Antibiotics not working properly for UTI, Please help?!
Posted , 10 users are following.
So, a little over a month ago, i developed symptoms for a UTI. I went to a clinic, they did a culture and prescribed me nitrofurantoin. I had staph, which is sensitive to the antibiotic, so i was told to finish taking it. I responded well and i thought it was over. A few days after finishing my course of antibiotics my symptoms came back. I had to go elsewhere since I was at school the time of the first antibiotic prescription, and again, they prescribed me 7 day nitrofurantoin. Once again, i responded well,and a few days after my symptoms came back. Went back and they prescribed me levaquin. My nurse also compared my urineresults from the last time and my leukocytes decreased. The nurse basically insinuated that i could have an STI and i should get checked because my response to the antibiotic is abnormal. I'm on day 3/5 and it hasn't helped at all. My only symptom at this point is urgency to urinate constantly and having to urinate right after, with droplets coming out. I have no insurance so I really don't want another visit that doesn't help..I am thinking that I either 1)needed a 10 day course of the nitrofurantoin 2)i have a bacteria that is antibiotic resistant 3)the .001 percent chance that my nurse was correct about an STI, however i show no other symptoms and she was definitely wrong about people not responding to the antibiotics because I have read plenty on this site alone where that is the case. Please help? What should I do going forward?
0 likes, 11 replies
bianca56907 ana97
Posted
A part of me thinks that for people like us the issue is that there is a bit of bacteria left over from the UTI but not enough to give you a positive culture. I’m not 100% sure though.
Good luck Ana. I feel your pain.
Caterina912 ana97
Posted
I am in the same exact situation..I am left on the same antibiotics like for but for 6 weeks. To keep it in my system. I am praying this works because I'm at my wit's end and I don't know what more to do. What I can tell you is take AZO OR something to help ease the bladder because it does work but take it around the clock so your bladder is less inflamed. Good luck
sam6990 Caterina912
Posted
I was also in the same situation as you 2 years ago. My infection is still in my bladder, but embedded behind a biofilm now. I have had to take constant antibiotics (2 different ones) full doses for 2 years now. As soon as I miss a dose, I feel it all coming back, the bacteria breaks through the biofilm and manifests itself. The pain can be so horrific that I feel I want to die and normally I am a very level headed person.
Make sure that you all get the correct treatment at the early stage, as for me, I’m practically terminal now. It’s a very awful situation at 50 years old!!
Sadly I’m allergic to nearly all other antibiotics now, so as soon as these two antibiotics stop working for me and the bacteria over takes them, that’s my lot!!
There really should be more help and research for this problem. It seems that all the urologists are mainly interested in is the cancer side of things.
Like some on here, I have also tried AZO, it’s the only thing that helps, but the professor that I am under, told me to use it sparingly, as this can cause bladder cancer!! I feel trapped all the way, every step I turn. I really cannot emphasise enough, that you must get the right treatment in the early stages to avoid becoming in my situation.
Good luck to you all.
Best wishes,
Sam
Pepasan ana97
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eric89660 Pepasan
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Pepasan eric89660
Posted
tony44022 ana97
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Up until I made my first visit to this forum about a week ago I thought antibiotic resistance problems was more of problem with older people like myself, but after reading so many posts from younger people also having trouble clearing their UTIs, it certainly doesn't appear that way. I'm not saying for a minute that some people don't have stubborn UTIs for some other reason, but I do wonder if antibiotic resistant bugs are becoming a bigger problem than we currently think, or are told? I've heard plenty rhetoric spouting from the UK government over the last few years about acting with the drug companies to try to come up with some new drugs, but so far there seems to be very little materealising. As usual the main problem seems to be money! Don't want to appear to be scaremongering, but if the powers to be don't get their act together sooner rather than later then dark times could be around the next bend!
It would be interesting if we could see how big a problem stubborn UTIs were say 10 - 20 years ago.
miriam65408 ana97
Posted
Hi Ana,
The first thing I would say is be very cautious with taking Levaquin. I know you have been given this because two others didn't work but Levaquin is a fluorquinolone (like Ciprofloxacin) and can all the same bad side affects as Cipro.
If you feel any hint of muscle or tendon pain or get any or the other 1001 things listed on the package leaflet please stop taking them immediately. Your doctor may even say the pains will go when you finish the course - believe me, they don't!
The FDA ruled in 2016 that the risk of side effects with fluoroquinolones outweighs the benefits. All doctors should know this and they should be kept locked up for life/death infections. I'm sorry if this scares you but there are an awful lot of people who are wishing someone had warned them before they took their Levo or Cipro (or one of the others in this class).
Get proper cultures done so that the doc knows exactly what bug is causing your problem - then you can be given the best (less dangerous) antibiotic instead of one that kills everything (including your own cells!).
Don't take any steroids or NSAIDs for pain e.g. Advil/Ibuprofen - these can make things worse.
Maybe get checked out for STI unless you are 100% that this is not possible?
If you have an e.coli bio-film, D.Mannose taken regularly has been shown to break this down quicker than taking long-term antibiotics.
You say you are at school and have no insurance. Do you have someone older, family possibly, who can help you with these doctor visits?
ann55375 ana97
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miriam65408 ann55375
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You definitely should take probiotics if you are on antibiotics (ABx). The ABx kill off ALL your bugs, the good along with the bad. You do actually need the good ones - these do keep you alive, they look after your lower gut for one thing and also keep your other bits and pieces (bladder and vagina!) healthy. Always take probiotics with an antibiotic - it will still kill off everything but you are then replacing just the good stuff that you need.
You can buy capsules from health stores or simply eating live yoghurt or kefir and eating fermented foods such as sauerkraut will help.
Has your doctor explained what the bug is that is causing your problem? Has he actually found out by a culture? You - and they - need to know what you're dealing with.
ann55375 miriam65408
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