UTI not going away after 3 antibiotics
Posted , 12 users are following.
3 weeks ago i had the usual UTI symptoms - burning when i pee, constant urge to pee, etc. Im 35 and ive had a few UTIs in my life. Usually i chug water and cranberry juice and they clear up. A couple times ive needed antibiotics but they clear right away.
I had Macrobid for 5 days. It helped the first 2 days then stopped working. I went to give a urine sample. It came back inconclusive for the culture due to contamination but the dip stick test said blood in urine, high leukocytes and positive for nitrites. So they gave me Cipro.
I read awful reviews about side effects and wouldnt take it for a week. I tried d-mannose and probiotics but it wasnt clearing up.
So Monday i started the Cipro and i saw no improvement. Dr wanted me to come back in.
Friday my urine sample said clear but theyre sending it off for culture. Dr basically said ill give you augmentin but it likely wont work and youll need to see a uroigist and have cystoscopy done. Basically he didnt answer any of my questions.
Ive taken the augmrntin for just a day but im freaking out that i have interstitial cystitis. All my home tests are positive still for nitrites and the first one at the dr was positive for infection.
Anyone had this experience? I assumed that the cipro would work but im literally googling IC and i have those symptoms (which mimic uti) so im in full blown panic and still in constant pain.
0 likes, 7 replies
Welclose maranda59472
Posted
try taking d mannose. its probably e coli and this will flush it out
miriam65408 maranda59472
Posted
If it's e.coli (which is likely as it keeps coming back), d.mannose is what you need.
If you look up about colonies and biofilms you'll see that antibiotics can't get through the biofilm (it's like a raincoat!) so you need d.mannose to wear it away - it's very acidic. You could also take high dose vit C as well as it won't do any harm.
As the biofilm wears, some bacteria will be exposed and break free - these need to be prevented from clinging to your bladder wall where they'll make new colonies (and so the uti keeps coming back). For this you also need to take cranberry juice (27%) every day which prevents the bugs from clinging. Also drink plenty to keep them flushing through. This whole business can take around 6 weeks.
If you keep taking Cipro, or other fluoroquinolone (FQs), you will eventually reach your threshold and the side effects you've read about will become reality (trust me, you don't want that to happen). Because you've taken one course you're already on your way - some people can only take one tablet while others can take 3, 5 or even 30 courses, but you'll never know what your threshold is until you've crossed it.
IC seems to be when the bladder lining is scarred from repeated UTIs (or someone may have a better explanation). The lining should eventually repair itself but only if the UTIs are eliminated. Once you've got rid of this one keep taking cranberry juice as it will protect the lining from another bug getting a grip. Also Vit C will never go amiss - bugs really don't like it.
sarah556677 maranda59472
Posted
Hi Maranda
i got uti about 3 months ago . usual uti symptoms and i wasnt worried at all in the begining . for me antibiotics works straight away and i get better with in a week .
its been almost 3 months and i had 3 courses of antibiotics . nothing worked.
dipstick tests at GP came negative all the time .
And my GP were conviced i dont have any infection . and i felt brushed off from them . that is sad .
The antibiotics i have taken
i felt a little better with co-amoxiclav and cipro but nothing actually worked .
i did some research and decided to see a private urologist . i found 2 in uk . Mr A and Prof ML . They are the best you can find . People come from all around the world to them for treatment
They did broth culture .
Broth cultures are a specialised form of urine culture where the bacteria are grown for extended periods of times in a liquid medium instead of a petri dish. The result is that it is much more sensitive at picking up UTI causing bacteria. The standard urine culture technique used within the NHS really isn’t fit for purpose and is based on work in the 1950s and just doesn’t work well in chronic and recurrent UTI. This is really important as so many patients who know they’ve got a UTI and whose symptoms improve with antibiotic treatment get told by GPs and hospital specialists that there is no bacteria in their urine because of deficiencies in the testing. This is not only misleading but can actually lead to an incorrect diagnosis and sufferers ‘getting labelled’ with other conditions that they may not actually have (interstitial cystitis, overactive bladder, psychosomatic symptoms, etc.)
Staying in pain for 3 months and with no antibiotic working i was scared as hell that i might have got condition called Interstitial cystitis .
but luckily after broth culture my result showed i have bacteria infection by group b streptococcus (i got the report this morning) that was a good a news as now atleast i know what has given me 3 months of agony and pain . but it is worrying at the same time . my culture report says this bacteria is resistant to 8 out of 11 antibiotics . thats why non of the antibiotics worked for me .
antibiotics this strain resistant to includes
trimethoprim nitrofurantoin cipro gentamicin fosfamycin and other .
luckily it shows susceptible to 3 antibiotic
co amoxiclav / doxycycline/cefuroxime
i m seeing my doctor on friday . he will prescribe me medication according to the report . i hope that would be an end to my misery .
i would suggest you to find a good urologist and try to find out which bacteria has given you infection . so that you can get the right treatment .remember in mu case standard test/ culture failed to detect the bacterria . so try to find someone who can do more sensitive culture to find out if there is infection. sometimes bacteria is hidden in biofilm and not appear in test .
and most of the time Interstitial cystitis is a misdiagnosis . just because the standard culture routine is unfit to detect the bacteria.
I hope it helps . and i wish and pray for you to get better soon x
miriam65408 sarah556677
Posted
Hi Sarah, your comments are very interesting, thanks very much for posting.
I've known for several years that the dipstick test doesn't pick up every sign of bacterial activity yet the doctors insist on relying on it. I used to work in a lab in the early 70s and making a broth medium for culturing bugs was one of my jobs! It was quite labour intensive (and smelly!) which is probably why most labs try not to bother with it if they can help it. I agree that it's often easier to give the wrong diagnosis (IC) or label patients as "anxious" and "difficult".
My understanding of IC is that the bladder walls get damaged and scarred, probably by continuous colonisation by bacteria (but there could be other reasons). The scar tissue is much stiffer than the original bladder lining so the bladder can't fill and empty as normal plus the stiff lining sends persistent signals to the brain - which the brain interprets as "empty me"! Every scar creates a new set of ridges for more bacterial colonies so the situation is self-perpetuating. There are some incredible electron microscope photos of scarred bladder linings available - where the ridges look huge and the colonies look tiny!
Fiffie sarah556677
Posted
hi dear,
I have the same bacteria and have done 3 rounds of antibiotics and its still not going. I've taken augmentin, nitrofurantoin and levofloxacin . did you end up getting rid of the infection and if so which antibiotic helped you??? I'm desperate.
Guest sarah556677
Posted
could you please give the details of UK doctors
mel48874 maranda59472
Posted
Hi I sent you a private message. I'm going through the same thing.