Recurrent UTIs

My mother who is 87 had exactly the same situation last year starting in November.She was drinking gallons of cranberry juice and also had the spare antibiotics.She was sent for a scan in January and we have an appointment for the results in a fortnights time.Not much help to you but am wondering if maybe you could ask the gp to refer you for a scan.We too had difficulty getting a gp appointment and ended up ringing 111 at the weekend who seemed to get the ball rolling for her.I hope you get it sorted,it really does take over your life?

There are other threads about this. Sometimes it's linked to vaginal dryness - it was with me.
If so, vaginal HRT pessaries help.

I read that women tend to suffer from this problem more than men - can't quite see why, especially as it was a recurring problem for my FiL. Anyway, apart from drinking as much as possible, the article I read suggested that part of the problem might be because women often don't fully empty their bladders so the urine hangs about, causing the infection. So... take the time to make sure your bladder is completely empty is the best advice I can give.

Cranberry juice is full of sugar , I gave up on it , I tried the Dmanose tablets too . The only thing about the tablets was they were so big it took gallons of water to get them down , anyway chucked them too . The only thing that helps stop it developing with me is very weak tea with lots of milk , no idea why , and coffee has me in agony now , so have stopped it ................ another of the joys of older age . I agree about making sure your bladder is empty , I was told to sit up straight and rock gently back and forward to get the bladder really empty. Doing pelvic floor exercise helps to massage the pelvic floor and helps too

I had a similar problem a year or two ago. I was referred for cystoscopy as I also had microscopic blood in my urine. The finding was age related change so I was prescribed a course of Vagifem pessaries, gradually decreasing over a few months. Perhaps I shouldn't tempt fate, but I have been infection free ever since. A friend had a similar experience, repeated UTIs but no blood, and also improved with Vagifem, although she still takes D-mannose.
I hope you find relief soon.

I was constantly ill each month with a UTI which got me down. Eventually after being prescribed many different pills - to no avail - my doctor referred me to hospital for a cycostopy. After that, it solved my problem and I could lead an infection free life. Hope your health improves.

Fortunately not something I have ever suffered with but my mother in law did. The only thing that helped her was drinking Lemon Barley Water. Might be worth a try.

I use d mannose, but more importantly I stopped all caffeine and that made a huge difference

nanaK54,my mum was advised to stop caffeine and it does seem to have helped.May be worth a try chicken.

Lemon barley water helps

chicken I have masses of sympathy. I suffered for well over 20 years with many attacks, latterly every few weeks.

We moved house and I saw a sympathetic female GP who explained that skin thins as we get older and those who have always been prone to UTIs suffer increasingly because the thinner skin makes it easier for the bacteria to take hold.

Nothing ever helped, I drank oceans of water, cranberry juice, barley water to no avail.

Lovely female GP followed NICE guidelines and put me on a tiny daily antibiotic which is a long term solution. That was a number of years ago and I hope I’m not tempting fate but I’ve never had an attack since,

I swear by cranberry juice...you can get the 'light' one.
At the very first sign of discomfort I drink 2 glasses of the stuff and I'm sorted. May not work for everyone ...

Thanks for all the response and tips. I don't drink coffee so no caffeine to cut out. I already try to make sure my bladder is completely emptied. I loathe tea! Having had an oestrogen driven breast cancer, I daren't risk pessaries with oestrogen content. I'm waiting for a scan. So---barley water or ongoing antibiotics---I'll try anything.

Do you drink enough water?

Rather than drinking cranberry juice which has quite a lot of sugar, try getting cranberry capsules/tablets instead. Holland & Barratt do a "triple strength"amongst their range and you only need one a day, taken with food. You can buy various other makes and strenghts from elsewhere, but one high in cranberry content is much more effective. These are a preventive measure really to stop it happening in the first place. I have been taking these these a long time now and they really work for me. When I used to get these infections my GP told me two things.....be careful after emptying your bowels as to how you clean yourself afterwards, as due to our anatomy you can easily infect your bladder. Secondly some people can get irritable bladder syndrome through drinking too much caffeine in tea and coffee, which in turn can lead to infections. Cut back on caffeine drinks and replace with fruit teas or something else not caffeine related.

I had the same problem and decided the antibiotics had to stop.
I saw a very good acupuncturist who started by stimulating my spleen to fight infection, she then worked on the renal system and it worked like magic.
I now take D Mannose as a preventative, I avoid Cranberry it made my symptoms worse.
I have not had an an infection for 12 months.

You can get the D Mannose tablets in a smaller size [although you then have to take quite a lot of them initially]. I carry them around with me all the time in case I feel an attack coming on.

Oh and I had several bouts of cystitis that were caused by vaginal atrophy and found that using Replens cured it; it doesn't contain oestrogen etc.

I drink lots of water about 4 pints a day), and only 2 cups of tea or coffee a day. A nurse once told me that cranberry juice isn't any good - I don't like the taste anyway. I find that I have to force out the last bit of wee when I go to the toilet.