UTI wont go away, what to do???

[jen74]

Hi Ladies,
I am having a real hard time of it lately. I got a UTI about three weeks ago. I felt bad for a few days and went to get a culture and sure enough I have a UTI( caused by ecoli). I was given macrobid, and took it for three days and started getting chest pain so I had to stop it. I went to the ER and they gave me cipro. I am allergic to most all antibiotics and always get reactions. They told me to take it with benadryl so I did. It was going fine then after three doses I woke up with severe pain in my left arm. It was awful throbbing like a severe charlie horse. I asked my pharmacist and she said it can cause tendon issues and even ruptured tendons though it is rare. Well, I stopped it becuase I can not risk getting a tendon rupture. My urogyne then gave me sulfameth trimetoprim to take( bactrim). I have been taking this along with the benadrly. I took my last dose this morning. I was feeling alot better, but then did an instillation on Saturday and boom, now I feel like infection is there still. I am VERY clean when I do the instills, so I cant figure how this infection keeps coming.
I am not sure what to do. I will have to go back to my doc to drop off another urine sample to check it, but Have no clue What I will take for it since I am running out of options as far as what I can take. I was told by the pharmacist that if I had the tendon issues as a side effect from the cipro, then any med in that class will give that same reaction. When I asked my one doctor that, she said she disagreed. She said just because cipro did that, it does not mean all those antibitoics in that class will cause this reaction. I just dont know what to do. I was even thining maybe my instill meds( heperin), could be a tainted batch and maybe this is causing the infection. I mean I was feeling better until I did the instill again this past Saturday.
I am not going back to ER or hospital, I just got the bill from the ER visit I made two weeks ago $1,695. WHat a JOKE! ANd it is the new year and my deductible started all over again which is Very high ($2,500). I just cannot afford to go to the hospital now. I asked my one doctor about IV antibitoics thinking if I cant take the oral ones if I could use IV ones, but she said they do not want to treat with IV unless it is absolutely nessasary. She said that when you take IV antivitoics which are VERY strong on your system, then bacteria can become resistant and if I ever get a life threatning infection, they may not work well for me and then I will really be in hot soup then. I just dont know what to do. Anyhow, any advice would be great. Thanks!
Jen

[NancyB]

Dear Jen-

When I had UTIs that were caused by e-coli, I was given Floxin 200 mgs twice per day. You only take it for 3 days. It worked great, and I had no side effects from it.

Hope this information is useful to you.:)

[ICNDonna]

It sounds like your doctors are working with you to help get your infection under control. Hang in there! Hopefully you'll feel better very soon.

Donna

[lisabar36]

Hi, I am really sorry you are having so much trouble! I do know that I can't take Tequin, but I can take cipro and Levaquin, and they are in the same class of drugs, each drug is made differently, they are aimed at fighting different bacterias, therefore, they have different ingredients and just because you can't take one doesn't mean they will all do that to you, Tequin gives me a rash, but the other drugs in that class do not. Now that is entirely up to your doctor, because I am allergic to penicillin, and they will not give me anything in that class at all! I also can take Cipro, but can't take the cipro xr. It made me feel like my throat was closing. There is something in the XR that I cannot have, and that had me in the emergency room. But I can take regular cipro. If you do a urine sample now, and are on antibiotics now, you are not going to get true results, the antibiotics that you are on now will interfere with the results, you are supposed to wait 3 to 5 days after completing the antibiotic. I have a UTI now, and my last instill HURT me badly! That was the first time it ever hurt so bad! Because my bladder was already so irritated. I will NOT do an instill with an infection, thats just me. I want my infection to clear before I do one. There is no reason to put myself through more pain with an infected bladder already. Thats my personal choice. I would highly recomend you talk to your doctor and get advice, because they are the only ones that can tell you what to do from here and what to try and take, in the meantime, I would drink plenty of water, I would not do an instill unless your doctor says its ok! And ask them what they want to try next. I wish you the best of luck. They can do a urine dip in the office and see if infection is still there also, but sometimes it only shows on culture. :)

[jen74]

Thank ladies for the advice.
My urogyne is the one who said I should do the instills even when I have an infection to help with the symptoms,he said he does instills for women without IC to give them relief when they have a UTI.
Anyhow, this is so frustrating to say the least. I wish my body was not so sensitive. I also got itchy all over when taking alot of the antibitoics, but my allergist said to take benadryl half an hour before taking the antibitoics, which helped some, but I still ended up getting other side effects from the cipro( severe tendon/muscle pain) which are not allergic reaction, but an adverse reaction, so I still had to quit it. I will see what the next step is when I call the doc back. Thanks for all the advice.
Jen

[lisabar36]

Hi, I am glad you got advice from your uro on the instills. And sounds like you are on the right track, I know its so hard when you have allergies to meds to find one that will work and you won't have a reaction to! Its like trial and error, frustrating!!!! I won't do an instill on myself right now, but thats just my personal preference, I want my infection cleared cause its more painful and more painful after to. I hope you start to feel better. :) Lisa

[elamar]

There is a natural supplement called uti-clear made by native remedies. You put 10-15 drops in water and drink it. It is helping me with a current uti. I have to warn you though, it tastes just awful. You only need to put it in 1/4 cup water. After I drink it, I have to chase it down with lots of water because it tastes so bad. But, lots of people have had success with it. I think you can take it as sort of a preventative measure also. You can go to their website and check it out. You should also take with your doctor to make sure the herbs and stuff in it don't interfere with other meds you might be taking. Hope this helps.

[Tracie]

I am so sorry that you are going through all of this. It is so frustrating when the cure that seems to work with everyone else, is not good for you. All these female problems take a toll on my bank account also. When I got my bill for my cysto/hydro I freaked! You are in my thoughts and prayers and I hope you find your cure very soon!
Tracie