I keep getting urinary tract infections

[tricky]

I've gotten 3 in the past 3 months!

What more can I do other than pee immediately after sex, and wash my hands & "areas" and make sure he does the same before sex?

I got one 2 weeks ago, took a round of Cipro, then I got another one last week, took more Cipro, and finished that round today, and now I just went to the bathroom and it felt like a needle going up my urethra when I started peeing. Not pleasant. During this 2nd round of Cipro, I drank alcohol on the 1st & 2nd days that I was taking it (oops). I'm just going to drink a ton of water & cranberry juice and take lots of vit. C and cranberry pill supplements.

What else can I do? Why does this keep happening?

 

[xbrookecorex]

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[Tinkee-Belle]

^ Same situation with me as well... it sucks! I havent had the surgery but they are suggesting I get it. I find the cranberry pills help as well.... I also have endometriosis and I find I get more bladder infections when i have cysts (caused by the endo)

Good luck with it... at least you know you are not alone now!

 

[pumpkincat210]

I got 5 of them in about 6 months one year. It was miserable, i couldn't sleep and got depressed after having them so much. The doctors suggested the widening surgery and gave me a different newer antibiotic and this time the uti went away for good. I'm glad i didn't have to go through with surgery. Have they put you on anything besides cipro? Are you taking all the medication and at the same time daily? and obvioisly are you wiping after the bathroom from the front to back?
Hopefully you just need a different antibiotic as many infections these days don't go away with the traditional meds.

 

[SkylarV217]

Those things suck !!!

One tip I haven't seen is

Wipe front to back .... iDON'T wipe back to front ... =)

 

[breechan]

My galpal had the same issue. Her doctor also advised her to switch away from thongs, and to wear breathable cotton undees. The thong string can transfer bacteria from your anus much more than traditional undees.

HTH

 

[xashmunch]

I have to take a pill each night to keep me from having them. I have had them since I was about 3 years old. Within the past two years, I got them so frequently, that I went to see a urologist. The urologist actually said that cranberry juice is the worst thing you could drink. Just drink water. I definitely recommend going to see a urologist. Your doctor can provide you with temporary fixes when you have one, but you need to see a specialist if this is a reoccurring problem. The pill I take now has been a live saver.

 

[xbrookecorex]

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[xashmunch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xbrookecorex They talked about this daily pill as an option for me... something about a very low-dose antibiotic taken every day? Right now I take the antibiotic pill every time I have sex.

I believe that is what it is - a little bit to take each day to keep them from occuring. I haven't had a UTI since I have been taking this pill. It's called Nitrofurantoin-Macro if you want to ask your doctor about it.

 

[xtiffineyx]

Ahh! I get these all the time! I've noticed that if I get them also if I hold in my pee. Like sometimes at school I would get to class and have to pee, but I'd just hold it until class was over, then bam, I have a UTI. Also I can't drink hardly any dark drinks. I stick with Sprite or water or something light in color. I've been really diligent about all that and I haven't had one in quite a few months. I don't have insurance so I can't go to a urologist but my mom works at a clinic so luckily I can get some antibiotics if I get one.

 

[Kuuipo]

Its not holding the pee in that is the culprit, it's wiping and washing. Wipe front to back, drop the paper in the toilet, wipe front to back.
Also you should pee before and after intercourse. Lots of bacteria can be introduced into the urinary meatus during sex.
Breechan is correct about thongs.
Tub baths can also cause irritation.
Wash your hands before and after urination.
The most common bacteria we find in the hospital causing UTI's is escherichia coli which is found in the colon, around the anus and in stool.

Orange juice is actually the worst thing you can drink bcause it makes the urine more alkaline and while cranberry juice is acidic, most of them are primarily sugar and artificial flavours so any benefit is totally nixed (the extract is the best in the capsules, it helps the escherichia coli from attatching to the walls of the bladder)

You should drink atleast 10 glasses of water a day .

(not coffee, not coke, water)

This is information especially -wipe,drop, wipe, drop front to back and never retrace your steps,that I teach to my patients. I work on gyn/oncology . post partem and women's health.

Prolonged antibiotic usage is responible for many of the SuperBugs we have today.

 

[eastsidesunset]

I used to get chronic infections all the time. I'm talking, so much so that I became immune to the pain and didn't know I had one until I had a kidney infection. I've gotten about one to two a month since I was a kid, and in the last two years I've changed some things and I haven't had one since.

The obvious: pee and wash up before and after sex. (based on what my doctor's told me) you have about 20 minutes after sex to pee, otherwise infection city (which I've found to be true, booo..). I've also upped my fluid intake in general (lots and lots of water, all day everyday). The weirdest thing, but seriously, it's worked wonders: I used to wear a medium in under-roos, and went up to a large. That's it, I went up a size in my underwear, haha. I've found that part of what was causing my UTI's was tight undies (thongs and cutesy stuff included). Not that my undies were in my junk, lol, but the size larger (and cotton only!!!, not cotton blends, 100% cotton) made it easier for my girly bits to breathe. Strange, and maybe TMI, but for someone who has had a lifetime of UTI's, not having one in two years is amazing.

 

[glassy girl]

Have u been 2 ur doc. I started 2 get them alot this past year and i would do all the things pee after sex /of course wipe front 2 back /keep clean take cranberry/lots of water ect. But my doc said i was diabetic and yeast and other bacteria love all that surgar in ur body and that was causing all those infections now that i have my sugar under control i dont get them anymore.It could be as simple as changing ur undies 2 a bigger size or it can be more complicated and need ur doctors help.

 

[makeba]

i had this problem years ago and its a pain. i have found that washing with warm water only and no soap or fragrant products on the private works for me. drinking lots of water and cranberry juice. i have found that eating blueberries can help as well. i thought i could use the nice massengil products but i cant.

 

[Kayteuk]

Oh I know all about this.... I will post my story so you can have a giggle at it sometime after i kill these exams =S

 

[sofabean]

ugh i used to get those all the time. i had two MAJOR ones that hurt like hell and the rest were tiny ones... the ones where you know they're coming, but it doesn't get that bad... like it goes away overnight or something lol.

anywho, the first time, my doctor gave me antibiotics. she told me to drink a lot of water and not cranberry juice cuz it'll just make me fat. (that's what she said! lol!) anyway, the second time i had it, she gave me different antibiotics because she said that since i got it again within like a month, the first antibiotics probably didn't work that well. (the seconds ones didn't work that well in my opinion cuz it still hurt after i ran out of medication, but then it just went away on its own).

 

[iheartcolor]

I have read that sometimes what feels like a UTI can turn out to be a prolapsed bladder. I am not sure how often that is the case, though.

Perhaps your boyfriend needs to get a bacterial culture from his genitals/urethra. He may be harboring something that he does not know about and is chronically passing it on to you.

-lauren

 

[Love Always Ivy]

maybe its TMI, but i had a rash of UTIs for no reason a few years ago and it turned out to be linked to having precervical dysplasia from HPV (this was literally right before the vaccine came out, so you can imagine how mad i was)

 

[rbella]

I have these as well, but I don't have typical symptoms. I get the most God-Awful pain on my left side. So bad that I am sometimes bedridden. I also have endometriosis (as mentioned by Tinkee-Belle) so I wonder if it is somehow all related. Kuuipo, do you know if this could be true?

On my last surgery for the endo, they said it was on my bladder and also my intestines. The endo had glued my intestine across itself and to the side of my abdomen. It had also glued my bladder to some other part of my anatomy (can't remember?).

Anyway, I have also taken Cipro for this more times than I can count. The only way we knew I had UTI's was from my urine samples. I kept coming in complaining of severe left-sided pain and throwing up but it doesn't burn or itch or anything. Sorry if that is too much info. Anyway, now whenever I get this pain and start to vomit, I head straight for the doc and get my Cipro. It happens about once a month.

I follow all proper precautions and still get them. It sucks. Sorry for the rant, but I really do sympathize.

 

[Kuuipo]

I have not seen a higher incidence of UTI's or pyelonephritis with cases of endometriosis. I do see lots of endmetriosis at work, and it can be a progressive inflammatory condition. Has your doc tried any hormonal supression?

I have found a number of people who have taken an enormous amount of antibiotics over their lifetime and have urinary tract infections that are resistant to the strongest bug juices used. All of those people were put in isolation. The newest bug in the urine is vancomycin resistant enterococus, originally a gut bacteria that like roaches and termites, is hard to kill.

When you give a urine specimen it takes three days to grow out properly and then a short time after a number of antibiotics are tried on the culture till the right one with the largest circle of inhibition is found. In other words, the antibiotic who kills the most wins. The same antibiotic used chronically in people with UTI's often fails.
Prevention-scrupulous hygeine, especially hand to genital and wiping then dropping and never going back and forth and urinating before and after sex, washing with soaps, and even the ocean and tub baths can do a world of good.

Some people swear by bitter melon (Chinese traditional medicine) as a urinary acidifier (keeps bacteria from irritating the walls of the bladder).