Lasting inflammation from UTI?

[madkrazyghetto.livejournal.com]

Got a question for you lovely VPers. Is it possible to still have UTI symptoms without a UTI?

The backstory, to the best of my ability: Two weeks ago, right after my period started, I noticed a familiar pain in my side and took myself to the walk-in to get some antibiotics. Was diagnosed with a UTI, got a three-day course of Cipro and completed it, but through all of this, I had the sensation that someone was just sort of squeezing my torso, occasionally with little stabby bits of flank pain (mostly on the right side, sometimes on the left). This lingered throughout the drug course, and after, so when my period ended, I went to my health center. Gave a sample there, there was blood but no white blood cells/nitrates, so the doc didn't give me drugs and suggested that my body was still inflamed from the infection (and/or I was passing small kidney stones). Basically, I was told to wait it out. I did, and last Tuesday I was up to fighting form again. (I even got me a little oral sex on the side, and yes, I was very careful in my anti-UTI regimen.) Two days after that, the pain is back, and I'm hit with a bout of urgency unlike anything I've ever felt. Like, chained to the toilet at four in the morning. I headed back to the health center, where I peed in a cup again and was given a quick pelvic, but the doc said everything looked and felt fine in my ladybits, and once again, no signs of infection in the urine. (She swabbed for STDs and sent the urine to the lab for another test of some unspecified sort, and I was told I'd be called with any negative results - nothing so far.) She recommended AZO (well, Uristat, but couldn't find that in any of the drugstores I went to) for the urgency and frequency, but I'm still peeing up a storm. I've never had urgency like this before, and it came on out of nowhere.

For what it's worth, I've got a follow-up appointment in two weeks, and a for-reals gyno appointment shortly thereafter, but I wanted to hear if anyone else had experienced anything like this. As you can tell from the timestamp, I'm still awake and kind of desperate.

Comments

[treiale.livejournal.com]

I can't help at all, but my mother and I have been experiencing something similar. A few weeks ago I went to the doctor convinced I had at least the beginnings of a UTI because I was peeing almost every half hour, but no sign of infection. Likewise, my mother has been peeing a bit of blood and has had an uncomfortable abdomen and urgency and stuff, but again no sign of infection from the doctor. Perhaps for us it's because winter is setting in (and what a doozy this one will be)... might that be a possibility, if you're in the southern hemisphere like us?

For Treiale:

[archangelbeth]

I'd poke the doctor more, with the blood part, personally -- while it could be a kidney stone scratching things up, it could also be a kidney infection that needs the urine cultured to find out what's up, or perhaps high blood pressure (which can damage the small blood vessels in the kidneys), and then there's diabetes...

Good luck to you, too!

[archangelbeth]

Off the top of my sleeplessness-addled head, things that can do UTI-ish symptoms of one sort or another.

• Interstitial Cystitis

• Kidney Stones (this one seems more likely)

• Kidney Infection that's hung on when the bladder one is gone. Hopefully the test is to culture the urine and see if anything grows in it. If it's been a few days since that, it might be worth calling the clinic and making sure that they didn't drop the "Call Foxy Loxy" note on the floor somewhere.

• Diabetes (not consistent with the pain, I think?)

• Something else that's not the above three that someone mentioned having in VP some months (weeks?) back and I'm blanking on. Argh. But you could probably call your doctor and ask, "If it's not a urinary infection, what can it be and how can we test to see what it is?

[madkrazyghetto.livejournal.com]

Is it sad that I'm desperately hoping it's a kidney stone? I'm uninsured, so she didn't want to give me an ultrasound just yet. She was pretty convinced it was inflammation from the UTI.

If it was a kidney infection, though, wouldn't signs of infection have shown up in the multiple urine samples I've given?

In any case, I gave them a call just now (well, left a message) to nag about the test results.

Thanks for the help!

[archangelbeth]

I would think signs of a kidney infection would show up -- and/or you would have pain around your kidneys (press and release, and tap, and see if it's more sore than it should be, especially on the release). I have heard that sometimes a kidney infection isn't caught in the initial pee-test, but has to be cultured, but that's anecdotal.

Pestering them about the test results is probably the best shot!

And good luck!

[jaguarx13.livejournal.com]

It sounds like Interstitial Cystitis to me, and that's how mine presented when I developed it: a UTI that never seemed to go away after several rounds of Cipro, with tests showing negative for UTI.

I control my IC through diet, but when I have a flare, what helps the most is Benedryl. You could try it, and see if it helps you as well. But really, talking to your doctor about what else might be going on is a good idea. Maybe even ask for a referral to a urologist.

*big hugs*

[madkrazyghetto.livejournal.com]

So it just came on out of nowhere for you? That sounds horrifying. I'm still praying that it's just some kind of inflammation from the UTI, like the doc suggested, and that it'll go away. Giving the Benedryl a try, though! Thanks for the help and the hugs.

[jaguarx13.livejournal.com]

Continual doses of ibuprophen throughout the day can help too, every four hours. My urologist had me do that as well.

It did. I had never even heard of IC before it happened and I managed to get myself pretty worked up and panicked over it during the three months it took to get the diagnosis. Plus, the first time I ever had a UTI was when I was 21 and my mom was dying from cancer, so psychologically, IC symptoms just devastated me. It was like I was right back there. Thankfully, my IC is pretty much under control these days.

I hope that your doctor is right as well. But, you're more than welcome to PM me for more IC info if you ever need it.

*more hugs*

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[poppleshatesyou.livejournal.com]

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Re: Descriptive Subject Line Request

[madkrazyghetto.livejournal.com]

Of course! So very sorry about that.

Re: Descriptive Subject Line Request

[poppleshatesyou.livejournal.com]

Thanks!