UTI Am confused and need help.

[jmarie]

About a month ago, I had some kind of a UTI. I took prescribed medication, Cipro and gradually got better.

Fast forward to a week ago, am again diagnosed with a new, barely there UTI, again, prescribed 5 days of CIPRO and sent on my way. The entire time I am taking this, I feel like my symptoms don't go away... just discomfort, but not getting better, if anything, worse. I took my last dose, night before last, called my Dr's office, yesterday. (He is out of town) I was told that the CIPRO keeps working after the last dose and that I should really be ok because it is usually prescribed for 3 days and they gave me 5.

All Dr. offices are closed until Monday. I am doing cranberry pills. (They may not help anything...but I figured nothing ventured, nothing gained and they sure can't hurt.)

I guess my major concern comes from my SIL who had to be hospitalized for 5 days due to a bad kidney infection. Can my bladder infection turn into a kidney infection, what should I be watching for...or am I worrying unnessarily for nothing. (I wouldn't be quite so worried if I knew my Dr would be available before 4 days, you know?)

Can anyone give me any information?

Thank you, in advance.

Joyce

[wallycat]

I hope you feel better soon.
UTIs are very common in women....they were nicknamed "honeymoon disease" in the 60's or some such era ;) .

Some women take very, very long to knock out a UTI....
go to webmed to see measures you can take to try to prevent them; even then, some women are just more predisposed than others.
ALso, as women age and lose estrogen, the urethra suffers as much as the rest of the body, which also encourages more infections.

Yes, your uti can develop into kidney problems IF YOU LEAVE IT and not treat it. You are treating it. If you need to wait till Monday, I don't think that amount of time would cause it....remember I am NOT a doctor.
If you are suffering, which is not a way to spend your weekend, go to urgent care and explain your situation.
My step daughter has a strep throat that requires repeated treatment. Sometimes the bugs are resistant.
I've never had a UTI (knock on wood) so this is all I've read and heard from friends.

Happy Thanksgiving and good luck

[DeeK]

It sounds like you are doing the right things.

One thing I found helped was pomegranate juice or pomegranate juice mixed with blueberry. That's very soothing to the bladder.

Hope you are feeling better soon.

[mcgeiger]

Craberry juice changes the pH of your urine making it less hospitable to bacteria. Lots of fluids will also help "dilute" and flush your system. Did your doctor culture the urine the second time (or do a urinalyisis)? If you develop a fever, abdominal pain or cramping I would say call the doctor's weekend line. UTIs suck (I once got 4 in 6 months) before we cleared it. The bacteria are very good at hiding out during treatment and recurring.

FWIW--no one throw tomatoes--were you checked for STDs, as many of them can cause a UTI as one of their signs, and does you doctor know you are at risk?

Good luck

[jmarie]

Basically, they did a stick test...or I am guessing that is what they did.

I do have abdominal discomfort, so I plan to watch it closely during this weekend and if anything develops, I will pursue it at ER.

[ClaraB]

It sounds like you need a culture and sensitivity test done on your urine - it takes 3 days, but it will identify the bacteria and what antibiotics they are sensitive and resistant to. Make sure when you have it done that you do a clean-catch midstream specimen (the Dr's office should be able to explain it to you) so it's not contaminated. You can probably wait till Monday, if your symptoms aren't too bad.