Recurrent UTIs but no evidence from urine samples
Posted , 4 users are following.
Hi all,
I've been dealing with recurrent UTIs for just less than a year. I get them every couple of months, sometimes a few in between. I actually started antibiotics this morning for another one.
The problem is, as far as I know, only one urine sample from these UTI occurrences have shown up with e.coli. The rest seem normal to my doctor, but she agrees that I have a UTI based on my symptoms.
I got my first UTI less than a year ago and had no idea what was wrong with me. I was away at the time so I didn't see a doctor + get antibiotics straight away. It was probably 4 days before I saw a doctor.
The symptoms I get are:
- fatigue, slight fever, malaise
- drop in blood pressure when standing or walking
- slight pain in the lower abdomen
- frequent urination
I have never experienced a burning sensation during urination. I don't always get all of the above symptoms but I always feel generally unwell and dizzy when moving around and those are my main tip offs.
I've had an ultrasound on the kidneys, bladder area and everything came up fine. I was hoping they would find a problem because now I'm left with no idea about why I get UTIs so often.
My concern is that maybe I'm not getting UTIs and it's some other problem that my doctor can't detect. What questions should I ask my doctor to get down to the bottom of this?
0 likes, 9 replies
Pepasan tara64874
Posted
Micklemus tara64874
Posted
I had blood in my urine but cultures were not done on two separate occasions. After two months on two different antibiotics I do not have any adverse symptoms and that has been that way 10 months.
The medical profession are aware that some bacteria need weeks to evolve into a colony that can be seen.
Can they afford to do the necessary or is it more favorable/ convenient to them to prescribe a broad spectrum
antibiotic which may well be on a hit and miss basis. It would be better I would have thought to identify the organism & treat that organism until it is eradicated but these bugs are quite illusive and may be too small a 'colony' to detect. I was told that UTi's are not life threatening but that is not quite true because if anything is left long enough through neglect then it can become life threatening.
I was told by a urologist that men do not pass bacterial infections to their female partner? What that statement makes him is obvious and in fact stupid. It seems that in certain instances we should be careful who we talk to and furthermore who we can believe!
TeonaLipa tara64874
Posted
tara64874 TeonaLipa
Posted
They do seem to work when I take them. The general feeling of being unwell/feverish/low blood pressure goes away. It's very hard to tell though because I don't get the very obvious UTI symptoms.
This is something I'll bring up with my doctor.
Micklemus tara64874
Posted
It is sensible to be positive and write the doctor a letter because I had problems from 2010 and at that time produced small stones. In 2107 I asked a urologist could an infection I had at that time which went undetected
have caused the formation of calculii in my urine and he said yes an infection could have caused the stones!
In my case the progression of the infection that I must have been partially resistant to was a on and off occurrence and the first doctor who I consulted re the stones got it wrong before the stones appeared because he fobbed me off when I told he I felt as if I had a waterworks infection but all he did was to dip my urine and say ='there's nothing in it'. There might well have been no bacteria in my urine or at least the smallest amount that can go undetected with lab sticks.
My problems continued for a very long time & I knew I had a UTI problem because it made me have to get up twice sometimes in the middle of the night to pee. That was something I never had to do but he continued to say that problem is self limiting. No way after the symptoms worsened and then after years I saw blood in my urine. That galvanized me into doing more that just listen to my GPs and also a so called urologist who is supposed to be an expert on stones & yet he never mentioned the fact re an infection can cause the urinary system to produce stones.
A USA doctor sanctioned an antibiotic that made me feel ten years younger but UK doctors don't like this
way of carrying on. In 2107 the infection dug into me further and affected my prostate but two months on two different antibiotics have sorted the infection out but still no resolution as to what that infection was
which I find disconcerting.
Along the way I have discovered that the majority of doctors (of all people) do not refer to past medical notes of their patients. This seems ludicrous but it is happening, I am very sorry to say. I can prove that fact as I have the necessary data in writing that is attributable to my medical notes. These medical notes
show a glaring lack of attention going back to 1978. Incredible.
Micklemus tara64874
Posted
Are they also identifying what the infection is to prescribe the exact antibiotic and that the infection is suitably susceptible to the antibiotic prescribed?
Are they carrying out the correct laboratory procedures as regards cultures some of which take weeks to
culture, ( to get anything to grow ) as well as microscopic examination of the samples after different handling of the samples?
Pepasan Micklemus
Posted
Maybe I've just been lucky, but my UK NHS GPs have always made sure my UTIs are checked by sending my urine samples for lab tests (results back in days, not weeks). They've also asked me to submit samples for testing after the course of antibiotics is completed, in order to check the infection has fully cleared.
Occasionally I've had to remind whoever I saw in my GP practice of previous history, but that has only happened if I haven't had a named GP assigned due to staff shortage.
Micklemus Pepasan
Posted
aware that some doctors will get together and make sure their story is plausible but as I have everything in writing I have proof they did not carry out the necessary care but that does not matter
because they never make mistakes you know!
marilee43089 tara64874
Posted
I guess I'm fortunate too, because I have an account at two labs and the hospital. I can see the results of my lab tests. The labs (and hospital) are really close to the doctor's offices, so there isn't much delay in getting the specimen there. I always have prescriptions to get my own urine tests. I take the urine myself to the lab sometimes.
No matter what tests I get (urine or otherwise) I always insist on a getting a copy of the results.