UTI - ongoing issues

Oh, and my gut.

Is Augmentin going to mess up my gut flora even worse? What should I do to mitigate?

For the UTI, I already did 7 days of Nitrofurantoin (Macrobid) and 3 days of Fosfomycin (Monurol). The Nitrofurantoin cleared a lot out of my gut and helped my bowel function. The Fosfomycin made constipation worse again. My gut is worse now than it’s been in a while. I am taking 6 tsp of mag citrate a night. I judge my bowel function by how many tsp I have to take. Before the UTI, I was around 3.5 tsp.

I was hoping to get Nitrofurantoin again. I hardly think Augmentin will stop a UTI.

You mentioned hormones, which made me think of vaginal atrophy - a thinning of the tissues of the urethra, vulva, and/or vagina as estrogen plummets after menopause (or while breastfeeding, which is how I experienced it). It burns and is extremely painful to the touch. The tissues lose elasticity and become much more sensitive. I saw three gynecologists before finally figuring out that I had it myself! People usually treat it with topical estrogen gel or cream, estrogen suppositories, or systemic hormone replacement therapy. If you are experiencing pain in the vulva region with negative cultures and no improvement from urinary tract remedies, then maybe vaginal atrophy is worth considering?

I'm so sorry you're still dealing with whatever this is!

Walking, I am dealing with a similar problem as a male. Lower back pain and urinary urgency and frequency, the docs found nothing with their testing.

So - I sourced cephalexin three days ago and started that. The frequency and urgency is way way down. My back is feeling better.

I also tried d-mannose - no improvement.

I tried apple cider vinegar - a couple tablespoons in water several times a day - it helped.

Vitamin c several times a day - helped.

Mine started last november, I had an appointment with lyme doc earlier this week and discussed. Pursuing my own path now.

They are missing something, the cephalexin is definitely helping.

Carl is right about the testing for UTI’s. It misses a lot. As far as I understand, the culture only tested for bacteria. When I asked my Lyme doctor which bacteria it was tested for, she didn’t know because the lab did not say (Labcorp).

I found two websites that talked about testing and culture negative UTI’s.

https://liveutifree.com/uti-test/?amp#negative-uti-test

https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/38/8/1150/441696

1000Daisies,
I feel sure it is an infection. However, antibiotics were only somewhat effective and symptoms returned or never went completely away. After the second antibiotic, I started Cystistatin per my Lyme doctor’s instructions. That actually helped significantly, but symptoms returned again after taking a dose of Alinia. (Initial symptoms started after I took several random doses of Alinia.)

Symptoms - usually starts with burning pain and soreness in the tissues all in my pelvis and lower abdomen. I also experience increased urination and some discomfort when urinating. Then it progresses to pain and numbness all across my lower back into the upper buttocks. The pain keeps me awake at nigh and scares me. The soreness makes me feel like crying.

This last bout reoccurred when I stopped Cystistatin Sunday night and symptoms returned Tuesday night. I got back on the Cystistatin Wednesday. Slept better last night, but issues are ongoing.

On top of the UTI symptoms, I am having excessive inflammation and cytokine pain. It’s very troubling and I have been feeling like crying and wanting to die again.

Mold exposure is also involved, and I am between a rock and a hard place.

In regards to testing, I sent my Lyme doctor a message asking about testing with two different specialty labs but got no response. I feel like nobody wants to get to the root of this except me.

What kind of pain are you having? I get frequency, dull ache in bladder, urethra burning. All kinds of things can flare it for me - but mostly different meds (abx, herbs - like berberine), hot baths, stress. I still lean towards mine being a yeast sensitivity.

My initial bout lasted 6 or 7 wks in 2015 and was by far the worst. Flare ups now last maybe a week. But if I take antibiotics it stays constant. The first time I took a prescription called uribel which really helped. It contains methylene blue, which is used for bart treatment.

If I flare now I take hyperbiotic womens formula probiotic from amazon. I Usually take 2 or 3. For me, it does help.

Sorry you are going through this.

Post Edited (k07) : 3/14/2021 6:06:46 AM (GMT-6)

WBF: Are you 100% thinking ropeworm is a parasite? Just curious as it's not anything I've ever dealt with and I know you've done plenty of research on it.

I imagine fasting would help with the symptoms no matter what it is.

Ok, just seems like a very tricky thing to deal with. You mentioned "promoting their exit" so I'm thinking if you see them you might think "whatever I was doing must have been good".

But if it's not a parasite, and rather bits of intestinal/mucosal lining, the feedback would probably indicate the opposite.. as in whatever you were doing may be creating more harm.

Anyway I'm sure you've already considered this, and you seem fairly certain that they are in fact parisites.

k07,

Thanks for telling me about the hyperbiotic women formula.

You said if you take antibiotics it stays constant - do you mean the symptoms are constant or it shuts off the symptoms? Did you take any meds besides uribel that helped?

Was your urinalysis and culture normal?

k07,

If it’s yeast, why do you think the uribel helped? Did you have any testing for Candida or other yeast?

Yes, a urologist did do an extended culture. Nothing showed. He was the first one to tell me he suspected yeast. I think I am just overly sensitive to yeast. I never really researched all the uribel stuff but I do believe it had some anti-inflammatory in it.

FYI, Augmenting is terrible at treating UTI's. Good call.