pain and discomfort in urethra, but no UTI

To everyone with UTI symptoms..try D-Mannose. It's a simple sugar you can find at your local health store. Most UTI's will respond to it. My naturopath told me about it. The bacteria lining your bladder will cling to the D-Mannose (which is not filtered by the kidneys and goes straight to the bladder). It will "wash away" the typical UTI infection. I'm sorry that I cannot recall the name of the bacteria. If that does not work...THEN ask for an antibiotic. At least this way you are not killing your system with tons of antibiotics. You can also get AZO for the burning symptoms. I believe Walmart carries it. There is also a prescription version you can ask your doctor for. B vitamins are also good for bladder health. B-1 and B-2, specifically. For those with urethral spasms...you may need/benefit from pelvic floor therapy. Shoot. All of you could ask about it. My pelvic floor therapist (Duke) can massage the fascia and scar tissue from past surgeries surrounding my bladder and abdomen and make that "sense of urgency" feeling go away. You can learn quite a bit on how to deal with several of the issues I've read here from a pelvic floor therapist. Seriously. If you haven't already seen one, seek out a Uro/Gyn specialist. Go through the work-up. And ask about pelvic floor therapy. It's your body. Your life. It shouldn't revolve around a toilet. ;)

You should all look into interstitial cystitis. It is a condition that causes a lot of symptoms everyone is describing. And is common in women who've had a lot of uti's. I get urethra inflamation and a throbbing feeling. I just went to a urologist who specializes in gynecologic urology and he said many infections in the urethra can take over two weeks to grow in a culture so they won't show up in a regular uti test. They are slow growing micro organisms. Also birth control can cause a lot of symptoms described here. Birth control changes a women's estrogen levels and a correct balance of estrogen is the most important thing in the urinary system. If u are experiencing symptoms but testing neg and using birth control try stopping it to see if it gets better. One last thing my urologist prescribed me a lydocaine gel to put inside my urethra during times of intense pain perhaps that could help others experiencing persistent pain. Good luck everyone.

to all out there, try D-Mannose..I started using it and it worked great for me....the research is available on line and if you've tried everything why not try this.

hello i stumble upon this thread while googling UTI and bladder issues.. i have similar problem which started couple iof years ago.. i would have sex with my bf and then get a burning pain in my urethra/bladder the next day. it's painful and my urine has blood when this things happen...i recently went through the same issues again 3 weeks ago and took some amoxicillin , it went awayfor a few days but now the burning sensation is back only this time no pain when i pee..the feeling would come and go and drinking lots of water did not seem to help much..i might get some antiobiotic tomorrow and see if it helps.

Angela killmartin.......Google her.

i read her book and have been much better since following her advice.....

I have had the urine tests/cultures that come back negative, taken several antibiotics, and have had bloodwork panels done.  The UTI symptoms have diminished over the past 4 and a half months since I first got the UTI symptoms (2 weeks after a miscarriage).  At my wits end, I researched and found a product called d mannose.  It is all natural.  Buy it at Richard's Whole Foods for approx. 28.00.  Be sure to get the one with Botanicals.  It is a powder with a purple lid.  It is the ONLY thing that helped me.  I drank it once a month (one container - 12 doses) for the past 4 months.  I now only have the burn, a slight burn in the bladder/urethra.  I go to my urogyn at the end of Feb. and at that time I will insist on a bladder scan, but these docters seem to hand out antibiotics like nothing without knowing what they are treating.  It's scary to have this and not know what it could be.  It would be nice to have a docter who cared enough to figure out what he/she was treating before throwing pills at it.  Try d mannose.  It helped me.

I have the same problem also. It is painful. I cant sleep at nights and peeing smtimes doesnt help. What ive read from all you it makes me sad that no one knows what it is. There has to be a solution by now. Makes me scared i have to live w this. the first time i had this my tests came bck negative. So the dr tried to see when i pee there wuld be pee left in the bladder. She stuck a tube up and tried extracting pee but she said i was fine. I was peeing fine. After that i drank water and...man i dont know what she told me or what to take but after that bladder test she had done. My pain i got without water in my system went away. I was thinking that when she did that test she possibly unclogged my...ill say pee tube from residue/bacteria stuck in there. Making it hard to pee and painful side effects. I feel like its happening again.

Everything you mention including the cystoscopy is the same for me except I never tested positive for bacteria. I have had this for one and a half years now. However I was put on several doses of antibiotics anyway and also given treatment for thrush! despite having no obvious symptoms, only pain. Sometimes the flare is so bad that I continue to wee large dribbles after just being to the toilet. At times my pain is so bad I cannot sit and I get so irritable and hot. Sex is a no no. I'm still at a loss as to what could be the cause of this and hope it isn't another symptom chalked up as Fybromialgia.

I am having an ultrasound done as I have developed some other symptoms now, not sure if related, but hopefully I will get an answer soon.

I had the exact same issue when I first became sexually active about five years ago.  I also was put on antibiotic after antibiotic, even when my urine cultures came back negative.  After about six months of painful urination and sex, I finally burst into tears in front of a urologist, expressing my frustration that no one seemed to be able to help me.  He prescribed a steroid cream, and within a few days the symptoms were GONE.  I have no idea why this worked, but it did.  Definitely worth discussing with your doc.

Hi, I experience the same exact problems as you. My urologist wants to diagnose me with IC, but I do not want to believe it. Have you found any treatment or answers to your problems?! Please, any help would be greatly appreciate

Have you found an answer to your problem??

Pain in the Urethra can be caused by Reactice Arthritis.

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I had the same thing. Then the Dr. Gave me vaginal estrogen cream. Problem solved. The urethral lose's it's covering as one age and begins to stick oit like a little tongue. Then it gets irritated and the whole cycle begins. The estrogen will restore this.

also, once you have an infection do not drink cranberry juice.

Hi ladies. Ive posted a few times on here about my illness and tried most things myself to try and make the pain go away. Im here to say my symptoms of exteme pain and day to day chronic pain has disappeared. Its taken a shocking 18 months from start of a uti to now. They diagnosed me to have ureatha syndrome and I had a problem with ureatha plasma. So remember to ask the doctors to check this as when you have an inbalance the symptoms are utis and thrush. Ive managed to get the pain into control. Its all about management for me. During the bad year. I drank water.. tried to stay away from intercourse.. and stopped washing with any soaps. I also cleanned my ureatha with water after each wee. Kept to a diet. And stopped eating white bread. I then only had soreness after a wee and before when I was due on my monthly period. I was told this will happen due to hormone change. Still frustrating but atleast it was a short bout of it. And even then it wasnt as painful as before. I was in constant pain for soild 12 months. I wanted to end my relationship as it wasnt fair on him. And so wanted to end my life as I couldnt take it anymore. It got me that down. So if any ladies feel anything like that. Please have hope it will subside lessen or go away. Mine has lesson to nearly gone away. Took a long while. Some of you may bw different to me. But I had to try things myself and found out what worked. The one thing I noticed and it worked was change your contraception! !!! I had the marina coil taken out. Was in for 4 years!! The majoroty of my severe pain was gone in 3 months from having it taken out. I guess the hormones was playing havoc on my ureatha syndrome and made the symptoms worse. 3 months my body adjusted. Still had abit of pain and still struggled. But glad to say that helped. I then went onto the pill after 5 months. And my ureatha got worse again so I stopped taking it. I now have a copper coil in place. My new doctor said I cant take hormone contraception due to my utis and ureatha syndrome. Why the other doctor didnt tell me that god knows! So that I wanted to share with you all. So talk to your doctors about a non hormone contraception. This might actually help you too. If it worked for me it might with you.how I see this chronic condition. In my head I see my bladder as having bo protecting lining. Destroyed from anti biotics and scaring. So I try hard to not eat or drink things that will hurt it. If I do have a glass of wine or 2 teas, I delute it with water after. I also on a regular basis took everyday ibopruphen tablets because I felt like my bladder and wee hole were inflamed. My partner said it was very red round there. So these tablets along with co - codamol when the pain was very bad. I only took the 8-10mg during day pain. But at night I got the strongest they did which wasthe 30mg strength. Make sure you take these with food. But at night they helped me relax and then sleep. Very much needed considering the pain. So 16 months later very little pain. I battled ongoing thrush every month before a period. And felt sh*t everytime before I bleed. But touch wood its been 2 months and things have settled. However physical pain of this terrible infection has nearly nearly gone. Or its somehow under control that its not flaring up. Either I have made changes in my life that has helped this ongoing urearha syndrome. These were.. nurse bladder back to health... no soaps.. no bread.. not too much sugar... bo hormone uti.. more water. Thats the key. As soon as you feel that dull ache in bladder or soreness down below. Drink water. Dont hold wees for too long. And dont wear jeans!!!! Wearing tight stuff will bring it on. For me I wore cotton pants and wore loose clothing. Through the good months now im much better I can go back to wearing what I want. I feel also for me time has healed me. My bladder might have grown its protecting wall so maybe give it time too. And try everything stay proactive. . Keep a diary . And do your research. I OWE MY THANKS TO MANY OF THE LADIES ON THIS POST. I FOUND THIS.. READ THEIR STORIES AND I FELT INCOURAGEMENT WHEN I READ I GOT BETTER REPLY OR A REPLY WITH TIPS AND ADVICE. I SPENT DAYS READING AND WRITING I VERY LONG LIST OF WHAT TO TRY.. BUY.. TAKE... ASK. AND THINGS TOREAD UP. I hope this might add to the many positive posts on here.

Ladies - I have had all these symptoms. Some good times - some bad times. Don't panic. When I was suffering from prolonged discomfort my doctor put me on an anti inflammatory called dicloflenac - and luckily it has taken the constant discomfort away. I truly felt like my uti's had damaged the lining of my bladder. Making it super sense native to salt/ acidic, dry conditions and making it inflamed. As soon as I got the inflammation under control / then it became manageable. After suffering this for a good 5 years, I have learnt that this is what I am prone to and I have to manage this rather than be scared of it. One doctor did put me on amitryptiline. This is a super mild anti depressant and she did this because she has been studying some research which showed that the nerves to the bladder had a memory where the pain it sends to the brain keeps sending even after the infection has gone. So you can try this - I decided it wasnt for me - and you do have to be sure you empty your bladder fully when taking it. But for some it may be worth a try? Also another point is - I do now think a lot of the pain is made worse by my thoughts/ fears. My muscle tighten down there and it all feel worse. One way to test this is to see if when you are actually drinking some water, do you feel the pain as intently. In my case it was no so I knew I needed to relax to aid this. There isn't an almighty cure yet - the sad fact remains this is a women's health problem and most doctors are male - so we need so much more research into this. So everyone keep sharing - you aren't alone - don't panic! Life isn't over - and keep exploring new things that feel right for you - I really believe you should go with what your body wants! One thing to Google is bottle washing/ cystitis - it may help some of you: oh also beetroot feels so good when I eat it and have an infection it must be doing something good!