u/PlentyPumpkin498

Hello all!

I posted on here a few days ago (about 2) asking for D Mannose advice. I have since received it and finished the antibiotic I was on (Bactrim) It worked great, I have no UTI according to some tests at my doctors office on Wednesday!!

However, extremely worse news, I’m still getting UTI like symptoms with no UTI. I’m ordering at home tests to see if i have nitrites, leukocytes, etc.
I should get my official culture back this week with some answers, but my urine culture for my May 3rd visit came back, and it had normal vaginal flora. No other bacteria. I felt symptoms like CRAZY that day. I was completely symptom free on my antibiotics, that’s why I for sure thought it was a UTI before I got the culture back.

I plan on making another appointment in about a week asking if they can test for Ureaplasma, Mycoplasma, and unfortunately possible IC. I hate that it has gotten to this point, I just want my original life back. This is the 4th month I’ve been dealing with this and I’m already so hopeless. I’m unsure of what my next steps should be with my doctor.

I’m 20 years old and I haven’t seen a gynecologist before. I’m supposed to get my first PAP later this year but I’m not too worried about that. My mom says her gynecology office is amazing so i’ll probably end up seeing them. Is asking for those tests the right thing? I’m very lost and there aren’t many answers to what I should do.

Any help is deeply appreciated. ❤️

Hello all! *Very* long post so I’m apologizing in advance.

My story, just to preface! Feel free to skip this!

I am a 20 year old female from the USA. I had a few UTIs in high school but it was always knocked out with antibiotics. This February, a few days before Valentine’s Day, I got my 1st UTI in a long time. Probably about 3 or 4 years. I had felt symptoms for a while before but they were VERY mild and I could ignore it. Just a slight burning sensation when I would go to pee.

On February 12th, I woke up in the middle of the night at 5am (extremely unusual for me, I’ve slept through a tornado ripping shingles off my house lol) I got the urge to pee really bad and I instantly knew I had a UTI. I did a virtual visit through my insurance and got antibiotics by 9am. I thought nothing of it. I took my full week’s worth of Macrobid and was fine for 10 days. I had sex while on my antibiotic, poor choice, I already know. I didn’t know I shouldn’t have done that, oops! I was given no information.

Anyways, on February 23rd, I felt symptoms again. I tried scheduling another virtual appointment because I had quite harsh symptoms and was on my last Azo pills. I had to attend my lectures with symptoms it was HELL. They refused my appointment and urged me to see a urologist, which wasn’t super possible for me due to my class scheduling. I got an appointment at a local minute clinic. They could not have been nicer! They were very kind and I got prescribed Macrobid once again, for 7 days.

This worked until March 31st when I got my THIRD UTI within a little over a month. RIDICULOUS. I go to the same minute clinic, and the sweet lady gives me 5 days of Macrobid. My symptoms were extremely mild at this point, where nitrates were very low, but i still had a UTI. Something in me told me this wouldn’t be the end. During this entire time, I have changed my entire lifestyle. Less sex with my boyfriend (so unfortunate ☹️☹️) more water, even though i’m chronically dehydrated i’ve done a lot better with water!, not holding my pee, sleeping with no underwear and loose sweatpants, washing with dove bar soap gently, etc.

On May 1st, I felt symptoms once again. I once again went to the clinic, just a different location. The doctor was amazing, and had me try out Bactrim. She also walked me through with preventative measures and advice, where she suggested D Mannose. I have two pills left as of typing this. I’ll take one pill in about an hour and one tomorrow afternoon. Once I take those, I’ll be completely done with this run of antibiotics. It seems to have helped, other than a slight burning sensation when I went to pee twice last night, but none of that today. I don’t know if it was a flare up or if it was the Dove bar soap I had washed with about 20 minutes earlier. Im just very paranoid right now.

Is it normal for the same UTI to resurface a whole month after you take antibiotics for it?

This UTI has seriously been ruining my life. I had sex with my boyfriend for 11 months with absolutely ZERO issues. Even holding my pee for hours afterward with zero issues. Yuck! He is an EXTREMELY clean person and takes care of himself very well. We’ve tried washing hands and showering before having any sexual contact at all. I’ve spent hours crying to him saying how gross I feel and how this all feels like it’s my fault, even though I know deep down it isn’t. All of my cultures have came back for E. Coli. It makes me not want to be physically intimate anymore. Before all of this, our intimate life was beyond amazing. It still is, but I’ve been living every single day paranoid and fearful.

ADVICE NEEDED!!!:
Okay I’m actually going to get to the meat and potatoes of my post. I just had my mom order some D Mannose for me (don’t judge, I’m a broke college student and I’ve spent $120+ on treating this damn UTI.) and the capsules are 500mg each. I’ve read posts on here about people taking 2000mg and stuff. The serving size on the bottle says 2 pills, so I was assuming I take that every day. I would just like some guidance on this please! Should I take it after sex? How much should I take after sex? After I work out? I’m just unsure. Thank you for reading my lengthy post, any help is deeply deeply appreciated ❤️❤️❤️