I really need help with this UTI infection?

First, whenever you have a skin reaction to a medicine that is a serious reaction and almost always it is recommended to cease taking the drug. The doctor should switch you immediately to another medication. If your skin reaction continues to get more severe or if the skin is peeling seek medical attention immediately. It is very very important you remember this drug and always list it as an allergy. Was the drug a sulfa drug? Bactrim maybe? A significant percentage of the population is allergic to sulfa drugs.

Second, it is extremely unlikely a new antibiotic will give you a bad reaction. The new drug would likely be from a totally different class of antibiotics. Someone who is allergic to Penicillin might be able to take Tetracycline with no problem or Cipro with no problem. They are all antibiotics, but each one is a different drug class. Think of it like killing an ant by stepping on it or with bug spray. Very different ways to do it, same result.

If you want you can tell us the different drugs and we can help you look them up and provide links so you feel better about taking them, but I think you need to take the antibiotics. It sounds like you took enough meds to get the bacteria numbers low enough to get rid of your symptoms, but not rid of the bacteria completely so when you stopped taking the drugs they just multiplied again and so within a few days of stopping you are infected again. For future info, if you had switched immediately to the other drug you probably would have just needed a few more days, but I understand why you were reluctant.

Note: I am not a doctor.

Thank you @JLeslie really appreciate your help.

I cant recall the first medication and had thrown out the box. It was a shorter term I think 3 days at 2 a day.

Then I was given Nitrofurantoin

The first course of the 2nd antibiotic, I did not experience any side effects. 7 Tablets into the next course I did. So they have switched me to Trimethoprim? I have not taken these yet. My boy friend said he recalls them as being the first course I was on. So at this stage I am unsure of which pill caused the reaction. I can’t find any ingredients or what they contain on the inserts. I have just found a package insert which could have been the first course Macrodantin but it says Nitrofurantoin (under the word Macrodantin) so maybe it was the same thing. I am totally confused.

@JLeslie, I’m one of the percentage allergic to sulfa drugs. It can cause fatal reactions. Don’t take it if you are having any type of adverse reaction.

I noticed when you posted two weeks ago that you mentioned having an orgasm. You shouldn’t be having sex until this is cleared up.

Your links did not work for me, but trimethoprim’s class is dihydrofolate reductase inhibitor, and Nitrofurantin is a nitrofuran class. Did you get all the meds from the same pharmacy? Your pharmacist/chemist should be able to easily tell you what medications you have taken and also reassure you the drugs are from different classes. Tell him your concern and let him help you. Always good to get a second opinion from a pharmacist when in doubt. They actually look the drug up, while doctors tend not to, but doctors generally do know what drugs are from what class. If the doctor gave you samples and the medication was not from the pharmacy, the nurse should be able to tell you all the drugs you have taken and you can still ask a pharmacist a second opinion for reassurance.

I wanted to add that for future it is important to take antibiotics correctly (I am not assuming you aren’t) meaning if it is prescribed three times a day, then literally take it every 8 hours, no more than one hour off. Many people take drugs three times a day during waking hours, and that is not good enough for some drugs. Medication is given 4 times a day or 3 times a day depending on its half life. The half life is basically how long it takes for the body to get rid of half the drug in your system. Taking each dose the correct hours apart helps maintain the necessary level of medicine to kill of the bacteria. If you are late or miss a dose, it risks not killing it off enough to get rid of the infection. Same problem when people don’t take it long enough, not all the infection is killed off, even though the symptoms are gone. Also if it says take without food or without milk. Both can inhibit the absorption of the medication if it is indicated. Some medicine require to be taken with food. Without food means one hour before eating or two hous after eating. Your stomach must be empty. Some people think without food means when swallowing the pill, but then they have eating within ten minutes of taking the pill. I only mention this, because if you do take the new meds, you will want to make sure you take it well. Is there a possibility the first prescription you didn’t take as directed? It could mean it is the right medicine, just not absorbed well. Still, if this third med is the same as the first med, I don’t blame you for maybe wanting to try a different med altogether.

@bkcunningham I think you meant to address the OP.

Thank you, @JLeslie. I did mean to address the OP.

I broke out in hives in reaction to amoxicillin prescribed for a sinus infection almost 30 years ago. Since then, I always tell all physicians and pharmacists that I had that reaction, so that I will not be given amoxicillin or any other penicillin-derived antibiotics. Therefore, it is important that you consult the physician who prescribed the medication you had a reaction to and find out exactly what was prescribed so you can take measures to avoid that substance and others related to it in the future.

When one has an allergic reaction to medication, the prescribing doctor will usually switch to a different medication to resume treating the original illness, and may also prescribe an antihistamine, like Benadryl (diphenhydramine) to treat the allergic reaction.

I haven’t had a UTI in decades, so I’m not sure what medications are available currently. Ensuring that I urinate immediately after sexual activity has helped prevent UTIs, as have using cleanser specifically designed for that area that does not have any fragrances or irritants that can cause inflammation and irritation that could contribute to a UTI. Any time I feel a slight irritation as if a UTI might be developing, I drink a lot of cranberry juice and make sure I empty my bladder as completely as possible.

I hope you find relief from the UTI and the hives soon!

@JLeslie I did take as prescribed but regards the eating I sometimes only drank milk beforehand. As I battle to eat at times. I definitely did not take the pills exactly on the hour (as with the four a day dosage I missed one or was late a few times). So will take that into consideration. Is there no other way to cure it asides from antibiotics? There is a product called Canestan Oasis here which can ‘cure’ lighter infections (which this may be since I have had some treatment and it is not as painful as the first time.) Just a shot in the dark since I am desperate. Here you don’t get to see the doctor they just phone you and prescribe. The urine sample was sent through to them via emergency the first time. Since I had given one there.

@bkcunningham No, no sex no orgasms nothing since the last time. No sexual contact at all. Been too scared. I have phobia of sex now.

@LornaLove Milk is food. No food means only water is permissable. Trimethoprim does have reduced absortion with food from what I read, it is recommended on an empty stomach, but looks like it says ok to take with food if it causes stomach upset. I try to stay away from dairy products altogether when taking meds (within the two hours of the pill) because dairy reduces stomach acids which can reduce absorption as well. 4 times a day would be every 6 hours and that probably means setting an alarm for the late night or morning one.

Also, in America Trimethropin is paired with drugs that require drinking lots of water with it, but I honestly don’t know which drug requires it when they are paired up, so I am unsure if the Trimethropin requires it. If it says on your pills to drink with plenty of water, do it. That recommendation is to prevent crystals from forming, it isn’t an old wives tale sort of thing that moms tell kids to make sure the pill goes down.

I don’t know anything about the other medicines and homeopathy suggestions. I wish I could help you with that.

You had a reaction to the antibiotics. You should have called your doctor. It was important to finish the course. He could have substituted another antibiotic. Now you are crating resistant germs by keeping on starting and stopping antibiotics. Call your doctor!

She did call the doctor, he gave her a third medication.

Not talkin to you @JLeslie.

@marinelife I did take the antibiotics and did call the doctor with the issue of the breathing After that I got hives. That was early Friday. The hives only started Friday night very bad. Here doctors close for the weekend. At that point when I called the doctor they told me to stop immediately which I did.

@JLeslie I went to the pharmacist now, and she said that a lot of people do suffer side effects from that particular pill. I am weary to start the new one as I have such bad hives and itching I won’t know if this new pill is also reacting? I think what I will do today is drink loads of water and Oasis and call the doctor tomorrow. Hopefully they will see me in person this time at least.

@LornaLove I think it might be best to go ahead and wait a day since you will be starting from scratch anyway on this new medication. Is that right? Or, did I maybe misunderstand, have you already passed the time to take the next pill if you were still taking the second medication?

A day to let the hives settle down makes sense so you know for sure the new drug is not adversely affecting you. Just a reminder skin reaction can be life threatening, if it gets worse, if your skin begins pealing, that is reason to go to the ER. That is very unlikely to happen now that you have stopped taking the medicine, so I don’t want to scare you or for you to think it will likely happen. It’s very rare.

However, it is important to clear up the infection. If I understand correctly you did another culture. Will they have the result Monday? Was the first one positive for Ecoli? There are amny many drugs in the US for that type of UTI infection, I assume iti s the same case where you are too. There is no reason for a doctor to give you a risky drug now that they know your allergy. Don’t worry about having a bad reaction from a different class drug.

@hearkat mentioned some great preventative measures once you get rid of this infection. Preventing the growth can be done effectively with natural and mechanical methods like plenty of water, cranberry juice and urinating after sex. I think the last one is the most important if it turns out you are prone to these infections. But, killing off the infection is a different matter. Once the numbers are great it is a much harder task for the body to conquer with just the aid of natural methods. Unless there issomething I am unaware of, which is always possible.

@JLeslie Yes I held off on the new antibiotic which I collected on Friday after discussing the reaction. So it has not been started. The skin issue seems to have calmed down. It started at my feet like a mad itch inside then progressed up my legs, arms and my palm pads are hot and inflamed. I am finding the itching difficult , but on Saturday I saw a Doctor at emergency (again) for it. He prescribed a regular antihistamine and concluded it was a drug reaction.

I am so scared of all drugs I did a bit of research and found that topical care can help in some cases so have opted for that. Since my feet are less inflamed and itchy (although the itch is everywhere) and the rash looks less angry I thought it be OK to carry on as is?

@LornaLove I’m so sorry that you are going through this. You are doing the right thing by going to the doctor and then again to the emergency room on Saturday.
That is who you need to address your questions to, not random people on the internet who are not doctors.
However, I would suggest that you get an appointment with a speciality doctor, a urologist, if this infection is not cleared up soon. My mom kept going to her primary care physician about a UTI and he just gave her antibiotics without trying to determine the cause of the UTI. Turns out that she had bladder cancer and if they had caught it only 8 months sooner, she would not have lost her bladder. I blame her PCP for not looking for a cause but merely treating the issue.

What a nightmare. I hope by now you are turning the corner. For what it’s worth, I recently had a pretty bad one as a result of surgery. One of the things my doctor prescribed, in addition to the antibiotic and pain med, was an anti-spasmodic. It really put a dent in the overall pain.

My roomer swears by Cranberry juice. She insists it clears up her chronic UTI when it flairs up.

“Can a homeopath treat my UTI”

No.

@LornaLove You are not afraid of all drugs, you are taking an antihistamine. Think about it logically. You have probably taken several antibiotics in your lifetime, and decongestants, and pain killers, and now you have one severe reaction and you want to swear of medication? I completely understand how absolutely sucky the situation has been for you. You took a med that didn’t work. Then you took a med that made you very sick. All the while you just want the UTI gone, and it should be an easy fix. Now you have to start all over with another antibiotic. Believe me, I become a nervous wreck when the same type of things happens to me with doctors and health, I really empathasize. I have things go wrong all the time and have to do a second medical intervention to fix the first treatment that should have helped me. It seriously is my biggest source of sadness, anxiety, and disappointment in my life. Some of my biggest regrets is not having the psychological fortitude to do the next medical thing and get better faster because of my own fears and doubts and how difficult it can be to deal with doctors when one is sick (if that makes any sense).

You do need to double check you are not just taking the same med as the first, because that did not work, and it was a different prescribing doctor right? I guess your new culture will be back on Monday (did they do a culture?) and then you will have accurate information to make a decision. By early next week you can gauge your comfort level, if the pain persists you will know you need to do something.

Sorry if I sound like a broken record, haven’t had time to read the other answers.

A lot of antibiotics are sulfa-based and sulfa is a very common drug allergy. Try another antibiotic and request one that isn’t sulfa. Don’t try homeopathy, it is a complete and total scam.

@JLeslie I haven’t taken the antihistamine since the side effects were so long and also involved possible skin reactions and even hallucinations. For now I am just treating topically. I am not peeling. I had bad spots or dots very itchy feet and hands. Today it was markedly improved. I am using lacto calamine, bathing in apple cider vinegar. So I am trusting that improvement signals it is OK to go without it.

I am feeling hyper anxious at the moment. I do suffer with chronic anxiety, so taking that is just also too much. But I know that rationally I am not allergic to everything. I will see the doctor tomorrow. (I will demand an appointment). I do not have swollen lips, or tongue or throat. So I guess my question was if the rash is getting better and my feet a lot better then it is going on its on? Sorry I know I am asking a lot of questions. But I just need to get through tonight without this horrific anxiety. The spots are rash is a lot more subdued but still itchy.

Every drug has possible skin reaction. Even Tylenol.

Sounds like the rash is resolving on its own, so that’s good.

Make sure you are taking the right antibiotic for that particular infection, there is bound to be more than one option. Is there an after hours medical care centre open on the weekend, I would be surprised if the answer were no, make sure you go with the information about exactly what type of infection so they know what antibiotic to prescribe.

I thought I would give feedback as you were all so helpful. I did see the Doctor on Monday but the culture was not back yet. So we did discuss the drug reaction and I left it at that. I had pain on Monday (just the end part of urinating) and Tuesday. I stepped up my water and it definitely eased it as in the afternoons I was pain free. On Tuesday I phoned the doctor to check if the sample was back. In fact it had been dip stick tested at the surgery not sent to the lab so they thought it was in fact lost.

The dipstick showed as clear (not sure if that is the correct term). But since I was still having pain the doctor said to keep an eye on it and if not improved to drop another sample for lab testing. She also mentioned that because it was so severe it could be just tender from the infection? Today I had my first symptom free day! I am over the moon. Plus my hives have almost gone. I just itch now and then as it seems to flare up in areas. I am so happy and so relieved.

I actually went out and about today for the first time in a month (since the pain was so bad and the need to pee too much!) I had one or two painful bathroom visits but really not bad at all. Thank you all for your support during this time, it was horrendous! and just for hearing me out and trying your best to help. I so appreciated it. I do believe it is gone, even though I am anxious about it and every twinge is noted! I really hope it has gone for good. I hope also the surgery in house test is at least for the most part accurate. Thanks again.

Sounds like your doctor gave prudent advice. If you still have twinges do the additional test. I’m glad you are feeling better. Thanks for updating us.