SuperDuper Hypochondriac Emet pee rant of 2016! Story time inside -with tl;dr version

[Razzle]

When I was 16, I got my first UTIs, they were both back to back and caused by what I believe was spermacide.
They hurt like a mother. I was constantly peeing and when I'd finish urinating, I'd immediately feel pain and have to urinate again.
I felt lower stomach pains and general malaise. Not enough to get me out of school for ore than a day, but it sucked. Antibx helped clear them though and I was good to go until 8 year later.

I had 1 more like that since then, back in 2014.
I was rx'ed Omnicef (I believe) when I was 16, and then Cirpo 250mg in 2014.

In Aug of 2015, I noticed I was going more. I took an Azo home test and it tested + for WBC, but - for the nitrites. I went to the doc, she said "Your sample was just a little dirty, sometimes bacteria just end up in our bladder, if it gets worse let me know but until then just monitor yourself and drink plenty of water and cranberry juice". I was in 0 pain, UTI test didn't warrent a culture. I went on.

In Nov and 2015, same thing with mild cramping out of nowhere. Only this time when I tested at the doc, they said my WBC was - but my nitrites were +, which was odd but indicative of UTI. They put me on Macrobid/Nitro. This is where my shitshow begins.

I read stuff online. Granted, I took many meds before: Dycocycline (sp), Minocycline, Amoxicillin, Penicillin, Omnicef, Cipro...etc.
I read the FX of the Macrobid online and freaked. Since I'd taken Cipro the year prior for a full blown UTI, I wanted it again. I waited for my culture to come back against my Dr's wishes (because they are always right blahblahbla) and requested Cipro. She RX'ed it to me.

It was double what I had taken before, but I took it. And guess what? I read about it. Despite being fine with taking it before with 0 side-fx, I was freaking and it kicked off a 4 month long bout of anxiety. First I was scared of d* from it, then v* from it, I was hypersensitive wondering if I'd react to the meds. Then I was freaking out over getting c-diff as my friend had a nasty case of it on college from medicine. The anxiety got so bad it gave me brain fog which I immediately blamed on the meds. I was a wreck and was unable to eat and thought "Oh god I waited too long, it's probably in my kidneys" It ruined my holidays completely.

Seriously, nothing was wrong with me. And I doubt waiting the week to take meds even did anything. But in my head I was so worked up, I had kidney failure and bad reactions to the meds when there wasn't any. Like at all. But the anxiety I gave myself was worse than anything I'd experienced and it scares me that I will have that again taking meds. And for the record yes, I am in therapy thanks to this experience.

SO, fast forward to now. May 30 I found myself in the Dr's once again because I felt a tinge when I went to the bathroom...once. I did a Home test and yet again - WBC + and nitrites -. What the everloving hell. So the doc says "Welp you seem to have some WBC and blood in your sample, looks like you may have an infection brewing in there" Brewing...heh. Those were verbatim. SO not a true infection, but the start of one? She gives me an Rx this time for Bactrim. What do I do? Why, I read about it online of course! I swear all antibiotics are from hell if you read the reviews. D*, N*, V*, HIVES, throat swelling?? Really?? I don't even have symptoms of a UTI to justify this torture!

So I call the doc and request something else. I tell her (mistakenly) that I took Amox for a UTI in the past. Just like that, I get an rx for amox. But then I am told that it's bad for UTIs as it isn't powerful enough....well I don't want to take pills for a month because one wouldn't work so now I can only kick myself.

To combat this dumb decision (and to make sure this infection isn't getting worse) I go to a second doc for another opinion, because honestly giving me an RX for a powerful drug for a *possible* infection does NOT sit well with me at all. This is 2 days after I went to the first doc, fyi.

So I give another sample and got an interesting answer. "Your sample shows some WBC and bacteria, and honestly that's not what we are concerned about...some people have more bacteria in their urine than others. You have no blood, no nitrites, Ph is good...I am reluctant to rx you anything, the medical community is changing its guidelines on prescriptions for certain infections since a lot of simple infections are now becoming resistant from overperscripton" I tell her about my first visit, how I have Bactrim and amox. "Why do you have amox? That's usually not the first choice. Just keep an eye on it. If you notice you begin to feel pain while in the bathroom or in your back, take the Bactrim. Out of the two it will help"


So that was 3 days ago. No changes. WBC still + and nitrites still -. No pain or frequency. WTH? I have a physical with my general on Weds and I may request an Urologyst appt.

ON TO RELEVANT STUFF: Now I have 2 prescriptions in front of me. I feel like an ass for requesting amox and don't want to take it as I don't want to develop resistance and it's unnecessary. I took it many times in the past which is why I asked for it, but mistakenly recalled a throat infection - not a UTI. So this won't be happening regardless of my luck on amox.

I'm stuck with Bactrim. I am still waiting for my cultures back from 5/30. Again, I feel fine and have been monitoring my urine and temp, both of which were also fine at the docs on 6/1. I AM PANICKING about his Bactrim though. I've never taken a sulfa drug and am terrified at the reactions. I hear people getting hives and having them so bad their throat closes and they are in the ER. I also read of awful n* and headaches and v* which I know logically are common on drugs and to eat with them, along with taking probiotics (I have florastor, acidophilis (sp??) and yogurt with live cultures if need be) but I am hearing LOADS of horror stories.

Has anyone taken this drug? I searched on here already but I want more reassurance because I am a little ball of nerves that needs direct reassurance

TL;DR: I have weird pee and bacteria just like to chill out in there but don't cause me any harm, and doctors are just as clueless but throw drugs at me anyway, I've been on this stupid "supposed" UTI train for almost a year now and am afraid to take Bactrim and am tired of cranberry juice and don't want to die of hives or kidney failure or v* and anxiety someone plz send help

[blueridge212]

I'd be really, really wary of Cipro. I'm not trying to scare you but I had a reaction to it and it injured my liver so badly that I went into acute liver failure. I now have autoimmune hepatitis caused by a drug injury (and before anyone assumes, this was all confirmed by a hepatologist, I'm not self-diagnosed )

On the other hand, Macrobid was a Godsend for me. No side effects, wonderful results. I eventually developed an allergy to it (hives) and had to stop taking it. All I'm trying to say is don't take a really intense drug just because you think it won't make you sick. Your doctor should be able to tell which antibiotic will work best after looking at what type of bacteria is in your urine.

If you don't have a kidney infection, I suggest taking something called D Mannose. You can get it at a healthfood store, it's a type of sugar, no side effects (except it can make you gassy and maybe give you loose stools), and it's knocked out all but 1 UTI that I've had (and I've used it for many, many UTIs). If it is in your kidneys, you gotta take antibiotics, and you can't let the fear of vomiting stop you from taking what your doctor recommends. Kidney infections can get very dangerous very quickly.

I hope you feel better!

[Razzle]

Hey Blue, thanks for the reply. The doc actually called with my culture. This round she prescribed me Bactrim DS 2x daily for 5 days but I was afraid to take it, so I asked for Amoxicillin. But after looking at the culture, they said to take Bactrim. So I swallowed my fear and cut the pill in half (I asked first if this was okay as it's a horse pill) and took it 2 hours ago.

I'm terrified it will do something to me.

Thankfully when I took the Cipro, I got no ill side effects either time. But I did get massive anxiety last December when I took 500mg of it 2x a day for a week. Not sure if that was in my head or had to do with the meds but I wasn't happy. I've only ever had a bad reaction to amoxicillin once, I had 1 round of d* that lasted maybe 10 min with the first pill I took and it happened a few hours after I took it, and I took it with Dunkin Donuts so I am hoping it was mainly the food that did it.

It's been 2 hours so far, ate a tune sandwich 1 hour prior as well as a few crackers with it and just had a small sausage sandwich. Lots of water too. I'm gassy right now but kind of have been all day (I always am) so I am hoping it's not the meds and just anxiety.

Wish me luck

[blueridge212]

Good luck! You will be fine! If it's been 2 hours and you haven't been sick, you won't be The one time that antibiotics made me ALMOST sick was when I took that Cipro, and it hit me about 45 min after I took a pill. That was mostly my stupidity and taking it on an empty stomach; I didn't have any more nausea when I took it with some crackers. That's not to say you might not have some loose stools. If you do, I'm not sure if that is something that scares you as much as "the other thing," but at least you can take comfort in knowing it's just because the antibiotics are killing off EVERYTHING, including the good bacteria, and not that you're actually sick with a stomach thing. Eat yogurt! Or take probiotic pills if you're like me and hate yogurt

I took Bactrim frequently as a child for ear infections, and had no stomach problems. I eventually developed an allergy and got hives (I have a lot of trouble with antibiotics if you can't tell... lol), but I know it's very commonly prescribed. Just take with plenty of food, and be sure to take the full course!

If you need to chat, send me a message! You can do this and you'll be proud of yourself for doing it. And you'll hopefully feel much, much better urinary tract-wise

[Razzle]

Aw Thanks Blueridge, that made me feel a bit more assured I'm not sure why but lately I've been just awful with the ABX and looking up everything online for days! It's terrible. Luckily I bought 5 containers of probiotic yogurt and have a few probiotics pills...but funny thing, I'm afraid of the probiotic pills too! I just hate being uncomfortable in the bathroom really.

My stomach is a bit gurgly right now but I am hoping it's just digestion, I have a little heartburn and gassy feelings.
Ah I hate being so on edge from these things.

[blueridge212]

Don't google things! DO NOT, dassa bad, I will roll up a newspaper and smack you on the nose. Google always presents the worst case scenario. Thousands of people take Bactrim every day with no problem. Your stomach is gurgly from anxiety, digestion, and perhaps IBS. I don't blame you for hating it, I do too, but I know you will be fine Do you have something to distract you? I like knitting and crocheting. Working with your hands is the best for stopping anxiety.

[Razzle]

Lol that opening made me laugh. I'm trying not to bUT old habits die hard! Right now in just talking to my mom and was just browsing youtube, so far so good aside from some typical digestive issues

[andee]

I totally agree with blueridge about the D mannose! I actually use it for my cat! He was getting crystals and urinary troubles and it was getting expensive, and also painful for him. SO I was looking online and a vet recommended this. It's a type of sugar, also with cranberry I believe, and it prevents bacteria from sticking to the walls. I just put the smallest pinch in his food and he's been great. It's for humans (haha) but seems to work for cats. In the future, to ward off any more UTI's, I would try this. Good luck! Antibiotics are a pain to take and kill off soo much good bacteria...ugh. Take care.

[Razzle]

Thanks andee! I might try that, I've kept seeing it come up in my frantic research lol. Perhaps I can look into this as a preventative? I'm sure I have more research to do!

[Razzle]

Update: I took my second dose at 6am this morning and so far so good. I did get a,slight stomach ache but it was likely gas. Although right now I'm nursing a cruddy headache which is causing me slight n*
I'm really hoping it stops and doesn't persist throughout my course. And that no n* d* or v* await me

[momof5]

My midwife told me this, just drink a half glass of water or cranberry juice every hour. The d- mannose are very good too. The best for me is uti clear, they also have a good homeopathic pill for it too by NativeRecipies. They are the best I have found. You can take it right at the onset. Great stuff, feel better. I'm a looker upper too. Any twinge of anything I have to diagnose myself. Getting pretty good at it.

[Razzle]

Thanks for the tip momof5, definitely going to try this route
next time if I feel a uti coming on! I hate playing russian roulette with these meds. I took my third dose, headache went down but it's still lingering although it could be from the weather since it's muggy and storming here. I'm just nervous for work tomorrow, I leave my house 1.5 hrs after I take my meds. And I don't get home from therapy until 50 min after I'm supposed to take my second dose of the day so I'm not sure if that'll make a difference

I hate infections

[momof5]

Well I hope it works for you as well as it works for me, I hate them too
Had one with my fifth pregnancy that made me think I was going into early labor. Never took meds for it just treated it naturally and it went away fine.

[Razzle]

I've been hearing more and more people including docs want to treat simple infections less with antibiotics since some uti's and other common infections are becoming drug resistant. It's scary.

Taking meds is always stressful to me due to my emet and hypochondria. If I have side effects I am anxious which intensifies them. Lately, I think myself into the side effects which causes more anxiety and so on.

It hasn't been fun tonight. Took pill #5 out of 10 around 6:46pm, had slight nausea that turned into full nausea which felt like acid reflux, with acidic burps. The tummy gurgling which is on/off still...I actually feel a bit hungry. Didn't really eat much with either pill today but I didn't think meal size mattered. It could be the meds, could be anxiety or a bit of both. I may eat yogurt tomorrow morning.