That is so sad. My mom was worried that she was getting dementia and didn’t want to tell anyone. Turns out it was a UTI and she was fine.
I’ve had one, back in ummmm … 1999? It was aaaaawful – not the worst pain I’ve ever felt (labor and pleurisy are worse) but definitely in the top 5 most painful of all time.
I rarely get UTIs, but I can tell you that the last UTI I got was probably 80% caused by too-tight clothing too often. I gained just enough weight that most of my pants were attempting to burrow into my crotch when worn, and within a couple of weeks, I had a UTI that was pretty awful. The last one before that was enough years ago that I know I was living in a different part of the state, but I can’t tell you where.
I think I’ve gotten maybe three or four total over my life, all interspersed pretty sporadically. First couple were sex-related: almost immediately after a dry spell and new partner, I’d get a UTI because my body chemistry wasn’t used to his and didn’t react well.
I’ve had them. And a kidney stone that was basically a softball covered in crunchy tinfoil. :eek:
I think it’s weird how people the same-ish age have different symptoms too. I didn’t get the classic pain-while-peeing, instead in addition to having the urge to pee constantly it hurt with different intensity all the time, and the weirdest feeling of unpleasant pressure I’ve ever experienced (though if I have kids, I expect that to be topped, lol).
I absolutely, totally 100% believe you. The problem is, doctors don’t. They continue to blame the patient for being “noncompliant” and then they prescribe another damn round of Bactrim, like this time it will work.
I’ve lucked out with MDs who will continue cultures if I finish a round of abx without resolution, and gradually amp up. So it’s macrobid, bactrim, cipro if it doesn’t work. But I’ve had so many that the macrobid and bactrim don’t do anything anymore, so it’s straight to cipro 500 bid fxd.
My daughter just had one - she is twelve and I have no idea what caused it - but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t not peeing after sex since she has little contact with boys…I suspect it was really long bubble baths.
But the doctor DID culture it. He prescribed a general “this usually wipes it out” antibiotic and then had me call for culture results to make sure. The first antibiotic did take care of it.
I had my very first UTI right after my honeymoon. Doctor even called it “honeymoon cystitis”. Since then I’m good for about one or two a year, I can usually tell when they’re coming and I hit the cranberries hard.
My high school health teacher told us to never ever shave our legs while taking a bath because it could give you a UTI. We thought she was screwing with us.
I never had them until I moved to Colorado. For about four years I had problems, and most of the practitioners I saw wanted to blame “new sex partners” for all these UTIs. There was correlation to some of them (the old “honeymoon cystitis” thing), but not all of them! In fact the most likely correlation to me seemed to be…tennis.
Then I went to Planned Parenthood for something else, mentioned that I thought my diaphragm was causing UTIs, and the nurse practitioner asked me how much water I drank. She pointed out that Denver is a dry climate, and suggested that, for instance, 12 oz. during a tennis match, portioned out at a sip at every court switch, was possibly not enough. I started mainlining H20 and have not had a UTI since.
You would think that all the doctors I saw before could have asked this simple question, but no. Better to perform extensive tests! Extensive and, I might add, really uncomfortable, not to mention embarrassing.
Just another reason why PP is aces in my opinion. Think of that: actual HEALTH care.
I’ve had runs of them as well.
I had UTIs all the freaking time when I was a kid (I remember my mom holding me down on the toilet to pee while I screamed and sobbed and tried to run away; that must have been nearly as fun for her as it was for me). It continued on into my teens. I had a reprieve in my early twenties, got them over and over again in my late twenties/early thirties, and seem to be going through a lull.
One odd thing: My UTIs have mostly stopped hurting. I can tell that I have one because I pee every 20 minutes. This can make it a little harder to convince the doctor (depending on the doctor) that there’s really a problem and you’re not just a nervous little poodle, but I holler* until they do a test. I don’t want that crap sticking around and developing into a kidney infection.
*I really, really need a new GP. I’m working on it.
I had one once, in college, when I was around 20. My only symptoms were a fever of 102.2 and a migraine caused by the fever. Went to the clinic for the migraine, and the nurse took one look at me and said I was running a fever and had me pee in a cup after she took my temp to confirm.
No idea what caused it, but it was the only one.
Almost 36 and never had one, thank God.
And I absolutely do not think the poor souls who have to suffer with these things are dirty 
I’ve never had one since I learned to wipe my own butt.
This came up when my niece was little: she kept getting them, and I remarked on how it seemed strange to me, as I couldn’t remember ever having one. Mom and J (my sister in law) looked at each other incredulously and then J, who is a doctor, proceeded to grill me thoroughly. Conclusion the first: I have not had a single UTI since I can remember, although Mom remembers I had a few when I was in diapers. Conclusion the second: my wiping habits were different from theirs. Conclusion the third after experiments performed by a woman in her late 60s, one in her mid-30s and on a months-old baby: front wipes to front and back wipes to back lowers the risk of UTIs. Wearing diapers (or not changing your pad frequently enough) increases the risk of UTIs. Evidently it’s not the only factor, but it helps.
I’ve always had my UTIs in clusters. Get a bad one from something (usually not peeing before/after sex. Once from a stomach flu, once during pregnancy and once after a miscarriage) clear it up, then get 2-3 minor ones right afterwards. Usually it takes a good, long round of antibiotics to clear it up for good - at least until the next time. My mother had similar experiences. I’m lucky in that they’re usually pretty painless.
Personally, I’ve found the peeing pre- and post sex really, really helps prevent them. But that may be just how I’m built.
Good luck! Feel better.
:smack:
Urgency? Check. Frequency? Check. Weak urinary stream? Check. Low volume? Check. Stress Incontinence? Check. Feeling of bladder fullness after voiding? Check. Slight fever? Check. Teeny bit of blood on the tissue after wiping? Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap. I think I have my first UTI, y’all. It doesn’t hurt, but if a patient told me all that, I’d be nodding sagely and explaining how some UTI’s never cause pain…
Can one catch a psychosomatic UTI over the internet? 
I got them ALL THE TIME when I was using birth control with spermicide. My doctor finally forbade me from using spermicides, gave me a script for the pill and another for a 90-day course of antibiotics. I don’t think I’ve had one since.
I just got over the worst one I’ve ever had in my life. I’m 59.
Part of my problem is that … how do I explain this? My bladder became “unhinged” during my last pregnancy. I finally had bladder repair surgery in 2005, and boy, that made a difference with everything, and also cut the frequency of those damned UTIs.
Didn’t eliminate them COMPLETELY, though.
Cranberry supplements are damned expensive. With this last one, though, my doctor recommended the supplements because I’m Diabetic, and the juice simply has empty calories. I did a LOT of research, and I believe Puritan’s Pride has the best deal.
One visit years ago where I was handed the cup and asked for a clean catch, I was given wipes saturated with Betadine to use. OMG, that Betadine felt so GOOD on the hurtin’ parts! Another doctor suggested warm sitz baths to alleviate the pain. This was especially welcome advice, since one of my main UTI symptoms is a horrible cramping when I finished going pee. It’s so bad, it feels like my bladder is trying to turn itself inside out.
I would get the water in the sitz bath as hot as I could stand it, and then I’d put a squirt of Betadine in the water. Then I’d sit in the sitz bath and cry. (The crying is from the UTI pain–the sitz bath is SOOTHING.) You boil your lady parts in the sitz bath until the Pyridium shows up in your urine, and then you can finally go to sleep.
This most recent infection knocked me on my butt. I had fever, headache, and overwhelming fatigue on top of the UTI itself. I can’t take sulfa, so no Septra or Bactrim. Macrodantin gives me horrible belly cramps. Cipro is a miracle worker…but THIS time, I got knot on my Achilles tendon that hurt like Hell, and made me limp like Chester on Gunsmoke.
Tendon damage is a FDA Black Box warning on Cipro. I can’t take Cipro anymore.
I told my doctor, I’m gonna be down to a slug of whiskey with a bullet to bite on at this rate.
OH, LADIES! PAY ATTENTION!
Doing the clean catch for women is a job that requires three hands. YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I MEAN. And at 59, I’m neither skinny or limber, so that makes the clean catch even more difficult. The stupid instructions that tell you to “let a little out and catch at midstream” typically mean I’m peeing on my hand, and by the time I get the stupid cup into the stream, I’M DONE. I couldn’t get a big enough sample to make the lab happy.
I spelled out my woes to a female lab technician. She said, “Would you like a hat?”
I will NEVER AGAIN do a clean catch ANY OTHER WAY than with the hat. Seriously! All you do is clean yourself off with the packaged wipe, then you sit down on the toilet with the hat in place, and JUST PEE. The hat even has a little spout on it so you can pour the urine into the cup. Screw on the lid, and POW, you’re done!
For those who would like the hilarious version of my UTI lab visit, PM me for a link to my blog.
~VOW
Get uristat. The stuff that turns your pee orange. It quiets the spasms, eliminates the burning and decreases the urgency. It’s not an antibiotic but makes life livable while the antibiotics work.