urinary tract infection

[idoyoganaked]

So I'm pretty sure that every time I have sex I get a UTI. I've been to the doctor's 5 times in the past 3 months for prescriptions for UTIs. I hadn't stopped having sex in between to find out if that was the cause or not, but with the last prescription, I didn't have sex the week I was taking the medicine, or the week after until I went back to the doctor's to check if it was gone, or the week after until they called me to tell me I was clean. I finally get to have sex again, and boom, I'm infected. How can I fix this? I mean, I'm clean, I shower every day. I pee before and after sex. This is just really freaking depressing because UTIs are not pleasant and I want to have sex! Please, someone, anyone, help me out.

 

[Jaybird3]

Number one, are you using any lubes or condoms? It might actually be an reaction to one or the other.

Number two, I would consult an Gynocologist. This doesn't seem right and it sounds like there could be more at work here than a simple infection.

I am wondering if they are not getting the infection completely cleared up, but the antibiotics are just masking it for a while.

 

[Bobmi357]

Not being a woman, I really don't have much experience in this department. But isn't it possible that she's actually catching the infection from her partner?

 

[Jaybird3]

It is possible Bobmi, but that is one reason that I asked about the lube and condoms. The other thing is that it is actually hard for a woman to catch a UTI in that fashion.

 

[Bobmi357]

Ok, I wasn't sure. I remember the first couple times I met my second wife. She lived in Boise, and I in NYC, so we had to plan our get togethers carefully. For a while it seemed everytime we met, she'd come down with strep throat. For a while we even suspected that I might be a carrier for the disease. And believe me, it was kinda scary for me, because I LOVE kissing her.

Anyway, one thing finally cured it, I got on her case about finishing the anti-biotic prescription instead of stopping once the pain and symptoms went away. She hasn't had a case of strep in a long long time. Thank goodness, I CAN kiss her!

 

[ohio gal]

actually this is commom, I have several friends who have had this occur and their gyno placed them on mild anti-biotics to take either before or after they have sex. The infection is caused by the penis entering the vagina multiple times (this causes everything that is on the penis to enter the women) and some women to not expell everything when they pee afterwards. I would go to your gyno and explain, more than likely he will give you a pill to take.

 

[Jaybird3]

idoyoganaked

Go to your gynocologist and please do post what he says. I, for one, would be most interested in what he/she says is going on.

You might ask your sexual partner to go as well and be checked for a possible UTI.

 

[SexyGiggles]

So I'm pretty sure that every time I have sex I get a UTI. I've been to the doctor's 5 times in the past 3 months for prescriptions for UTIs. I hadn't stopped having sex in between to find out if that was the cause or not, but with the last prescription, I didn't have sex the week I was taking the medicine, or the week after until I went back to the doctor's to check if it was gone, or the week after until they called me to tell me I was clean. I finally get to have sex again, and boom, I'm infected. How can I fix this? I mean, I'm clean, I shower every day. I pee before and after sex. This is just really freaking depressing because UTIs are not pleasant and I want to have sex! Please, someone, anyone, help me out.

Just an FYI, condoms with spermicidal lube can cause UTI's more than those without -- you may want to change your condom.

Some info from webmd.com:
For women with recurrent infections, preventive strategies may be tried.
-- Continuous antibiotics are most frequently used for women who have more than three UTIs per year.
-- Antibiotics taken after sexual intercourse are used for women who often get a UTI after sexual intercourse. Depending on intercourse frequency, this may result in taking fewer antibiotics and may cost less than continuous, low-dose therapy.
-- Antibiotic treatment when symptoms are present. In this case, the woman has a prescription that she can fill when needed and can take the antibiotics without consulting her doctor. This is most frequently used for women who have fewer than three UTIs per year.
-- Antibiotics may be used during pregnancy if recurrent UTIs were a problem before pregnancy or if a UTI develops during pregnancy.

Antibiotics effectively prevent UTIs. However, once a woman stops taking the medication, she will usually have another UTI.

Go see your doctor about what's going on -- recurrent UTI's could be an indicator of more serious health problems or can lead to problems with the kidneys or other internal organs.

Good luck!

 

[warrior queen]

So I'm pretty sure that every time I have sex I get a UTI. I've been to the doctor's 5 times in the past 3 months for prescriptions for UTIs. I hadn't stopped having sex in between to find out if that was the cause or not, but with the last prescription, I didn't have sex the week I was taking the medicine, or the week after until I went back to the doctor's to check if it was gone, or the week after until they called me to tell me I was clean. I finally get to have sex again, and boom, I'm infected. How can I fix this? I mean, I'm clean, I shower every day. I pee before and after sex. This is just really freaking depressing because UTIs are not pleasant and I want to have sex! Please, someone, anyone, help me out.

for a while in my early twenties, i had this same problem.
but i now drink one glass of cranberry juice every day (cranberry has an enzyme in it that prevents bacteria adhering to the bladder walls), and i have not had a UTI for over 14 years.

worth a go.

 

[idoyoganaked]

To address what Jaybird said, it is very possible to get UTIs from sex. Here is a quote from womenshealth.about.com:
"Sexual intercourse is a common cause of urinary tract infections because the female anatomy can make women more prone to urinary tract infections. During sexual intercourse bacteria in the vaginal area is sometimes massaged into the urethra by the motion of the penis."

We do use condoms (which would mean I'm not getting the infection from my partner), latex ones. We use astroglide, no spermicides. A friend suggested this may be a reaction to the latex even though I would think a reaction to that would be more of a skin irritation, but any way, I got some polyurethane condoms to try. I have to wait and try them after I get rid of the current infection though so we'll see.

I have been to my gyn for all but one of the infections, which I went to my general physician for. My gyn told me if I came in one more time, she was going to send me to a urologist so I was trying to avoid that by going to my general physician the last time. I think she was under the impression that it was one continuous infection though, not several, but I think I proved it was several different infections.

I will try to get an appointment with my gyn again next week to discuss what ohio gal said about the pills to take before or after sex. I mean I have Uristat, but that only gets rid of the symptoms until you can get to a doctor.

I know about the cranberry juice thing, but I've heard that some doctors say it's good and some say it's bad. My gyn told me to drink it so I'll go along with her. Only thing is, I can't stand it. I mean I drink it any way, but not as much as I should. I've almost developed a taste for white cranberry juice, which I'm sure isn't as strong/effective but I can drink more of it.

Hopefully, I'll have an update for you next week. Please continue to post anything you might know about this.

 

[idoyoganaked]

double post, sorry

 

[peachykeen]

Had a similar problem. Ditching the latex and switching to polyurethane condoms did the trick.

Also you should be drinking unsweetened cranberry juice, not any of that Ocean Spray rubbish. If you are dinking it sweetened, the sugar is effectively negating the potential beneficial effects, so it ends up being all for naught. Likely you will need to go to a health food store for the unsweetened stuff as it is nearly impossible to find in the major markets. Yes it is bitter as hell but you do get used to it and if it is too strong straight, drinking a very watered-down version is fine too.

Good luck to ya!

 

[Noor]

advice:

wash both you and your partner with non irrating soap before sex, esp his hair if he doesn't shave.

urinate before sex and drink a glass of water

use non spermicide condoms, I use polyurethane.

urinate after sex, drink more water.

 

[The_old_man]

One major source of UTIs is Cunnilingus.

The mouth is probably the most septic part of the human.

 

[idoyoganaked]

Peachy: What I have is Ocean Spray, I'll look for the better stuff. I'm glad switching to polyurethane worked for you, I hope it does for me too.

Noor: I do drink water and pee before and after sex. I picked up the Trojan polyurethanes, which have spermicide, so I will have to get the Durex ones. We're both shaven but I'll try washing right before.

old_man: I'm pretty sure it's from the sex, because there was plenty of cunnilingus before and no UTIs, but as soon as we started having sex, I got infections.


Thanks again everyone, keep it coming

 

[Noor]

maybe a mutual hand washing too?

different positions where your urethra doesn't get slammed as hard?

a bit of lube on your urethra to keep bacteria out?

 

[SlickTony]

Idoyoga, you have my complete sympathy. I even ended up having to have a cystoscopy, and my symptoms are still lurking around. I've learned to work around them, and I'm doing everything you're supposed to do, but I'm not back to where I was last summer before this all began.

 

[Guest]

 

[AvaAdore]

i had a similar problem for about 6 months (stopped 2 months ago, have not had a problem since *crosses fingers). every month it seemed to crop up. i felt the discomfort, and went to my regurlar doctor (who is also a gyno). when the test came out negative, she had a look at me, and there was a very tiny cut at the urinary opening that caused the same sort of pain. the first 3 times were definately genuine infections, though.

i drink lots and lots of water now. i always have a glass of water at my desk and i carry around drink bottles.

 

[idoyoganaked]

Dammit, my car broke down, so I can't get home to go to the gyno. I think the slight infection I had has gone away. I am making more of an effort to drink tons of water, so I still have to pee all the time, but it's just because I drink so much . I also tried out the polyurethanes (couldn't wait til I was sure I was infection free ) and if I do still have a slight infection, they didn't make it worse. I'm sure that switching to these (and drinking lots of fluids and all that, which I should do anyway) will fix me. Thank god

 

[lovechild27]

I had this happen several times and I ended up with a raging kidney infection. You may also be bruising your urethra during sex too...it feels much like a UTI. They have over the coutner pain relievers so you dont have that awful burning I have to pee at the dan time. I think Azo makes them, there is also some stuff called Cystex...its an over the coutner antimicrobial pain reliver that if you think you have one you can take to stop before it gets bad.

 

[JustSkye]

Forget the Cranberry drinks , use the pills . You can find them at herbal stores and places like GNC . They are convenient and stronger ... and taking a few day , helps keep the urinary tract hyperacidic. Don't forget to drink lots of water!

 

[5pintshefound]

Dammit, my car broke down, so I can't get home to go to the gyno. I think the slight infection I had has gone away. I am making more of an effort to drink tons of water, so I still have to pee all the time, but it's just because I drink so much . I also tried out the polyurethanes (couldn't wait til I was sure I was infection free ) and if I do still have a slight infection, they didn't make it worse. I'm sure that switching to these (and drinking lots of fluids and all that, which I should do anyway) will fix me. Thank god

ok, i could be wrong, but if you have an infection, it wont just go away... a very dear friend of mine had so many uti's that it resulted in scarring on the urethra.. now when she gets a uti, she doesnt know it till it ends up in her bladder{or kidney- i dont remember which}....
my question is: when you have sex, do you jsut have penetration, or is there clitoral stimulation involved.. im thinking if theres a lot of stimulation to the clit that could help hurry an infection along... not sure tho?!?!? just something to check in to??

~~5PHF

 

[bobsgirl]

ok, i could be wrong, but if you have an infection, it wont just go away... a very dear friend of mine had so many uti's that it resulted in scarring on the urethra.. now when she gets a uti, she doesnt know it till it ends up in her bladder{or kidney- i dont remember which}....
my question is: when you have sex, do you jsut have penetration, or is there clitoral stimulation involved.. im thinking if theres a lot of stimulation to the clit that could help hurry an infection along... not sure tho?!?!? just something to check in to??

~~5PHF

5PHF is right about this. Just because the symptoms have gone away doesn't mean the infection has gone away. The bacteria are just being diluted by all the water you're drinking. I went through this hell for 8 years with repeated UTIs and repeated kidney infections. The pain from those is worse than childbirth, I swear. I finally ended up having to have kidney surgery to remove scar tissue from all the infections. Best thing I could have done--surgery was 23 years ago and I can't remember the last time I had an infection, knock on wood.

 

[sweet T]

Drink lots of cranberry juice and water... keep your system flushed