Not Helped?

[Godwillhelp]

Has antibiotics ever not helped anyone for a period of time?

[twiggy]

yes, if you have IC and a bladder infection, then sometimes it just feels the same. actually, I can never tell when it is just IC or an infection. As well, sometimes certain antibiotics don't work to kill an infection. It can be a matter of finding the right one to completely eliminate the bacteria. Always make sure a culture and sensitivity test is done on the urine sample to discover which bacteria is most responsive to a given antibiotic. However, even when this is done, sometimes certain infections are just tricky to kill. Last, after I took macrobid for an extended period of time, it stopped working to prevent infections.

[Katrina]

Yes, many find antibiotics don't help them. If you are out to try antibiotics to treat IC than there is a specific route to take...not just any antibiotic will do. If it is an infection....same rule applies...sometimes you need to get the antibiotic specific for your infection. Twiggy is right is what she says. I hope that helps.

[Martha13]

Those of us who have been helped by antibiotics (and there are many) found we needed a more extensive culture to find slow-growing and "hidden" bacteria in order to know what was there. In my case the traditional lab culture said there was "no growth", but Dr. Fugazzotto, who uses a broth culture, found a streptococcus, Enterococcus, and told me which antibiotics would be most effective. And he was right. The typical agar plate culture is quick and economical for the labs, but is not adequate to find all species of bacteria. There are a few labs that will do a broth culture now and Dr. Fugazzotto is still culturing. It takes more than a 10 day course of antibiotic treatment to get rid of this infection but many have had success.
Martha F

[Martha13]

For anyone who would like to read about those who have had success with antibiotic treatment feel free to email me at mfmidlo@aol.com. The stories of those who have been helped should be available for all to read and then they can make up their own minds.

Martha

[Allibeth]

Martha13 and Godwillhelp, I posted this in another section but will repost here as well: I was put on short rounds of antibiotics for recurrent UTIs, and then after awhile an MD said the cultures are now negative and I have IC (cysto w/ hydro revealed glomerulations etc) which he claimed is never infectious. Of course, clinicians leave out the fact that traditional colony count agar cultures often bear false negatives, and even when they manage to grow something they only check for certain bacteria (i.e., agar cx doesn't check for ureapasma, which 40-80% of adults have, or mycobacteria, viruses, etc). I'm fortunate to live in Manhattan and know a very good infectious disease GYN here that has his own lab. He was able to grow stuff in his culture that mainstream labs couldn't, and put me on IV antibiotics, bladder irrigations with an antibiotic cocktail, intravaginal antibiotics, diflucan, and followed up with oral antibiotics. At first I thought I wasn't getting better, when in actuality it was just the antibiotics irritating my bladder/urethra. It's been 4 months since my IV, and I'm progressively better and better. Two weeks ago, for the first time in a year, I was able to insert a tampon because my vulvar vestibulitis has been improving as well -- maybe I'll actually be able to enjoy penetration one day (fingers crossed). Off the topic, but my sister had vulvodynia, bladder discomfort, and lichen sclerosis (diagnosed with vulval biopsy) for 8 years and was told it was incurable, but IV antibiotics and uterine irrigations with antibx solution cured her -- her sclerosed vulval skin is even soft and supple now (she's how I know about this fabulous GYN). I implore people with negative agar cultures to investigate broth cultures, PCR cultures, and ureaplasma test. Also, just because short term antibiotics don't help doesn't mean something isn't infectious -- I'm on a 9-12 month course of antibiotic for mycobacteria, and I know women that take oral antibiotics for 6 months or longer and then are fine.