Chronic UTI's linked to IUD

Hello Everyone,

During the four years I had an IUD, I suffered from several UTI's. I never linked the two together because my doctor told me it was not possible and my UTI tests would come back negative. I felt like I had a UTI because all of the symptoms pointed to a urinary tract infection. Antibiotics weren't working. Sex was becoming painful. My lower abdomen always felt bloated. My urine was cloudy all of the time. I was so confused. The confusion stopped when I found this thread. I knew it wasn't just in my head and I got relief knowing that this was just not happening to me! I finally decided to have my IUD removed all of the bad symptoms I was experiencing are gone! It's been a month now and I finally feel like I am back to normal. I do not recommend getting an IUD! I had Paragard inserted in me and it was a huge mistake!

I've had my mirina iud for three years. Before I got it put in I experienced my first uti and I believe it was from not knowing safe sex practices such as peeing after. I had the same partner for about a year and a half when I was on the iud and didn't have any problems. However once I began to have different partners I would have more flare ups and would have to get uti treatment.
For the past month or 2 I've been having nothing but problems. My uti just won't go away and I've been on 3 different antibiotics. The side affects are terrible...I get nausea, cold symptoms, and dizziness.
I thought my utis had something to do with oral sex, and then I thought i may be allergic to latex. But now I've been hearing about an iud being the culprit and it seems to fit. I was wondering if there are other women who are polyamoris with an iud that have had similar experiences. Should I get mine removed??? Can we talk through email? I could really use some support.

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so what form of Birth Control can you use? I suffered alot of BV cuz of the Nuva, I suffered libido and high anxiety with pill form Birth Control and NOW its the IUD and i've been having non stop yeast, BV and uti and i only had it in for 6 months.
After reading all the responses, I am definitely going to have it removed. Whats interesting is I also had UTI yeast/BV nfections without being birth control so I've lost HOPE, condoms dry me out even with lube.
Do I have to give up sex entirely? cuz i just can't stop getting infections whether is yeast, BV, or UTIs. Please if someone have any clue or answer let me know and even before the IUD but after reading

I'm considering getting mine taken out.. I get frequent UTIs (I have one as I type) and I can't take it anymore! I'm worried after reading your post because you mentioned heavier UTIs after the iud was removed. Did you ever find out the cause, and are they still occurring?

I had the Mirena IUD fitted in August (2017) and am on my second IUD in three months. Also E-Coli like the others. Before this I hadn't had one for 5 years. I am also having non-stop spotting, significant weight gain, and drop to your knees cramping and abdominal pain on my right side. After three months of suffering through this I'm getting it removed. My doctor said that "it takes time to settled" and that my body "needs time to adjust" but its brought me nothing but agony. Sex drive is in the toilet. The ongoing UTI issues are the final straw. I'm done.

Correction: Second UTI in three months.

I had paraguard iud for a year and I had severe pain on my pelvic area I was on four serious of antibiotics and uti just kept comming back and also I was referred to urologist specialist and he said I had over active bladder... he said after three children that happens and I call it bulls***. After my third I never had problem peeing often and I inserted iud to prevent pregnancy because I do not want a fourth child. I was ill,headaches, stomach pain and bloating. For a year I was like that and o got my paraguard removed frequent peeing stoped no pelvic pain no bloating: Be careful doctors are wrong and I'm mind boggled bc we trust their expertise and advise!

I’m so glad I read this I got the IUD inserted 6 weeks ago and within 9 days I got a UTI I had had them in the past from sex but hadn’t actually had one for at least 2 years so I went to the doctors and they gave me a 3 day course of Macrobid, that didn’t clear it up so a week later I went back to the doctors and they just put me on a 7 day course of Macrobid and sent off my urine for testing to see if I had built an intolerance to the antibiotics which turned out I hadn’t so they should have been working. The 7 day treatment was still not working so I went back after 3 days of being on the antibiotics as I hadn’t slept for 2 days and had to take time off work because I was on the toilet literally every 20 minutes! The doctor just told me to stick out the antibiotics as I’m probably just taking a while to clear up the infection. Anyway after that treatment it did clear up for about a week and then it came back again so I went back to the doctors and they said I didn’t have a UTI because there was no infection in my urine even though I was urinating constantly and had cramps but after some persistence from myself they put me on Doxycycline for a week, that made me really sick but I still took it and 4 days after that treatment the same UTI symptoms were back! This had been going on for 5 weeks now so I went back to the doctors they said I had a fever and that I could have PID so they gave me another course of 2 antibiotics to take and said I needed to come back to the doctors in the Monday as there were no doctors available at the current time to do a physical exam. Now the antibiotics they prescribed me said not to take if you’re allergic to penicillin which I am but the doctor said it should still be fine, just to be safe I waited until the Monday when I was due my physical exam to find out what I actually had before taking the risk of antibiotics. The doctor said it didn’t look like PID but he did say he could see puss and that I had an infection so he told me to take the antibiotics I had been referred just a few days before, he took some swabs to be sent off for testing and he said to come back a week later to see what the results said, my appointment is today and during the week I have been on antibiotics I have had an allergic reaction the same reaction I get to penicillin so I’ve had to go back on Doxycycline with another antibiotic but they have not helped as all week I have still had a constant UTI, I have not slept for 2 nights because I’ve been up peeing every hour I’m exhausted so today when I go to my appointment I am making them take it out! Fingers crossed no more after that. No idea what contraception to go on now though, I can’t use the pill and I was on the depo-provera injection for 5 years but it stopped working a year ago and made me bleed for 5 months straight so my options are running low! Hope this helps anyone else suffering permanent UTIs after having an IUD.

I'm not sure what my issues are.... I've had UTIs before my IUD and this is my first UTI since IUD placement in March (so, 7 months later). I've been on two courses of antibiotics, screened for STDS (twice), my urine cultures are negative, but there's blood in my urine. I'm sooo frustrated, it's ruining my relationship, and making me miserable. I love the idea of permenante birth control and it was so painful to insert. I don't want to remove my IUD if it won't fix my UTI....

So do you have relief?

WOW! I just experienced the same thing. I wish would have read this earlier and have my remove IUD tested for E. coli. I was hospitalized for 6 days for a UTI (Kidney infection) very painful.

This forum SAVED me--thanks for all of your stories!!
I had a jaydess IUD inserted two years ago and just recently started having problems. Doctors kept telling me that it wouldn't be my IUD causing my recurrent UTI's, but after reading stories on this forum and following my intuition, I finally insisted on having it removed, after which my symptoms rapidly improved. Unfortunately I did not have it tested to see if the culture of my latest infection matched the IUD, so I will never know if it's actually what caused my symptoms. However, two days before my device was removed I tested positive for another UTI, and two days after it was removed my urine came back negative for infection, so I take that as enough of a confirmation.
I have a lengthier version of my story here:
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Hope this helps anyone else with similar issues!!

I had the Mirena IUD fitted in Oct 2017. Within a week I had a UTI and tests showed bacteria. I thought having it fitted had caused bruising of urethra. Got antibiotics from GP. Now feel like I have another UTI. :-(

I got Skyla inserted in February 2017 and have been absolutely miserable. Have had over 12 UTIs the past year, regardless of if I was having sex or not. It sounds like the only option is getting the IUD removed if I want the issue to stop, but the whole reason I got the IUD was because I had been on 7 different birth control pills in four years (significant weight gain, severe depression and anxiety, extremely heavy periods, etc). What are my options then if I get IUD removed?

I've had my Paragard in for 20 months now. As I write this, I am dealing with annoying UTI symptoms I got 2.5 weeks ago. It will not go away, no matter what cranberry pills, Axo or prescribed antibiotics I take. I have been to 2 urgent care doctors in 2 different states, and neither of them wanted to explore the idea that maybe the IUD was causing this. I intuitively feel the Paragard definitely is the problem. It causes pain during sex sometimes, and now I am seeing blood not only in my urine, but also coming from my vagina (between periods). I do not want to wait until I have a kidney infection to find out that all I need to do is remove this IUD. If the Paragard really is dislodged, I want no complications removing it. Does it hurt to take it out? Luckily the string is long enough for me to remove on my own. Should I do it? I can't handle this UTI issue any longer!