the problems with my bladder. The Urologist that I seen a week ago told me that this was normal for some people. Is this true? I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions! Thank you so much!!!

[charlie5kids]

I think that the infection has never gone away either but the urologist thinks I have an over active bladder! I don't have leakage problems though! Every infection I've had comes back positive plus I'm in a lot of pain when I have one! I've had 4 cat scans and they show normal . One just 4 months ago. I've had 2 cystoscopies that have shown normal as well. Problem is I've had 3 different urologists and once they've done the cystoscopy, which show normal they don't want to see me anymore! So my doctor has been looking after me! I've been on Cipro (1000) for 3 months straight and as soon as I went off I got the infection within 2 weeks! So he has me on amoxicillin!  Thanks so much for getting back to me! I'll bring this to my doctor and see what he says!