photo by Gulzar2, Flickr

Will I Get Rid of This Everlasting problem?

The treatment of urinary tract infections will be decided by the specialist. Never take an antibiotic without an antibiogram! This simple test will determine the most efficient antibiotic for your bacteria and you will not be forced to take unnecessary medicine to which your micro-organisms are resistant. Many people think the UTI is an everlasting problem simply because their doctors did not made an
antibiogram and they were not given the correct drug.

Attention! Inform your doctor if you have an allergy.

The uncomplicated UTIs are treated with trimethoprim (Trimpex), trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (Bactrim, Septra, Cotrim), amoxicillin (Amoxil, Trimox, Wymox), nitrofurantoin (Macrodantin, Furadantin), and ampicillin (Omnipen, Polycillin, Principen, Totacillin). Newer drugs, more powerful and thus with more side effects to the organism are: ofloxacin (Floxin), norfloxacin (Noroxin),
ciprofloxacin (Cipro), and trovafloxin (Trovan).

The first UTI requires 1-2 days of treatment, but for recurrent infections the treatment can last up to 21 days. If the infection reached the kidneys and the patient has high fever, the drugs will be administered intravenously. In case of recurrent infections additional investigations are required to determine whether a congenital malformation is present: ultrasound scans of the bladder and
the kidneys and intravenous urography.

Women with recurrent urinary infection need to take extra cautions as they may be predisposed to the illness.

• 1. Wash the genital areas after intercourse and after defecating.
• 2. Wipe from front to back to avoid contamination with bacteria from the rectum.
• 3. Your doctor may give you low dose antibiotics to take before going to bed
• 4. Take showers instead of baths
• 5. Drink at least 8 cups of water per day.
• 6. Urinate when you feel the need to.
• 7. Urinate after sexual intercourse.
• 8. Do not use hygiene sprays and scented douches to avoid the urethra irritation.
• 9. Drink cranberry juice (Vaccinium macrocarpon).  A specific type of tannin which is present only in cranberries and blueberries prevents the adherence of E. coli to the walls of the bladder. Other names for this plant: American cranberry, bog cranberry.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) account for about 8.3 million doctor visits each year 3 and the medical costs of the treatments are huge considering that the treatment for one person has been estimated to be $680.

Resources:

1. Jepson R, Mihaljevic L, Craig J. “Cranberries for preventing urinary tract infections.”
2. Ambulatory Care Visits to Physician Offices, Hospital Outpatient Departments, and Emergency Departments: United States, 1999u20132000. Vital and Health Statistics. Series 13, No. 157. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services; September 2004.
3. Martha Frederickson, Jennifer J. Neitzel, Elaine Hogan Miller, Sharon Reuter, Terry Graner, and John Heller. “The Implementation of Bedside Bladder Ultrasound Technology: Effects on Patient and Cost Postoperative Outcomes in Tertiary Care.” Orthopaedic Nursing 19 (May/June 2000) 3: 79-87.
4. Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) Aiton. In: Coates P, Blackman M, Cragg G, et al., eds. Encyclopedia of Dietary Supplements. New York, NY: Marcel Dekker; 2005:143-149.