Does doing instills risk getting an infection??

[jen74]

Hi ladies.
I have a question. I have been doing home instills for about 4 weeks now. I usually take one low dose macrodantin before I do it to prevent a UTI. This last Friday I took the macrodantin, and it messed my tum up good, I have digestive issues and dont do well with antibitoics, they inhibit my stomach from working correctly. I have been having severe bloating and constipation ever since and am sure it is from the antibiotic.
My question is, if you do not take a preventive antibiotic, will you likely have a bigger risk of getting a UTI from doing the instill? My urogyne says that it is not nessasary to use an antibiotic before doing the instills, that there is very little risk of getting an infection if you do it using proper cleanliness. My hubby helps me do them, and we are very clean. We wear latex free gloves, and also use the pivodine antiseptic on the area before even doing the instill. Should this be enough to prevent any UTI's?
The nurse said that there are people who have to self cath all the time and they do not take antibiotics regularly and they do not get UTI's from cathing. I really do not want to take anymore of those macrodantin because of how my stomach responded, but am so worried about getting a UTI. What do you ladies think. Do you use prevenative antibiotics every time you do instills? My urogyne says that I am his only patient who uses prevernative antibiotics before doing the instill. Just wanted your thoughts.
Jen

[Freckles]

I don't take any meds when doing my instillations and I haven't gotten any infections yet. The key here is cleanliness. I take a nice shower before and scrub my hands very well with antibiotic soap. I also make sure I wash very well down there ( not with antibiotic soap). I also use betidine (sp?) and swab down there before inserting the catheter. I also put some on the catheter. If you are very clean you shouldn't risk an infection. I know how scary it is. There is nothing worse than an infection on top of the IC. It's torture, but try this. You can't get sloppy and do it quickly. Take your time shower, use the solution and be extremely clean. You'll be fine.
Karen

[kadi]

I don't take any antibiotics for my instillations & in 2 years of doing them between 3-10 times a week have had only 2 UTI's. Consider this: 3x a week for 2 years is 156 instillations, but many weeks I do them more so I probably have had at least 225 instillations in 2 years. Two infections out of 225 times is not a problem & I have a pretty good idea where those 2 infections came from...

Once was after internal PT, so I don't do that anymore. Once was when I had had the runs that day, thought I'd cleaned up well enough, but no. So, now if I've had diarrhea or my period, no instill that day.

I also shower before the instillations, wash my hands well, use a fresh catheter each time. I'm allergic to iodine so cannot use the betadine or pivodine, but I rinse very well with the hand held shower. I also keep home UTI test kits on hand so that if I think I'm getting a UTI, I can test at home & know whether to go to the ER or not. I'm allergic to most antibiotics so I wouldn't do anything risky in terms of infection & I'm pretty confident that these instillation treatments are ok for me.

[ABliske]

i DID installs for a while and did get several UTIs or one that kept coming back. I still kept getting them for a while after i stopped the installs, so I don't know if they were causing the infections. I got on a preventative antibiotic and it messed up my stomach. I then told my doc and he prescribed a different one. Now, I no longer take the preventative stuff, but I love having antibiotics on hand.
In your case, you may not really need them, but those UTIs are bad. I don't know how to advice you, but maybe you could ask your doctor for a different antibiotic. Good luck!
Did you doc help you get on the home cathing? my nurse said they've never had a patient do them other than in the office. She looked at me like I was weird for wanting to do them myself. It seems like it would save a lot of hassle.

[Kara29]

Jen,

I'm a regular continuous self cather. (every 2-6 hours) My Doc will not give an antibiotic unless I am throwing up and have a fever. Each Doctor has thier own thoughts on what is best for your particular case. Maybe you could bring this up with your doc on your next visit or even a phone call.

Good Luck wit this! :)

Kara

[aprilchen]

I think, honestly, Jen, that it differs in everyone. I have had a few UTIs and one episode of pyelonephritis that put me in the hospital for a week with I.V. pain/nausea meds and antibiotics. I think it could have been treated at home except that I was not keeping my medication down so that was the reason for the admission.

I have been told both by my current urologist and a physician at Ocshner's in New Orleans that if you're really clean and make sure you wash the area and your hands really well that you'll be ok. I even re-use the catheters because we boil them in water before we re-use them.

So, I guess everyone differs. I hope it all works out for you. I do know that over time, repeated usage of antibiotics kills off the good bacteria too. So, if you have to keep taking the antibiotics it might be really helpful if you ate some plain yogurt once a day with acidophilus (spelling?) in it. This helps replace the "good" bacteria that is also killed with repeated antibiotics.

April

[jen74]

Thanks ladies.
The thing is, I am sooooo clean, that I could not possibly be any cleaner if I wanted to. My hubby helps me to do the instills and we are both very cautious. I use a new sterile cath each time, wash hands before doing the instill, also wear latex free gloves and swipe with betadine before the instill.
The one thing I can think of is that since women have bacteria normally in the vagina all the time,that maybe a few get in the urethra and hang out there and they are harmless there, but when you push the catheter in, you also push the bacteria into the bladder and then they will multiply. That is just a thought. I mean I cannot see how else I could keep getting infections. My urogyne said you should not get UTI's from cathing if you are clean, yet a couple other doctors told me that is untrue, that anytime you inject anything in your body you risk an infection no matter how clean you are. I hate how all doctors have so many different opinions, it makes it very confusing for the patient.
I guess my biggest worry is that I am allergic to almost all the anti-B's that treat UTI's. So, I cannot easily just take an antibitoic when I get a UTI. I also have severe stomach issues and anti-Bs mess with that. This is why I have to be sooo cautious. I would like to take a prevenative anti-B, but when I took the macrodantin, it really messed my tum up, I was not moving and could not poop for days.
Thanks for all the support and advice Ladies. I feel I am darned if I do and darned if I dont.
Jen