Bladder Infection/Exercise

[ACG]

I have had a recent problem (the last year) with bladder infections. I am also training for a 1/2 marathon in september.

Tomorrow I am supposed to run 11 miles, I have a bladder infection now and a doctor's appt in a few hours.

So should I try and run it? I'm on the fence I need to train but don't want to make myself worse.

This is so frustrating.

[OakLeaf]

I'm not a doctor or anything.

But it seems to me that as long as you can stay well hydrated and pee when you need to, if you're not too uncomfortable to run, it shouldn't be a problem. Do you have a way to carry enough water for your whole run, or places you can top your bottles off along the way? Are there convenient stores, parks, woods or cornfields where you can pee? [Edit: whoops, your location isn't visible from the reply window. I guess in SoCal you won't have woods or cornfields. :p)

I wonder if dehydration isn't your problem to begin with. Have you been weighing yourself before and after a run? That won't tell you if you're dehydrated to begin with, obviously, but at least you'd know if you're replacing the fluids you lose on a run.

Also, I'd tend to think that you should be replacing electrolytes right along with the water for the time being, even for a run of that distance. Endurolytes, Nuun, Zym, homebrew, whatever. You don't want electrolyte losses making you want to pee even MORE often.

Hope you feel better soon. UTIs are miserable.

[badger]

may I recommend using d-Mannose? I used to have recurrent UTIs a couple of years ago and hated taking antibiotics for them because I'll get yeast infections afterwards. D-Mannose is a natural sugar that doesn't interfere with your blood sugar levels, and it REALLY works, both at curing the infection as well as preventing them.

The only drawback is it's a bit pricey. But it's totally worth it. I found that www.iherb.com has the best price for them.

[artifactos]

ACG, I hope that you are seeing a doctor about your recurring UTIs. And that you are perhaps getting prevention tips from your doctor, including potentially an antibiotic to take if you feel an infection coming on or know that an activity you participated in has put you at very high risk of one.

When I was getting recurring UTIs, I took cranberry pills as well as drinking cranberry juice, as well as tons of water, and daily multivitamins as well. I can't really imagine running (and especially not cycling!) while experiencing the pain and discomfort of a UTI, but I suppose I might be able to handle it if I took Azo to help with the pain. And only if I could deal with the great kool-aid colored stains in my underwear..

[indysteel]

Sorry if this is too much information, but thanks to a short uretha, I get UTIs just from having intercourse. I love my husband, but he literally makes me sick. :(

I'm now on a prophylactic antibiotic that I take right after sex. I tried the various homeopathic remedies, but none reliably worked and the anticipatory anxiety about getting another UTI was just about as bad as the UTIs themselves (nothing gets me out of the mood than chronic pain).

In any event, after working with a urologist, we decided that the antibiotic was the best way to proceed. I can try to go off of it any time I want, but for right now, I'm okay with this approach. The first antibiotic he put me on caused some side effects; the second one has worked just swell. It's not ideal, but neither are UTIs.

I will say that I generally exercised during my UTIs, but most of my discomfort went away within the first 24 hours after beginning antibiotics. To be honest, the yeast infections that inevitably followed probably caused me more discomfort in terms of cycling. You might try something like Uristat for the temporary relief of your discomfort.

I certainly would urge you to get a handle on what's causing the UTIs. Hydration is obviously important, as is regularly trips to the bathroom, and empting your bladder completely with each trip. I had several tests done, including an ultrasound of my kidneys and bladder, to rule out any thing serious. There are also some tests your urologist can do to make sure that your bladder is filling and emptying properly.

[ACG]

K, back from the doctor. Thanks for the advice. Here is what happened.

Urine sample showed no infection. I do have blood in my urine. I've had blood in my urine for months now. Months ago he thought I had a kidney stone and I had a CT Scan done and it showed nothing. Then he did this other bladder test, looking for cancer, nothing. Anyway, he still thinks I have a kidney stone but it is too small, it has moved or I may have expelled it yesterday.

Yesterday right after I ate lunch; Spinach, walnut, cranberry salad made at home the pain started. No back pain, all front kidney pain.

I had to pee constantly and was in constant pain, until about 9pm. At that point I took 3 advil and prayed. Woke up at 12:30, pain gone. Wierd.

He wants me to write down everything I eat for the next two weeks and give him a call. He gave me a prescription for pain pills, I had taking pills.

So really I don't know. I feel good now so I'm running tomorrow and biking on Sunday.

Thanks to you all

[badger]

Indy, I, too, have to be careful with intercourse and UTIs. Please, if nothing other than to say you gave it a shot, try d-mannose. I take it every time I have intercourse, just as a precautionary measure, and touch wood, I haven't had a UTI in about 3 years.

[indysteel]

Badger, thanks for the tip. I would be willing to give it a try. Do you notice any side effects from it?

When I first started the prophylactic antibiotic, my doctor indicated that it could be that my uretha/kidneys just needed a break to heal. With that in mind, he suggested that I try the drugs for three months and then stop. When that time came, however, I sort of freaked out with anxiety over it.

Having one UTI is a drag. Having five in short succession makes you kind of crazy. I just wanted to enjoy sex with my partner without worrying about it. While I did decrease my dosage from every night to just as needed, I decided not to forego it altogether. Doc has been very patient and undestanding with me and I do not suffer from any known sideeffects (emphasis on the known). Still, I don't like taking an antibiotic every day.

Sorry again if this is too much information. I've actually come to understand that this is much more common that I first thought, so if this helps somebody else out there, I'm willing to share.

[maillotpois]

How much of that D Mannose do you take and how often? Just curious.

I will go through cycles where I get several UTIs in a few months, then none, then several more. (Yes, perhaps the recurrence is from not completely curing the original infection, so we do rotate the kind of antibiotic). It would be nice to have another weapon in the arsenal than the cranberry pills and Azo.

[badger]

there's absolutely not side effects from d-mannose. I've taken both the powder form (hey, it's just like sugar, so you can even take it in your tea/coffee. I take mine straight up and chase it with water), and pill form (perfect for traveling).

I've not gotten a UTI while taking d-mannose as a preventative measure, but I HAVE gotten it when I stupidly forgot to take it with me on holiday. I suffered for 5 days in England while I waited for it to be delivered via snail mail, and at that point I was taking a teaspoon every hour. By the second hour I was experiencing some relief, and by the third I was feeling so much better.

For prevention I take either 1 teaspoon, or 1 pill before if I remember it, or after getting me some lovin' ;)

[artifactos]

Have any of you with recurring UTIs actually had a doctor do a culture to ensure that the antibiotic is the right one for the bacteria type? I've had two cases where I've been on X antibiotic for 2-3 days before the culture came in and then got switched to another because the first wouldn't have been fully effective. If they don't automatically order one, I ask for a culture on my initial visit to a doctor for a UTI so I don't have to go back multiple times to get it fixed.

[maillotpois]

Have any of you with recurring UTIs actually had a doctor do a culture to ensure that the antibiotic is the right one for the bacteria type? I've had two cases where I've been on X antibiotic for 2-3 days before the culture came in and then got switched to another because the first wouldn't have been fully effective. If they don't automatically order one, I ask for a culture on my initial visit to a doctor for a UTI so I don't have to go back multiple times to get it fixed.

Yes - most times they'll insist on doing a culture. Sometimes I can't get in right away and they won't give me anything before I go in.

[badger]

Have any of you with recurring UTIs actually had a doctor do a culture to ensure that the antibiotic is the right one for the bacteria type? I've had two cases where I've been on X antibiotic for 2-3 days before the culture came in and then got switched to another because the first wouldn't have been fully effective. If they don't automatically order one, I ask for a culture on my initial visit to a doctor for a UTI so I don't have to go back multiple times to get it fixed.


yes, I had this once where I was given a prescription when I visited and once the results came back they determined what I was taking wouldn't be as effective as another type of antibiotic.

[indysteel]

You know, that's a good question. I think they've cultured at least some of mine, but not all. It's been 18 months since my last one, so I'm fuzzy on certain details now.

[Zen]

No back pain, all front kidney pain.


I'm asking this out of semi-ignorance but wouldn't kidney pain be in the back?

[Chicken Little]

Do you guys know what you're growing in the urine? I would be so careful about the prophylactic use of ABX to prevent UTI's. The urologist you saw, what did he say was the mechanism of infection? Your anatomy?

Has anyone of you with this problem had a negative urine culture and had their physician suggest prophylactic ABX anyway?

To be discreet, both partners are washing well before and peeing after making the human pretzel, right?

[indysteel]

Do you guys know what you're growing in the urine? I would be so careful about the prophylactic use of ABX to prevent UTI's. The urologist you saw, what did he say was the mechanism of infection? Your anatomy?

Has anyone of you with this problem had a negative urine culture and had their physician suggest prophylactic ABX anyway?

To be discreet, both partners are washing well before and peeing after making the human pretzel, right?

My anatomy is to blame in that I have a short uretha. Yes, we're both clean and I pee both before and after sex. I still got UTIs even with those measures.

Having talked at length about this with my urologist, I'm relatively comfortable taking the antibiotic. It's just one pill with a very narrow spectrum on an as needed basis. I've experienced no side effects from it. I certainly prefer this to getting recurrent UTIs and having to take strong drugs like Cipro to treat them. I likely will try to go off of it at some point to just see what happens, but I'm okay with it for now.

[Chicken Little]

Indy steel- do you happen to remember exactly what the bug was that you grew? And, as a crazy question, perhaps has either you or your partner ever been treated for malaria?

[indysteel]

Indy steel- do you happen to remember exactly what the bug was that you grew? And, as a crazy question, perhaps has either you or your partner ever been treated for malaria?

No to both questions. I haven't had a UTI since late 2008, so I can't remember what kind of bacteria was present.

[Chicken Little]

Well, no bladder infections for 2 years blows all my medical sleuthing. Good for you, and carry on.