UTI and antibitoic issues, Help??

[jen74]

Hi Ladies.
Well, I am really having a hard time of it here lately. A week before Christmas I got a UTI and had to go on antibiotics. Well, I am allergic to most of the antibiotics or I get bad reactions. They put me on macrobid which gave me chest pain so I had to quit that and then they gave me cipro. That I took for about 4 days but had to stop it due to bad tendon pain in my arm. Well, they then gave me sulfa trimeth suspension. I took this for two weeks and still ended up with side effects but managed to finish this time. I finished the antibitoic this past Monday. Well, Tuesday I started getting Severe nausea. I had this for three days and still am not right, but the nausea is somewhat better, but now I have intestinal cramps and some slight diareaha with mucus ( only went once so far today though) ( sorry for the gross subject). Anyhow, I still feel like I have the UTI though. I have to get a repeat culture this week to check. I am worried though becuase I am thinking I may have that antibitoic related Diareaha( c-difficlle) or something like that possibly, not sure though. How the heck am I going to take anymore antibitoics if I still have a UTI if I am having this issues with the bowels? I mean I dont want to kill off anymore good bacterias in my gut, as this would make the bowel issue way worse. And from what my urogyne nurse said, you dont want diareaha becuase it will be a visious cycle since having diareaha causes UTI's and so forth. Also she said that I cannot do any instillations while having diareaha because of the risk of getting a UTI. So what the heck will I do?
Also I know that to cure that C-difficile if that is what I have, they use the drug flagyl which I am allergic to, so I cannot take that either. Geez, what will I do? Anyhow, sorry to vent here, I am just so frustrated and worried. Any ideas or suggestions? I am going to call my Gastro doc Monday if the bowel issues continue, and go to my urogyne and get a repeat culture done to see if I still have the infection. I also take probitoics daily (floragen acidolphilis) so I am suprised to even have this bowel thing. Thanks for listening.
Jen

[sphinx]

C-diff diarrhea is usually *watery* and has a very foul smell. If your stools are formed at all, it's unlikely. I'm a nurse and the lab won't even test sample with formed stool. Is yours totally liquid?

If it is C-Diff, and you cannot take Flagyl, Vancomycin also treats it (if you can take that).

Meanwhile drink, drink, drink! Wash your hands often, get some rest, and check in with your doc on Monday if symptoms persist!

***hugs***

Hope you feel better soon......

[SharonA]

Jen...I don't know what to tell you except to go to your doctor and let the medical people decide what you should do.

(((Hugs)))

[jen74]

Hi Sphinx.
Thanks for the reply. No, they are not watery yet, just pudding like with mucous ( sorry for that gross description). I guess I will keep an eye on it then. I am more worried at the fact that I am positive I still have the UTI though as my pain is getting worse and worse in the bladder. Also, I have had a little leakage which I Never get unless I have a UTI. I have no clue what they will give me since I cannot take so many things and especially now with the bowel issues. This plain sucks. Thanks so much for the info.
Jen

[jen74]

Hi Sharon.
Thanks for the support, I appreciate it.
Jen

[sphinx]

Hi Sphinx.
Thanks for the reply. No, they are not watery yet, just pudding like with mucous ( sorry for that gross description). I guess I will keep an eye on it then. I am more worried at the fact that I am positive I still have the UTI though as my pain is getting worse and worse in the bladder. Also, I have had a little leakage which I Never get unless I have a UTI. I have no clue what they will give me since I cannot take so many things and especially now with the bowel issues. This plain sucks. Thanks so much for the info.
Jen

Don't worry about gross descriptions with me, lol....as a nurse I can be in a room cleaning up someone's BM, then go eat my lunch no prob. Plus when I get together with my parents, and my mom (who is also a nurse) and I "talk shop", the rest of the family gets to turning green!

Anyway, I don't blame you for being worried about continuing UTI......can you take Levaquin? That is good for UTIs, depending on the bug that is causing it......It's very difficult when you have so many limitations on antibiotics.......

[jen74]

Hi Sphinx.
Thanks for the reply. I am not sure about levaquin, I had a reaction to cipro, It gave me extreme pain in my right arm possibly tendon pain which they say can happen wiht those quinolone antibitoics. I know that levaquin is in the same family as cipro, though I had one doctor say that just because you have a reaction to one does not mean you will have a reaction to the other. She said there are some people who are allergic and get hives with cipro, but are able to take levaquin, so it all depends, she said I would have to try it and see. I am also worried about my bowel issues though. I have cramping and slight diareaha now, I am afraid if I take anymore antibitoitics it will turn into something more serious like possibly that c-difficile thing.
I also am working with some different herbs hoping maybe they will help. though I have to watch out becuase of my IC as everything bothers my bladder is seems. Thanks so much for the info, I do appreciate it. Oh, also, I have to go get my urine rechecked this week and for a culture. My urogynes office has this protocol that they like to catheterize becuase they believe that otherwise the sample will likely be contaminated. I myself have never had a problem with my urine samples being contaminated though. I mean when I go to any other doctor, they never ask for catheterized specimins. I was even told that it is risky to do that as the cathing process can induce an infection.I will have to put up a fight with the nurse and tell her I am going to do a clean catch. My urogyne actually said at my last visit that he does not mind if I do the clean catch since I am more prone to infections and have all these other issues. But trying to convice the staff there is another thing. I do at home instillations since I cannot tolerate any oral meds for my IC as I get to many side effects. When I do this,( my hubby actually helps me), we are soooo clean, I mean I shower first then we use gloves and that iodine/pivodine stuff before we do them. I do them at home because I could never afford to go every week to my doctors office and have it done,( our insurance stinks).Also I feel we can be much cleaner as far as me being able to shower right before and so forth. I also mix my meds together right before I do the instill, where in my doctors office they have them already pre-mixed for hours. I also use the no preservative added heperin where my doctors contains alchohol which buuuurns my bladder like heck.
Anyhow, sorry for blabbing your ear off. Thanks for listening. I hope you are feeling well today.
Jen

[sphinx]

Blab anytime, we're here to support each other! It's true with the Levaquin/Cipro........I think it depends on the type and severity of the reaction you have with one, whether they are ever willing to try another in the same family. Sometimes you can one but not the other-other times not. Crazy. Like me, I am allergic to a med called Cefzil, but am able to take other antibiotics in the same class. I am have an allegry to sulfa drugs, but can take Celebrex which is usually contraindicated with a sulfa allergy. Go figure:loco:

I don't blame you worrying about C-diff. Even if you don't have it now, continued antibiotic use can certainly be a problem. I take a probiotic every day as well as a dan-active drink daily, because I take a low dose of macrobid on the days I do my instillations. Plus I have IBS. Such a pain having all this potty probs, eh?!:toilet:

Would your doctor accept a urine specimen from when you do your cath/instills? It sounds like you are very clean.....I imagine if you drain into a sterile cup and put it in the fridge/on ice, then bring it to the lab straight off, it would still be good. I hate doing a clean catch (take a degree of flexibility I lack, lol) but can do a good job....plus, even though I don't mind being cathed at home, in the office is another story. Those caths are huge compared to what I use at home, haha!

Anyhoo, I do the instillations too.....I still take meds, but the caths are what have really done the best for me. I also do them right after I shower and mix right before I cath.

I also was wondering, are you maybe allergic/sensitive to the fillers used in some the the antibiotics/meds you use? Some people have real issues with that, and get their meds special-made/compounded. Just a thought.

Hope you are feeling better soon. I am having a rough day-I have RA and flaring badly today. Not fun.

Hi Sphinx.
Thanks for the reply. I am not sure about levaquin, I had a reaction to cipro, It gave me extreme pain in my right arm possibly tendon pain which they say can happen wiht those quinolone antibitoics. I know that levaquin is in the same family as cipro, though I had one doctor say that just because you have a reaction to one does not mean you will have a reaction to the other. She said there are some people who are allergic and get hives with cipro, but are able to take levaquin, so it all depends, she said I would have to try it and see. I am also worried about my bowel issues though. I have cramping and slight diareaha now, I am afraid if I take anymore antibitoitics it will turn into something more serious like possibly that c-difficile thing.
I also am working with some different herbs hoping maybe they will help. though I have to watch out becuase of my IC as everything bothers my bladder is seems. Thanks so much for the info, I do appreciate it. Oh, also, I have to go get my urine rechecked this week and for a culture. My urogynes office has this protocol that they like to catheterize becuase they believe that otherwise the sample will likely be contaminated. I myself have never had a problem with my urine samples being contaminated though. I mean when I go to any other doctor, they never ask for catheterized specimins. I was even told that it is risky to do that as the cathing process can induce an infection.I will have to put up a fight with the nurse and tell her I am going to do a clean catch. My urogyne actually said at my last visit that he does not mind if I do the clean catch since I am more prone to infections and have all these other issues. But trying to convice the staff there is another thing. I do at home instillations since I cannot tolerate any oral meds for my IC as I get to many side effects. When I do this,( my hubby actually helps me), we are soooo clean, I mean I shower first then we use gloves and that iodine/pivodine stuff before we do them. I do them at home because I could never afford to go every week to my doctors office and have it done,( our insurance stinks).Also I feel we can be much cleaner as far as me being able to shower right before and so forth. I also mix my meds together right before I do the instill, where in my doctors office they have them already pre-mixed for hours. I also use the no preservative added heperin where my doctors contains alchohol which buuuurns my bladder like heck.
Anyhow, sorry for blabbing your ear off. Thanks for listening. I hope you are feeling well today.
Jen

[jen74]

Hey Sphinx.
Sorry it took so long to reply, my computer has been acting up some.
You know it is funny because I asked the nurse if I could bring in my own urine sample, preferably a first morning urine since it is said to be the most accurate. She said NO, that it would be ruined that is has to be done in the office. I had to laugh becuase I have done this before with my other doctor, I would do the clean catch in the morning and put it in the fridge and even have it in a cooler on my way to drop it off at the doctors office a could houre later.
Anyway, I went to see my urogyne a couple days ago and he let me just do the clean catch with no problem. It is usually the nurse there that seems to complicate things. I just dont get her. Now some of the other nurses there are real nice and dont give me any problems usually.
I asked the doctor what I would use if I get another infection since I am having reactions to all these meds. He said I should stick with maybe just plaine trimethoprim instead of the sulfa added one. I dont know, I really worry about all the side effects, especially the severe stomach issues( nausea,diareaha etc.).
He said to keep taking the dmannose for now daily. I am not sure it works since I still got an infection with ecoli, and dmannose is suppose to irradicate this. Who knows.
Anyhow, I hope you are feeling better today. RA is sure painful from what I have heard.

[jen74]

Hi Sphinx,
Sorry it took me so long to reply. I went to see my doc a couple days ago. He let me leave the clean catch. I still have alot of pain in my bladder thouugh. I am terrified to do another instill in fear of getting another infection.
I got my lab report from the first urine culture when I first got the infection and it had a row of names of antibitoics that the ecoli was sensitive to and would be able to kill the ecoli. Can you believe that it said the ecoli was resisitant to amoxicillin ( which I am allergic to anyhow so I couldn't take it anyways), bit is also said it was resistant to gentamycin. Is that strange? I thought gentamycin was like one of the Big gun antibitoics.
My doc said that if I get another infection, that he thinks I should try using the trimethoprim without the sulfa. I just dont want to get as sick as I was with the nausae and diareaha and such. also my tongue was soooo irritated and I actually got canker sores in my throat as a side effect from the sulfatrimethoprim. I wonder if the plain trimethoprim would cause the same issues.
Anyhow, I pray you are feeling better today. I know that RA is very painful. Hope you are doing ok.
Jen

[sphinx]

Jen I am glad he let you just leave the clean catch! As to the e-coli being resistant to one drug or another-yes, Gentamycin is a "big guns", but that's why they do the "sensitivity" testing....not every strain is susceptible to the same antibiotics, although you can make a "best guess" based on your previous sensitivity results. Sometimes our doc does that for people with frequent UTIs......he'll prescribe an antibiotic for someone with a positive urine dip and choose it based on their last sensitivity results......then after a few days when the current culture has grown out, he'll check the sensitivity and make sure the patient is on the ideal antibiotic.

Have you ever heard of catheters that have an antibacterial coating? I have seen them in only one place, Rochester Medical. They have a coating and is supposed to be good for people at high risk for infection-don't know how you'd react though with your antibiotics issues, but it's a thought. You can request a sample. I tried one, I was nervous because I usually use a 10fr and the smallest they had was a 12fr...that wasn't bad, but the catheter adapter I use did not really work with it, and the instill fluid ran all over. Oops!

I feel ok today. My RA has been flaring somewhat, but I have learned to live with it. I am on some powerful meds, so thankfully am under pretty good control most of the time.

I hope you get this sorted out very soon!

[jen74]

HI Sphinx.
Thanks for the support. I am off to my urogynes again to send another culture. Can you believe this, when I went to see my Dr last Tuesday, I left a urine sample to be cultured. I called her this past Friday and she said she did not even send it for a culture. She did a dip stick test and it was fine and since the doctor did not out right tell her to send it for culture, she did not. I was so mad! I mean I had spoken to this nurse on the phone 4 times the week before because of all the pain from this infection I had. She was the one that said I needed a repeat culture. I could not believe she did not send it.
Anyhow, I was feeling better up until last night. I did an instill this past Friday using the elmiron in my instill as this is what my uro wanted me to do. I felt ok up until last night. Now I wonder if I have a new infection or would it be the same old one. I will never know now since she did not send my culture out last week though. This is so frustrating. I will ask my doc about the antibacterial catheters though. We use pivodine swabs before even putting the catheter in and I was hoping this would help ward off any bacteria's but I guess not. I will let you know what happens. Thanks again. I really hope your RA flare has calmed down.
Jen

[sphinx]

Wow, that totally stinks! They'd better send this new one in! That last dip may have looked good simply from the few days of the cipro.....it could have been "just enough" to give a negative dip, but there could easily have been bacteria still lurking in your bladder. If you've gotten worse, it doesn't surprise me.

**sigh**

The betadine usually does work to keep infection risk low, but even the most sterile cath has risks of introducing contamination into the bladder.

My RA flare seems to have improved, thanks for mentioning it! I'm on the last of 4 days off, nice to have time to relax, as well as extra time to get some things done without having to rush and over-tax myself.

Keep us up to date, I am sure I am not the only one who wants to know how it goes at the doc and with your culture!

***good luck***

[jen74]

Hi Sphinx.
Thanks. I went to drop off a urine sample earlier this afternoon. I told them to please make sure they get it cultured this time. I hope they do as I am in so much pain. Also, I am glad your RA flare is better and that you had some time off to relax, you deserve it. I will keep you posted.
Jen