Any one who self cath's ever been prescribed levofloxacin?
Posted , 5 users are following.
I have been self cathing for a few years now. Last April began to notice I had a bit of an infection when checking with the test strips (nitrates and leukocytes high) but wasn't particularly concerned. Just increased fluid intake and catheterized more often.
So I had appointment with the uro's in July, they thought it might be a good idea to give me some macrobid for a week to see if that would knock it out. Said they don't like to give antibiotics to someone self cathing but sometimes a quick coarse of antibiotics will nip any future problems in the bud.
Well things were good again for a couple of weeks but I began to notice it came back, but this time it got fairly bad pretty quickly, including bloody urine, so they did another urine-analysis with a culture about a week ago.
So the results came back today, they called and said they were overnighting me the levofloxacin as they were concerned I was at risk for a systemic infection. Supposed to take 750mg daily which seems close to the recommended maximum daily dose. I notice this drug can have some fairly significant side effects but a systemic infection would not be much fun...
Wondering if anyone who is self cathing has had a similar experience with either the drug or developing a fairly significant infection after going a few years virtually problem free....
0 likes, 9 replies
Badbolr jwrhn1951
Posted
no experience with what you've stated but it seems highly likely introducing a foreign object into your urethra over and over for 3 years you'd eventually contract infection - no matter how hygienic and careful you are.
can I ask why you'd even go through that so long rather than try to fix the problem?
jwrhn1951 Badbolr
Posted
Short answer...The problem is not fixable. Much like people with spinal chord injuries my bladder does not work because of nerve damage
Badbolr jwrhn1951
Posted
understood...
TKM jwrhn1951
Posted
jwrhn1951,
Levofloxacin is in the same class as Ciprofloxin. This class of drugs can have bad side effects, such as tendonitis, and even ruptured tendons. I have heard that it can also affect the nervous system. It is classified as a drug of last resort.
There are other antibiotics that work well for Urinary infections, like Bactrim, Doxicycline, and many others. Ask your doctor about alternate antibiotics. Your doctor should do a culture of your urine that will tell them the best antibiotic to use. I had one urologist who cultured my sperm, obtained by catching it on a microscope slide, while doing a prostate massage.
The blood in your urine may have been caused by the catheter tearing the urethra . Once that happens an infection will progress rapidly.
You can try some natural remedies, not in place of the antibiotics but along with them. The bacteria may have formed a colony with a biofilm protecting them from antibiotics. When you stop taking the antibiotic the bacteria multiply again. Look up biofilm disruptors on the internet. They are enzymes that dissolve the biofilms. I used one that was recommended by some articles on the internet, and it worked well for me. The name starts with a "K". I posted the name before on this site but the moderators did not allow it. If you PM me I will send it to you.
Another supplement that can help is Dmannose. It is a type of sugar that the bad bacteria cling to and get eliminated with the urine. It works similar to cranberry juice.
Good luck,
Thomas
jwrhn1951
Posted
They did a culture, the results came back today.
People that self cath develop bacterial "colonization" and it is usually not a problem. I lived symptom free with colonization for more than three years, but something changed last April and colonization changed to infection.
The culture showed use of this drug is a case of "last resort" as it is one of the few drugs that is effective against the bacteria showing up in the culture.
Kissimmee jwrhn1951
Posted
Levofloxacin may have very bad side effects , I was prescribed it for 28 days due to a very ugly UTI after urinary retention , I began felling pain in my feets , could no sleep at night , tendons in legs were hurting , it was back in August and still feel some pain but has gone almost all , I new about side effects but infection was so bad that I took the risk .
jwrhn1951 Kissimmee
Posted
I'm thinking I need to take the risk also. Hopefully I'll have few side effects from the drug seems like it cleared your UTI and at this point that's what I need to have happen..
Howard31850 jwrhn1951
Posted
I've been CICing for over 3 years now due to severe BPH. Once in a while I get your condition and then take Amoxicilin which clears it up quickly with no side effects. I stay away from Cipro and any other drugs in that family. Good luck.
jwrhn1951
Posted
Just wanted to update, finished up the antibiotic and it worked with no side effects.