UTI - Antibiotics needed for over 7 days?

[bertiedog]

I have had/got a stubborn UTI which didn't respond to my usual herbals which consist of Uva Ursi, Andrographis and also Mannose despite 10 days of treatment.

It was weird because almost from the first sign of the UTI the pain radiated into my gums, especially above where I have 2 small cracks in my teeth which are going to need new fillings having checked this out with my dentist before the issue started. The pain at times in my gums was so bad and I was feeling so ill in myself I even looked into emergency treatment but managed to hold off once I started 500 mg Azithromycin but that was after 9 days of being so ill and in pain.

I managed to get to see my dentist again on day 12 of all this starting and to my amazement he said there was no sign of infection. He checked my gums, teeth and did 2 X Rays and from my symptoms he felt it was referred pain from the UTI which I have never heard of before or experienced despite many UTIs over the years (I am 74 now).

Thankfully I started to feel better and got some energy back and virtually no pain after 7 days of the Azithro but still have the odd burning sensation, usually in the evening so I am carrying on with this plus 3 Uva Ursi daily but don't know how much longer I need to take them as I haven't been to my GP with this. In the past I have had horrible experiences where my GP told me there was no sign of infection and sarcastically said she would give me a course of an antibiotics but she was wondering how this could help me because I didn;t have an infection! Turned out when she sent the sample to the hospital, a week later it came back positive for E Coli but of course I never received an apology. I felt was too ill this time to go through such an experience hence I order the Azithromycine from an online pharmacy for a "just in case" situation like this one.

There are a few things I don't fully understand about this horrible experience -

1) I tested my urine many times before I got so ill and realised it had to be an infection. The test strips never showed any sign of an infection. They were all in date although the container had probably been opened some time last year.

2) Usually I respond after at least a week to the herbals but not this time

3) As mentioned above I don't understand this awful pain in my gums which resembled an abscess and I would have put any money on this is what had developed.

4) This UTI obviously hasn't completely gone although it is hugely improved so I am continuing with the Azithro, currently on Day 9 of it and was wondering if this is common with ME/CFS that we need longer treatment that standard.

It's wonderful to have some energy and sense of well-being back but I am still a bit shocked over how ill all this made me so ill.

Finally there is one possible piece of the puzzle that might explain some it. I have now been on the lowest dose of Candersarten 4 mg daily for 2 months which is helping the chronic daily migraines I had developed and one of the side effects listed is that it can lower lympocytes and impair one's immune system. I always have a low number of lymphocytes and in January this year after a week on the Candersarten as the first trial of it, the number was 1.2 which was below the range of 1.5.

I can see this is a real dilemma because its the only migraine preventative that has reduced the migraines and I have tried practically all of them and usually I am unable to tolerate them or otherwise they haven't worked.

Sorry this post is rather long and a bit complicated but I would be very grateful for any helpful comments.

Pam

 

[Judee]

So generally Z-pak (Azithromycin) isn't prescribed for UTIs. It's usually more for upper respiratory infections. I'm wondering if the dental pain you were experiencing was a sinus infection. They can cause horrific dental pain not to mention migraines too.

For the UTIs E Coli is usually the bacteria that is the culprit. However it is possible to develop them from other bacteria too especially if you have had a hospital visit or any type of lower abdominal surgery.

You may want to just see if your doctor will call in a lab order so you can get tested. My Mom start to develop UTIs after having appendix surgery and I still suspect she developed a fistula from that.

If it comes back positive again you could request another antibiotic and a referral to a Urologist maybe especially if they seem to be occurring more often for you.

Anyway just some thoughts. I hope you can get relief from them and the migraines too somehow.

Edit: I forgot that thyme tea did make her test positive less often for Klebsiella UTIs which are very difficult to eradicate. Before the thyme tea just about every time she tested, she was positive. The tea didn't take them away completely but it helped. Her new GP also suggested Uva Ursi but it didn't help at all in her case.

The thing is you want to find out what bacteria you're fighting so you can gear treatment with medications or natural antibiotics that are more effective against that kind.

I'm sorry about your doctor as well. My Mom's new GP at the time was not easy to work with either. Our old PCP retired about 7 years ago and we never could find someone as good as he was.

 

[bertiedog]

I'm wondering if the dental pain you were experiencing was a sinus infection.

No definitely came from the UTI as luckily I never suffer with sinus issues and pleased to say that at last it has settled down as the symptoms from the UTI have disappeared too.

One thing I realise is that the urine strips I tested with were definitely more than 3 months old when I gather they should be replaced plus I didn't test properly having read the leaflet of the new ones I have just received. So its highly likely I would have tested positive from the start if I had only done things properly!

I am definitely negative now having done a test following the instructions and no pain for a day and a half.

The other thing that I think has happened is that I am steroid dependent and the advice on the Addisons forum is that you are supposed to double your steroid when you have a UTI. I know that I cannot double my dose of steroid because even at 6.5 mg Prednisolone daily it raises my blood pressure to the degree I have to have medication to lower it. It went really high with the UTI btw probably from the stress of feeling so unwell.

I did take a small amount more of steroid but probably not enough so I will bear this in mind when no doubt it happens again. I don't have Addisons but adrenal insufficiency where my body still makes a tiny amount I think which complicates matters.

Sorry to hear your Mum has experienced problems with her GP too, they can be a nightmare here in the UK from my experience. I did have a great rapour with one of the main GPs in our practice but he is so good that everyone else wants to see him and you cannot get an appointment to see him!

Pam