Urethral Pain With No Infection

I had a hysterectomy and went on estrogen. After 5 yrs I quit taking estrogen and had burning & pain in the urethra area. I was told that the skin gets thin and irritated. My Dr put me back on estrogen and then I was normal again.

Hello All,

I have suffered from frequent cystitis like symptoms and severe pain in my urethra for over two years now. It started off as a bacterial infection, or what I thought was one, but it felt different, there wasn't the same urgency to go to the loo and then nothing coming out, my bladder seemed to be functioning but it was just causing me a lot of pain. As a home remedy I used a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda mixed with a glass of water. It seemed to alleviate the acidity but I was still in a lot of pain. I saw my doctor and got some antibiotics, finished the course after three days, two weeks later symptoms were the same, I got some stronger, longer courses of antibiotics and had various urine samples taken.

After a few months of consistent and varying levels of pain I decided to do my own research. I found some great websites which give good advice and made me feel like I wasn't alone! The COB foundation was particularly helpful. I tried the IC diet, which reduced my symptoms dramatically from burning debilitating agony to a dull ache.

I continued seeing my doctor and had a multitude of tests, x-rays, ultrasounds, blood tests and finally, I don't remember it's name but I had a tube with a camera inside it inserted into my urethra to have a look around - lovely. It was the size of a McDonald drinking straw - Huge! It hurt immensely, was highly degrading for me (due to my useless urologist) and they found nothing so I decided to abandon the NHS and find a cure myself.. I am still looking.

I have had acupuncture and bought £100 for a week's worth of Chinese herbal remedies and teas which were revolting to drink and made my problem worse in a matter of days. Plus it was very expensive.

I read a book about different types of cystitis which recommended doxicycline (malaria tablets) for the relief of IC, I (probably stupidly but very desperately) bought some on the internet, luckily they were genuine but they just made me light headed so they weren't much help either.

My major aggravants are Sex, Alcohol - esp Wine, Cigarettes, Stress, Chocolate, Coffee, Spicy Food, Lycra (wearing not eating), Oranges, Tomatoes.

My pain control methods consist of - drinking water - obviously, sitting in a bucket of ice cold water - I think there is an old fashioned pain releif method (my dad uses for his MS) where you have two buckets of water, one hot, one cold and dip in between the two. The heat relaxes your muscles and the cold numbs the pain. In the day try using a bottle of cold water and leaning back when you have gone to the loo and pour it on, just to keep things clean fresh and cool, ibuprofen is ok, there are also these green tablets from the Chinese herbal place called San Jin Pian, they are slow to work but they help slightly, the IC diet is incredible, very hard to stick to but you soon remember to get back on it when the pain comes back! This may sound silly but I find my pain decreases dramatically when I am on holiday! There are various relaxation techniques which help, mind over matter does seem ridiculous when you cannot even walk but I do believe in it! When my pain is really bad I completely fast, and if I have to eat it is just green vegetables just to make sure everything going through my body will not aggravate it. As mentioned before the soda bicarb can help reduce acidity but be careful not to use too much.. and lastly the least favorite remedy.. abstinence!

I am going to try the tea tree though, that sounds like a good idea, plus it is cheap! So thanks for that suggestion. Sorry for the long post, it's my first time talking about it in this format and it is greatly relieving to know we are not alone! I am feeling better already! Good luck to everyone in your search for a normal life and if you find a cure don't forget to tell us all about it!

I have been to 2 different OBGYN's and 1 urologist... none of whom can offer any bit of help to me. I am 35 and for the past 6 years I have pain with intercourse. The only thing I've learned from my doctors is that my urethra is the place where my pain is coming from, and I don't have any sort of infection of any kind. I don't know what to do. I basically am unable to have intercourse with my husband because of the pain. I've been told to use lubrication like K-Y and that really doesn't help. Does anyone have any suggestions? After I saw the urologist who was of absolutely no help to me at all, I was in tears. I feel very discouraged and hopeless about ever being able to have intercourse again, much less enjoying it ever again. If I could find a doctor somewhere who could help me, I would fly there is a second.

I have had the same problems with urethral spasms. I searched and searched the internet for answers as no doctor I ever went to could ever tell me what was wrong. It started 6 years ago with a bladder infection...took Bactrim (was allergic to it and don't know if that is what caused all of this) after UTI was gone had painful urethral spasms after urination. I had cystoscopys and every test known to man...including STD panel, mycoplasma, etc but no one could tell me what was causing this. Pyridium did not help, nor did pain meds. My only releif came from drinking huge amounts of water (120oz per day) and letting my bladder be at its full capacity...then urinate. The spasms would last 30min to 2 hours, worse when laying down and after sex. I had this problem for 3 years before deciding to go on antidepressants...for depression and for chronic pain. My Dr put me on Effexor and it really helped. 3 years later and the pain has mostly gone away. I still have twinges after sex and if I am highly dehydrated. My only explanation is that I hay have had damage to my urethra from the infection and it took a really long time to heal. The Effexor masked the pain while it healed. I ti was really frustrating to me that not one Dr I went to knew what was wrong and none of them spent any additional time trying to figure it out. If your symptoms don't fall in the criteria for known diseases, you are dismissed as a hypochondriac seeking pain meds.

Hi everyone - I suffer from UTI's fairly often and found that I have the pain in my urethral area for some days after the infection. I did some research and I think that Marshmallow Root herb is absolutely amazing. It is a demulcent which means it coats all the mucus tracts in your body - in cluding the urinary tract, so that everything flows more smoothly. It took the pain away for me within 2 days and Has also greatly reduced the number of UTIs I get. Please give it a try, good luck.Please give it a try - good luck.

I've been using tea tree oil for the last four days and am now symptom-free. Wow! My caution is that apparently (I've been reading up on it) it is very strong and can damage tissue, so it must be very diluted. I just put a drop in a small glass of water, and then use a piece of tissue dipped in it to wash the area.

I'm 65 and am also on Eustace, an estrogen cream, since I don't take any hormone replacement, and that is helping as well. But I would still have flare-ups. I'm hoping now with the addition of this tea tree oil I can control the flare-ups.

Many, many thanks to the people who took time to post and mention this oil. My heart goes out to all of the young woman dealing with this.

My pain started when i was about 7 years old, it started out with very painful UTI'S but 10 years on and it has only gotten worse
I get these pains in my stomach and my ureathra that are just so so so painful
So bad that i can hardly breathe and in nearly all cases i have been rushed to hospital for pain treatment and medication the stories always the same, call the ambulance, morphine for the pain and intrivenous anti biotics.
I was diagnosed with chronic pelvic floor spasms about 2 years ago, but it feels more like a stinging ureathral spasm,
When im actually having the spasm my tummy blows up really big and gets very hard, when i try to pee its only a tiny bit and it hurts so bad it makes me feel like i want to faint!! I
use to think the spasms were brought on by UTI'S but every time i get one of these spasms i get tested for UTIS and i never have anything.
i passed a kidney stone when i was 16.
ive had a laproscopy, cyscoscopy and every other treatment imaginable and no one can give me answers, urologists, specialist, gyns
its very hard to live like this, beacuse i dont no what wrong with me.
i drink at least 4 litres of water a day and live off anti botics, ive tried anti depressants tried changing my diet.
You name it!
If you can please help!! im willing to try anything
TASH!!

hi, i can't believe so many of us have this.i have been on several medications and have switched to a doctor that seems to know what she is doing. my doctor put me on pyridium which helped mellow my symptoms. then she added vesicare. this really helped!! the combination is the best. it is not a cure but managing the pain and the feeling of having to urinate so often is a blessing. i still have flare-ups that seem to not respond to the medication. but they will pass as long as i stay on schedule with my meds.

i hope this helps.

Hello
I am 40 yrs old
I had an hysterectomy 2 mos ago...complete
I take estra-test hormones since then
I have had pain since waking up from the surgery...always feeling like I had to pee...at the hospital they would say "but Miss you have a catether" and I would yes I know I still have the pain though...nobody checked anything and I went home
6 days later, I went to see the doctor...complaining of pain and what looked like a UTI, they gave me antibiotics and sent me home, well I did not have a UTI, after the antibiotics I had a yeast infection, very bad one
they gave me cream for that, 2 rounds of it I still had major pain in the urethra and lower abdomen so I went back, they took a sample, and gave me very strong antibiotics, urine was normal, meds did not help
I am going to see a urologist tomorrow
my pain is a sharp pain and burning in the urethra, that is all the time no break at all, it is better is bladder is full I always think I got to pee but I dont, if I do go very little urine will come out followed by a lot of pain for 30 min ore so, some pain in the lower abdomen and right flanc + lower back
I feel the most pain after urinating, sitting is not so good, sex is impossible

anybody else experience this after an hysterectomy?

I want to be prepared to see the urologist
I dont want him to just say you have IC, cause I now think I dont have that
I can hold it for a while, I dont have to go every minute

any advices are welcome
I am getting very depressed by this
I have 2 little kids under 5 it is hard to take care of them and deal with this

i have had urethra pain for about ten years.. it has really effected my sex life.I sometimes get an infection.. done scopes ,cat scans, no real answers...was on antibiotics for over a year..some relief no cure..i am beginning to think it is some sort of fungus.. that keeps my urethra irritated and thus bacteria gets in it and causes infections...has anyone tried an antifungal like diflucan that treats toe fungus?

No, but if you find out I want to know to the same thing is happenning to me.

The problem is called urethral stricture and I have lived with the pain for 14 years - so now I know, the only problem is why didn't anybody do anything about it? I took a q-tip, and maybe I shouldn't, but coated it with petroleum jelly and inserted it into my urethra and found a couple weeks later that the pain has subsided.

My 5 year old daughter has been experiencing pain in the tip of her urethra for 7 months now when she urinates and after she urinates. We have been to the doctors numerous times and taken numerous tests for urinatry track infections and such that all tested negative. In Jan 09 the first doctor said thay my daughter has "physiological Lukoria" and the pains would go away in two to three months. In May 09 the doctor said she had dysuria. The third doctor said to try soaking in tub, no bubble baths and better hygiene.

My daughter does not have any fevers or show any other symptoms.

I am a guy and know little to nothing about such things. Any ideas or speculations on what may be causing this problem or ideas on how to comfort or cure her would be greatly appreciated.

REspectfully,


Thomas

OMGGGG i have had this problem for 4 years now and i dont know what to do either..i just keep going to the ememrgency room bc i have no insurence and everytime i go they say oh no you again..i keep recieving antibiotics but its killling my immune system..im only 20 years old with this problem. It causes me to get suicidal sometimes bc there is nothing i can do about it! i would rather have shingles again than to have this pain!

I, too, have been suffering from EXTREME pain in the urethra area for 8+ months now. I had pelvic pain last Oct/Nov, and ended up having a colonoscopy. That went fine, but two weeks later I had an episode of bad, bad pain that I thought was a UTI. Went to doctor, UA was negative. I have seen three urologists as well as my gynecologist, had laparoscopy (no problems found), cystoscopy (they ended up removing some urethral polyps), and several more UAs since then (some positive, some negative for bacteria). I have been on Elavil, which does nothing for me, some meds for IC, which did not help (and I am almost certain I do not have), several rounds of antibiotics (which have helped somewhat, but the pain comes back within a week). I am currently seeing a urogynecologist at a large medical center, and he thinks I have "urethral trauma". He wants to do another cystoscopy, but told me it might make the pain worse, so I have been hesitant to schedule it. He has me trying some cream with Gabapentin in it, but I can tell no difference so far. I have taken a year leave-of-absence from my job trying to deal with this pain. I don't know what to do or what other doctor to see. I just need some relief!!! My pain is a sharp one in the clitoral/urethral region. It is worse when I am sitting down, and if my bladder is full. I think there is something structurally wrong, and wish that someone would do some sort of high-resolution scan of the area. I am also suffering from depression due to my loss of ability to function on a normal basis. My kids are missing out on their mom's full-time attention, too, not to mention my husband. I am encouraged by some of the posts on here, and hope that all of us can find some relief in the near future!