Hello there: following on from the grrreat repsonses to my first ? on forum yesterday, i feel bold enough to post this ? now.
have just got over another UTI. my tendency to get these has increased since menopause a few years ago, although i'd had them as a younger woman, plus a tendency to frequent urination. whatever, my UTIs are always the same: they don't creep up on me gradually, they roar in and hit me like a train. i think of them as "boiling" UTIs. and when one hits i have to move FAST to get antibiotics which, along with the mefenamic acid 500mg i take for period pain, does cut symptoms from 10/10 to 7/10 within 48 hrs: my symptoms are so extreme that no way would i choose to simply tough them out, eg with over the counter meds and/or alternative remedies etc. e.g. i only get an hour or so from the first slight burning feeling to full-on blood/puss/tissue/white blood cells in urine, redness in urethra, burning pain and swelling in lower abdomen, vomiting, diarrhea, chills and temperature, constant agonising urge to pee, pee flow and force virtually nil, exhaustion but impossible to sleep or even rest etc. interestingly, a lot of this is very similar to the agonising condition i was in all my life with every period (although they were irregular, scantly, with only a little red but more ugly brown discharge)
so, what i'm wondering is: how many of us out there have these "boiling" sorts of UTIs? i ask cause i've only just learned that a lot of 'normal' women are 'normally’ managing low grade UTI more or less constantly, what i think of as "simmering" UTIs. and i'm wondering: are "boiling" UTIs the exception rather than the rule? i've toughed out a lot of chronic pain all my life all over my bod due primarily to undiagnosed systemic lupus, and i know i'm pretty tough. but i have to say, my UTIs in many ways are right up there with the most violent pain ordeals i've experienced.. so now i'm hoping some of you can help me get my UTI experience in perspective by telling me about your versions
first, some background: as a 20-something woman and got what i call my first "boiling" (or "raging" or "galloping") UTIs, i felt totally shocked by their violence but assumed i was "normal": mine was the version of UTIs "everyone gets"....so i just tried to be responsible and take ‘normal’ preventative action: researched how to lifestyle manage them (over the counter meds, cranberry & turmeric (curcumin) supplements, avoid sugar drink lots of water always, don't hold pee in, pee & wash before/after sex, pilates for pelvic floor exercises etc) and i've been doing all this all my life. maybe this has helped prevent even more UTIs...
anyway, at 58 'm still conscientiously doing all that lifestyle management, but again I’ve been getting UTIs more often - and yes, i know UTIs can be more common after menopause when our tissues weaken etc. anyway, several years ago, when i had a real rash of UTIs in a row, my good woman GP tested to see if bad bacteria was lingering in my urinary tract between infections. when these tests were negative, she sent me to a wonderful physio for more pelvic floor exercise training, which was great. meanwhile, my UTIs had become resistant to noroflaxin & trimethoprin. and i was put onto cefalexin 500 mg 4/day x28 which still works for me. then my Lichen Sclerosus was diagnosed, which meant adding more management to my nether region's routine (dermovate, replens, emulsiderm baths estradiol cream etc etc). then last year, my lupus diagnosis was rediscovered, and i went on plaquenil with reasonable success generally all over my body. at that point my gp started to give me a box of cefalexin to keep at home for UTI emergencies...and i bought a GP-quality urine testing kit from amazon.
well, this year i've had 2 of these boiling UTIs, whihc may not sound like much but they do wipe me out even at that rate, and i'm trying to understand a lupus/LS patient & DES daughter’s version of UTIs better, partly cause my lupus rediagnosis means i am taking the danger that urinary tract infection can run up into our kidneys more seriously. Possibly my UTI situation is complicated by the NHS colposcopy in april which I am only now recovering from (still am really sore deep in my vagina)….and my GP has arranged for me to see that physio again for vaginal dilator training etc, but, bearing in mind how effective my LS routine has been over the years as well as the full range of my abdominal & pelvic & lower back symptoms, i don't think that vaginal 'size/shrinkage' is all there is to this. whatever, I am facing up to the likelihood I may have to engage with my GP & GYN re the possibility of endometriosis
so, i'll be very grateful if some of you out there will tell me if your UTIs "boil" like mine and how you & your drs manage them...i feel awkward going on at such length about this, but boy does this all mean a lot to me: i literally only know one person who has had boiling UTIs like mine and she is my sister who only had this "boiling" version way back in her 20s before having her children...now she just gets the simmering version. i am infertile, probably mainly, the drs say, due to the DES my mother was on for 9 months bearing me in 1953, so having children can't be part of my UTI mix.
so, my second ? here is even longer than my first ? yesterday about diagnosis...again, thanks in advance to anyone who manages to read all this and give me a reply!