treatment of chronic urinary tract infections

Thanks for the information! I have had a UTI for about 9 weeks and it is unresponsive to antibiotics (I have been on 3 kinds for 25 days straight). I think this problem goes beyond my OB/GYN. I'm making an appointment with a urologist right away!

I too am plagued with chronic UTIs. Started with my 'first time'
I do everything I possibly can to prevent them but they keep coming back. I've been on 4 different antibiotics for treatment; 2 no longer work, 1 I have an allergy to.
I got sick of doctors just giving me prescriptions & finally asked to be referred to a urologist.

Every time you have a UTI it causes scarring in your urethra. The more frequent, the more scarring, the more your urethra narrows, the more susceptible you are to UTIs.
Mine was so narrow I ended up in surgery where they stretched my urethra.
I was so hopeful that this would cure me. For 6 months I was UTI free.............then they started up again.

I am at my wits end. I feel like they are ruining my life, my relationship (constant fear of getting a UTI kills my desire to have intercourse).

I am currently dealing with a UTI which is why I am here, searching the web for something I haven't used/done yet, wishing for a cure.

Also, one of the ways I deal with it better is by getting prescription refills for the antibiotic.
My family doctor in my hometown did it for me.
Then when I moved I had a hard time getting one to do it.
3 years later, I finally got one :-)
It just makes it so much easier. You don't have to wait in the clinic/hospital for sometimes hours in uncomfortable pain, running to the bathroom every 2 minutes when you know what you need.
This way, when I feel one coming I can just go to the pharmacy & pick up my prescription hassle free.

I also get recurring UTIs. I have talked to my doctor about possibly starting to take an antibiotic after intercourse, but does anyone know how that will affect Birth Control? Antibiotics affect BC, so if i take one every time I have sex, is it just null and void? Also, I'm not certain that my UTIs are caused by having sex. For those of you who get UTIs after intercourse, how quickly does it happen?

For me, I start getting UTI symptoms 12 to 24 hours after intercourse.

i'm 19, i get a UTI every time I have sex and as I've just moved in with my boyfriend its become a crippling problem and is ruining our sex life. I have good genital hygene and urinate regularly. i take uva-ursi drops that also contain echinachea and drink water with soda and i take this tablet supplement that has cranberry, parsley, sage, dandelion, sage and bearberry. All of this helps keep the UTIs from being too severe or lasting more than a few hours but i still get them every time i have sex which is ruining my sex drive, plus i usually wake up at 5 or 6am with them which means i lose sleep and have no energy. It feels so unfair. About 3 times a year i ge one that lasts over a week so then i give in and go to the doctor for antibiotics but they usually perscribe augmenten duo or ciproxin which then give me thrush which just makes things worse. Also i cant afford to go to the doctors all the time, it is just so expensive and there are very few over the counter treatments available in the U.K. I just want them out of my life so i can have a good sexual relationship again. ive heard hormones have an effect, could the contraceptive pill im on be making it worse, i take yasminelle. To be honest im quite worried that it is a physical abnormality that is causing me to get them so frequently, i sometimes find sex painful.

I went to my doctor for a UTI and she said that she recently went to a convention where she learned that UTI's can come from friction during sex. The friction somehow makes a breeding ground for bacteria. Try using more lube during sex. If it gets dry and uncomfortable, add more lube immediately to prevent UTI's.

I get a uti every other week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i have gone mad! i do everything but nothing works. docs keep giving me antibiotics which has harmed everything inside of me, and now i have to treat those damages on top of my uti. i just started doing things the natural way so i hope it will work. my advice to all of you: do not take antibiotics for chronic uti. trust me, i learned my lesson.

Hello all,

My first UTI happened when I was about 15. This wasn't due to anything sexual as I was not sexually active at the time. It was due to stress. I can't exactly remember what the doctor prescribed, but it did work. Then I got another one at 19, again due to stress. I was sexually active at the time, but I always used a condom. The doctor prescribed Keflex, but this didn't really do much. Then I changed to another anti-biotic Bactrim, and this worked quite well. I got another UTI at 20 and this time it was due to unprotected sex. The doctor prescribed Trimethroprim and this also worked a charm. Now at 21 I got a UTI in March this year, the doctor gave me Amoxcyllin and this also worked. I don't know whether the reason for this UTI was from sex, as a few days earlier I had a cold/flu and my body and immunity was run down. Last night I woke up at 9pm, rushed to the toilet and felt the instant burning feeling. I called a home doctor and he came and prescribed me Keflex again. I thought it wouldn't really work, but this morning I feel much better. I think the most recent reason is because of the frequency I have sex with my current partner. But again I'm not sure, as only a week ago, I had a very severe cold/flu again. I have had the same partner for a year and a half now, and I've voluntarily tested myself for various STD's which have all come back negative. I've also had bladder scans, kidney scans and they have all come out normal.
I've found in the interim taking herbal supplements really helped me. The best one I've found is by Ethical Nutrients (I think they are only available in Australia) - Urinary Tract Support.
http://ethicalnutrients.com.au/content/products/urinary-tract-support
These helped me out so much when I had my UTI and took them once I finished my anti-biotic. It also helped because I could take them after sex and take them frequently. I don't know how I'd feel about taking an anti-biotic on a regular basis. Once I stopped taking the herbs on a regular basis my UTI's would come back. Another helpful thing is the effervescent drink Ural. It doesn't get rid of the UTI but helps with the burning pain associated with it. Also, drink cranberry juice every now and then or take some cranberry tablets every so often. This helps remove the adhering of the bacteria in the urinary tract. Avoid douches and harsh soaps or chemicals used to wash yourself down there. The best thing probably is just plain water with a teeny bit of normal soap. And just watch that the soap doesn't get right up there. That area is designed to clean itself so be gentle with yourselves ladies.
My advice to all my sisters out there is try taking vitamins/herbs to help your urinary tract system heal itself. But once you feel a burn, call your doctor and get an anti-biotic in you straight away. Also make sure your body is warm and if you are having trouble sleeping, the best way I've found is to sleep on my back with my legs straight. This relieved some of the pressure off my bladder.
I understand how it feels to have a UTI, I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy!

I wish only good health to all the women out there!

Thanks!

Oh and also remember to drink at least 2.5 litres of water a day!

Thanks! :-D

I am also a sufferer from UTI's. The problem with me is that I am always getting them sometime once a week, but mainly 4 to 5 times a month. I get them no matter what I do. I dont have to have intercourse and I will still get them. They are interfering with my home life, work life and sex life. I was going to the drs a lot but I stopped. They would just give me the same pills and it would help till the next one and Drs are expensive. I finally myself made a apt with a Urologist I cant wait. I just dont know what could possibly be wrong with me. I drink over my 8 glasses of water, water is all I drink. I take viatmin C's, i take cranberry pills, I wear cottn undies. I would just like to be able to go one day without the worry. I just dont know what else there is for me to do :'(. Reading what everyone said was helpful I did learn some new things thank you.

I just stumbled upon this blog on my hunt for answers in regards to chronic uti's. I am currently 15 weeks pregnant and have had a uti for the past 3 weeks. I have always been prone to uti's especially after intercourse. I have gone to see a urologist and after many failed attempts at resolving the issue she finally prescribed me cipro and told me to take it whenever I felt a uti coming on, but not to take more than 3 days worth and to stop once the symptoms go away (even if it only lasted half a day). This has worked so far but now that I'm pregnant I can't take cipro since it causes birth defects. 3 weeks ago I came down with a uti which was caused by ecoli. I took 5 days of macrobid. This didn't seem to really solve the problem 100% so I asked for another urine culture which showed I had a streptococous (not sure of spelling) group B infection. I was prescribed 7 days of amoxicillan. I still felt off after this and went to see my doc who told me i had an yeast infection as a result of the antibiotics. They also did another urine culture and preliminary results show that there is blood in the urine, showing that there is still an infection! I am waiting for the final results to see what bacteria it is this time. I'm extremely concerned about the antibiotics i'm taking and the health and welfare of my baby. This is my first pregnancy and I'm totally at a loss for what to do. My husband and I don't even have sex that often because of all of these issues. I have tried all the suggestions mentioned above from wearing cotton underwear, to wiping front to back, drinking water, cranberry pills. I think these things definitely help but they don't solve the problem. The urologist i had seen did say that it could be a physiological issue. Everyone's body is slightly different and I may have been "built" in such a way that I am prone to utis. *sigh*

It really sucks and i feel everyone's pain! I have little hope that this issue will be easy to resolve. We're only creating super bugs with the amount of antibiotics we're all taking.

Ask your doctor to test you for mycoplasma and ureaplasma bacteria. These are not routine tests, but cause symptoms of a UTI and only special antibiotics treat them because they lack a cell wall. If this is the case for you, a specific antibiotic should clear the true infection.

My mum get's chronic UTI's.  I am sending some natural pills to her that have no fillers or toxins.  I feel they will do the trick.   ***this post is edited by moderator *** *** private e-mails not allowed*** Please read our Terms of Use

Have any of you been tested for Group B Strep? I ask because I tend to get UTI infections quite a bit, and some of them are actually caused by this. It's not just during pregnancy, it can happen at anytime, and sometimes it can travel to your urinary tract.