Bladder question--What IS this???

[opus88]

You can purchase an over-the-counter test kit to see if it is an infection. It is made by AZO and is quite reliable.

I have had 2 cystoscopies, both years ago. Man, what a procedure - you pee fire for the next couple of days - yeeeeouch! But it helped tremendously once the pain & swelling from the procedure went away.

[morgan617]

now they have stuff that makes it much more comfortable. not so bad afterwards either. i tore my urethra with my second baby, talk about peeing fire!!!! morgan

[Guest GayleP]

The cystescope sounds awful but I guess worth it. I have an appointment with a urologist on October 1st. I'm sure he wouldn't just do the scope during a first appointment?

Anyhow, my culture has not come back yet so I am hoping I can just stay on the Ceftin and not need to take anything else. It's a broad spectrum antibiotic which I take it means it works on all sorts of bacteria.

New rule at my HMO. The nurse said I can talk to my doctor only if I make an appointment, no more questions over the phone. They are so patient unfriendly. I should be able to speak to my Dr without going in if I have one or two questions.

BTW, Opus. I used an over the counter test made by Uristat, it was negative and when I had a UA done at the Dr it was positive so I don't know how accurate those home tests are.

Thanks again, Morgan, Merrill and Emily for all your help.

GayleP

[michiganjan]

Emily,

It is common practice when you complain of bladder infection symptoms for a dr. to start you on a med to kill the infection before getting test results. Just because this is common practice, it is not necessarily correct for patients who have IC symptoms, as the symptoms are not caused by an infection.

I have had IC type symptoms for many years. If Ihad taken an antibiotic every time symptoms got bad, I'd have taken a ton of them by now. I am so sensitive to meds so in my case I never take an antibiotic for possible blader infection until a test (and culture) has been done that shows I really do have an infection. If my symptoms flare up, I do go in for a test, but wait for the results before going on a med. I think this is a wise course for people with IC.

Once, I did have an actual infection and I took Macrobid and did well on it. I would not hesitate to take it again but only after they proved to me I had an actual infection.

Keep in mind that we are all different in terms of med sensitivity.

In my case it was definitely Coregard that caused my bladder symptoms. I lived with them 10 years--all the time I was on Coregard. There are other beta blockers I have tried that caused the bladder symptoms also.

Have you ever tried Sectral? It is the beta blocker I take now. I have tried so many, and Sectral is the ONLY one that doesn't give me any bad side effects.

I sympathize with you about changing beta blockers or going off altogether for awhile. I have done it many times and would rather be shot than start experimenting again. Living with my heart during the experiments or off the BB is a real nightmare!

Now . . . this part is for that person who posted about the visible blood in the urine.

Once, several years ago, I was emptying my bladder before a GYN exam and I was surprised to see an extreme amount of blood. I mean a lot of blood. They call that Gross Hematuria. I caught some, since I was to give a sample anyway and told the Doc. She prescribed an antibiotic but said there was too much blood and I should see a urologist. The very next time I urinated there was almost no blood and I could not see any after that. It was sudden and then it was gone.

After I reported the above to the urologist (he had me stop the antibiotics as the test for infeciton was negative) he ordered kidney x-rays. He said a small stone could cause such a symptom. The kidney x-rays clearly showed no sign of a stone. (Of course I could have had a small one and passed it.)

Only a few days later I had a recurrence of the massive bleed. I went back to the urulogist who ruled out a stone because there was none on the previous x-rays. He only said that perhaps I ruptured a small blood vessel. However he looked up my bladder with a scope and saw nothing unusual.

This was more than ten years ago and I have not had any occurence since.

I do, as the other IC patients reported, often show a small amount of occult blood on a routine urine test. This is not visible and the docs do not worry about it.

Michigan Jan

[morgan617]

gayle, he will probably do a cysto on your first exam. it only takes a few minutes. it's kind of like a gyne exam. doesn't take any longer than a pap smear really, so don't be surprised if he does one. they just insert a small catheter after they've deadened the urethra and fill your bladder to capacity with warm saline, then he just looks around in there for a bit. really the most uncomfortable part is that your bladder feels very full, but he empties it out. you will give a sample of urine when you go in and then they will cath you with a very tiny catheter to see if you retain urine. trust me, even tho this is not fun, you have had far more barbaric things done, so don't stress about it. it's only uncomfortable for a couple of minutes and no drugs to react to. but you will know immediately if there's a problem. i've had about 10-15 of them. it will be fine morgan

[Guest GayleP]

Morgan,

I think at this point I'm going to request the scope although I'm not looking forward to it. I have been on Ceftin for 24 hours and still no relief. My PCP finally called and said that nothing much cultured out, that I mainly just had lots of white blood cells but to stay on the Ceftin. I suppose if it's IC then the Ceftin is useless.

At this point Ijust want to have the scope, get it over with and maybe get some answers.

Thanks again. I'm getting more help from you guys than from my PCP.

Gayle

[Guest GayleP]

Morgan,

One more question. Do they use some sort of numbing agent like lidocaine during the scope?

Gayle

[morgan617]

yes gayle, a lot!!!!! you shouldn't feel anything but the full bladder. it's called anesticon i believe. make sure he lets you lie there for a few minutes before he does the procedure so you get the full effect. good luck, you'll do fine and probably discover it wasn't nearly as bad as you expected. hugs your way, morgan

[DancingLight]

so, i am laughing b/c who knew this would be such a "hot topic!"???

anyway, i am going to have to sit down and re-read through all of the posts (so much info. to take in!)

i ended up insisting on the urine sample and test...and guess what??? it was negative!!!

so, i guess i took an antibiotic for nothing. ugh. i had had one dose, so i guess that could have thrown the results, but i am skeptical...

seeing as i still am not feeling any better.

i want sleep!

i am trying to decide what to do next. 1. go to urologist who ended up referring me to an endo, which leaves me with 2. go back to endocrinologist who prescribed ddavp and says i have partial diabetes insipidus but i am not sure he knows quite what he is doing with the pots thing. 3. contact my pots doc. who also thinks possiblity of pelvic congestion syndrome contributing. 4. all of the above, none of the above, two of the above!

as you can see i can't make up my mind.

so, what do i do? ramble.

merrill...i called the doctor today and said, so the test was neg. what do you want me to do now? and they prescribed...wait gotta go get the piece of paper...pyridium...have you heard of that one? i asked about taking a bladder analgesic earlier b/c of your suggestion and they were like, no, take an antibiotic.

so, then, i am supposed to try that for a couple of days and then call back again. i don't really think they are paying much attention, but hey...that's why we are our own advocates.

thanks y'all for listening and for helping me out on this...gayle...i know you thanked me...but i didn't help at all! i was right with you on needing advice! although you helped me out...by lifting my brain fog about bringing a sterile cup home!

hope you are all having a good weekend without having to pee too much!

emily

[Merrill]

Emily, I'm sooooo glad they gave you pyridium and I reeeeeeally hope you try it--but most of all, I hope that when you do, it gives you some relief from your symptoms. Yes, that most of all!

Those OTC analgesics for urinary tract discomfort that I told you about have about half the same med that's in one dose of prescription pyridium (or something like that...) I've insisted that I be given pyridium in the ER when being treated other times for UTIs; the docs are more than happy to dispense b/c it works so well and gets us to stop complaining about the pain! It's really SOP for this kind of discomfort.

All that's to say, it's basically all the same med, and don't freak out when it turns your pee a FANTASTIC shade of orange (so don't wear white undies! or wear a minipad! ) and for me, it really works great without affecting me otherwise (negatively, that is, funky side effects etc.) I've said this before and I'll say it again, why be in pain when you don't have to be? (We suffer enough other bizarre symptoms, urinary tract pain certainly oughtn't be one of them.)

Anyway, I hope it works for you; keep drinking a ton of water, cranberry juice, whatever... the more the better...

Cheerio. (PS I just came home from Kol Nidre services and had a bowl of ice cream w/hot fudge. I'm a bad girl, huh? Well... I knew I wouldn't be fasting tomorrow anyway, tho I was going to try sticking to water/gaterade only. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans. Actually, I don't know what they say either... )

[opus88]

Just came across this brief article in the Alternative Medicine newsletter. Maybe it will be helpful to some of you.

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What's Lurking in Your Shower?

Norman Bates isn't the only scary creature you might encounter in your shower.

With infectious disease rates rising over the past decade, scientists have been scouring our everyday environment for potentially overlooked sources of germs. Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder found one such microbe hideout in a seemingly innocuous place: shower curtains.

In five soap scum samples taken from four different vinyl shower curtains, researchers found all sorts of organisms, including Sphingomonas bacteria, which can lead to urinary tract infections, pneumonia, and abscesses, and Methlobacterium, which can also cause pneumonia as well as skin ulcers, inflammation of the cornea, and bacteria in the bloodstream.

The researchers think these pathogens are mainly a risk for people with troubled immune systems. But even if your immune system is strong, it's not a bad idea to keep the cooties on you shower curtain in check. A well-directed spray of 10 percent bleach solution should do the trick.