Urinary Tract Infections ???

I don't know where to begin....except that Im sick and tired of dealing with the burning when I pee....I had a TAH years around 10 years ago. On the third day post op I was placed on Premarin 6.25. I took that until last year, when I was diagnosed with high blood pressure, and general dr. took me off. I have history of heart disease and cancer in my family. My problem is I am on NO hormones at all...I can deal with the hot flashes, and Im not even moody. But what I cannot deal with is the UTI that I get almost every single time my husband and I have sex. I did get UTI sometimes before I stopped taking the Premarin, but now its much more often. I have one right now...and Im questioning why I ever had the H to begin with, Im wondering if I should see a urologist, a gynocologist, my general dr. or WHO??? My husband and I use K-Yjelly, and I use the astro glide, but it doesn't seem to matter what I use to help with moisture, I still will sometimes get the UTI's...I also drink water ALL DAY LONG...and I pee right after sex, I wipe from front to back. I have even told my husband that we can have sex, but it has to be quick, because the longer it last, the greater my risk of getting a UTI....he used to be very angry about it all...But during the summer, he developed a bladder infection, was treated by a urologist, and at one time was believed to have bladder cancer (turned out he had a real bad infection due to a chemical he was exposed to on the farm...dangerous stuff I know) Since he suffered an infection, he is now much more sympathetic to what I feel. (I used to pray that he would get just one infection, so he would understand, and now he does) But I want to be intimate with my husband, I want to have sex with him without having to spend the next three days peeing razor blades..I want to see a Dr. who can actually help, without making the matter worse...Im very willing to see whoever I need to...Im only 41, my husband and I have been married almost 20 years, we have a good marriage and I dont want this to interfere with it..Im sorry for rambling...but I pray someone on here has some words of wisdom and information for me......

Dear Deltagal, please know you are not alone. When you said it feels like razor blades - oh boy did that push buttons for me. I had my hysterectomy almost two years ago and in the first 15 months, I had 11 documented UTIs. And they hurt. And hurt, and hurt. I missed a lot of work and wanted to just die from the pain.

So this is how I got help - first I was seeing a urologist in Fort Wayne for over a year for this problem. Not once did he mention or offer to give me vaginal estrogen. If you do any reading, you will see that is an almost guaranteed fix (or big help) for this problem. What I ended up doing was going to a urogynecology specialist in Indianapolis for help last March. I was so miserable I wanted to die. Well, they took one look at my atrophied vagina and knew right away what a huge part of the problem was - no estrogen to support the tissues!

I have to back up a step here. I had a total hysterectomy and a TVT sling placed (vaginally) inside me by a urologist to help support the urethra because I leaked every time I sneezed or coughed. Anyway, that trama alone hurt my urethra because the urologist pulled the sling too tight and it moved the urethra out of place, which was making it more suseptable to infections. So every time my husband and I had relations - bam - bladder infection. So I was instructed to take a Macrobid every time we were close. Sometimes this would work, but most times not.

Okay, so I get to Indy and saw some top doctors. They put me on Vagifem for 14 days (back in March) then three times a week after that. I was not a believer until about the sixth week, then viola, the tissue started to get thicker and good bye continuous bladder infections. I also found out through reading and through the doctors at IU Med Center that the patch helps with UTI pain in regard to estrogen loss but the pills do not. Until last March I was taking oral estradiol and was miserable. Once I started the Vivelle Dot patch and added the Vagifem, the relief was wonderful.

Unfortunately, what I did then was go up too high on the dose (for me) to a .1 in a patch and that caused me to become estrogen dominant. I felt so darn good to have the bladder pain gone I kept increasing my dose. It was too much. So now I am back to a .025 patch (but I can tell it is too low) and am using a Vagifem every night.

I see the doctor tomorrow and I want to up my patch to a .0375 Vivelle and use the Vagifem five nights a week. I will not go any lower than four nights a week on this lower patch because even now I have tinges of bladder irritation. So I am working hard to find my balance but it would NEVER be possible without the Vagifem. My bladder symptoms are so bad that I need a patch as well for the continuous estrogen.

Please get to your doctor ASAP and get some estrogen in those tissues. They will explain the safety of Vagifem to you and what dose will work for you. Many breast cancer survivors use Vagifem because it does not raise the blood levels too high. From the insert, if you use it every day, it can raise your level to about 50 ng, which is at the low end. So if you use it only 3 - 4 days a week, the levels stay even lower.

I love it and have felt the best on this type of estrogen. I had a breast cancer scare in April and have to be watched closely. I had a biopsy at which time eight micro-calcifications were removed so I can not use a lot of estrogen.

Good luck to you and please get some help. There is no need to suffer like that. I too did the gallons of water, no coffee, not acid foods , no vitamin C (still can't tolerate this one because it does make my urethra burn), wipe front to back, etc. Nothing helped until I got estrogen in that area.

You take good care and let me know you are okay - Lisa

I, too have had UTIs and in August my women's health center doctor ordered a full work up with the bladder and kidneys just to make sure nothing anatomical was causing them. Perhaps you need this done. The urologist who did my workup found no problems at all but told me it was good that I am using the Estring (a vaginal estrogen ring inserted for 90 days) because it supports the vaginal and urinary tract tissues. He did say that I could go on a preventative medication if I wanted, but I am just documenting my UTIs at this point - and this month I ended up with another one. Luckily he had written me a prescription in advance so I had something to take right away. If I were you I would see the urologist and ask about estrogen and also this prevetative medication.

I agree that the vaginal estrogen (cream or the inserted pills) is the way to go for support for the urinary tract. My doctor told me long ago that both the oral estrogen and the patch may not send enough estrogen to the vaginal and urinary tract area. This is exactly what I found. Now I am on both the Vivelle Dot (.375) and the Estring for estrogen repacement, and also testosterone cream (for libido and well-being). I have never been on oral HRT, as my doctor started me on the patch immediately after my surgery, and I've been using that ever since. I believe that the patch is much safer as I've heard the medication doesn't go through the liver.

Hi Ester. I have a prescription for the preventative if I want to start taking it. It is for Macrodantin, one daily for an indefinite period of time. I am keeping this as a back-up if I ever get really bad again. I once had the UTI go into my kidney and I was on this for nine months.

Anyway, I have thought of using the Estring but I like the Vagifem so I think I will stick with it for now. Although Estring sure sounds like a lot less hassle.

I am on Vivelle .025 but plan to bump it up today to the .0375. It seems a lot of women really like that dose. The .05 seems to cause dizziness and breast pain for me, but the .025 is just a tad too low and I am waking up every hour, so .0375 is next for me. I agree with you too regarding the patch over the pill; I am afraid of blood clots because I developed a large one right after my surgery and I don't want to go through that again.

Take care, Lisa

Hi Deltagal,
I suffered for years not knowing that it was the lack of estrogen was causing all the pain and burning. It took a woman urologist to tell me that I desperately needed estrogen cream to help with the vaginal atrophy. I even had a cytoscope to rule out bladder problems. I get so angry when I think of the all the pain I experienced because I wasn't using vaginal estrogen. I was put on Premarin for a few weeks to speed the healing. I saw my gynocologist last week and she said I was 3 now with 10 being the worse for atropy. A few months ago I was an 8. So, needless to say I was happy that I was finally building up normal tisssue. I hope you get some help ASAP.
Good luck!
Trish M.

Well I went to see a Dr. yesterday. My regular Dr. wasn't available so the Dr. I did see didn't know me at all, and I am sure wasn't familiar with my history. He prescribed the usual antibiotics for the infection (although he said there were very few trace amounts of bacteria in my urine) Yeah right, tell me that first thing in the morning when it HURTS too pee !!!!!! I also discussed vaginal estrogen with him and specifically requested Vagifem. I haven't started using it yet, I want to give the antibiotics a few days to help with the infection. The Dr. pretty much told me life is a trade off, meaning my blood pressure is a problem, but I might not have as many UTI's. He and I didn't connect, I still don't think he understood my frustration. I asked him about seeing a urologist, and he said that it wouldn't be unwarranted. So Im going to give the Vagifme a chance to work, and if I am still not happy, then Im going to see a urologist. DeltaGal

i had my hytst 4 yrs ago and immediately i started burning when i would use the bathroom, after sex,(later on), and then all day. all of my tests came back normal and i mean i had alot of tests for UTI's. i was on Augmentin the highest dose for 2 wks, nothing helped. after 3 years my gyn told me it was atrophy and gave me a patch (climara) and estrace cream. i didn't like the cream so she put me on vagifem which is a wonder drug. i am no longer on the patch but i am taking remifemin and right now i don't even need the vagifem. The reason i am telling all of this is it might not be a UTI. It feels just like one when you have vaginal atrophy and it is miserable. You will feel so much better after you start the vagifem. I noticed a difference in the 2nd week. good luck.

deltagal,

I too have UTI's if my estrogen gets low. I either have to take hrt or vaginal estrogen cream for this not to happen.

I hope you have good results with your Vagifem. It may take a little time for it to work, but if that doesn't work, then ask for the cream. It is a little messy, but is very soothing and moisturizing.

Let us know how you do.

s

The more I read about Vegifem the more positive Im feeling about this being a solution to my problem. Does every woman who does not take estrogen in some form experience vaginal atrophy??? The media has given me such a scare about HRT and Im sure many other women, that Im wondering how many women are suffering from the same symptoms. My SIL had a TAH around 4 years ago, and she has the same complaints about vaginal dryness and its effected her sex life of course. I also read that to help with atrophy you should continue to have sex often to keep the tissue flexible. I dont know about that one.....I mean how can you continue something that is painful? Does anyone find themselves feeling resentful about their H? I feel like I may not have been given all the information I needed before the H. I also thought I would be able to take Premarin for the rest of my life...Thanks for all the replies...hopefully in a couple of weeks I can report that my symptoms are better, and that my blood pressure is normal. Deltagal

Hey All!

I am glad that I am not alone! I had my TAH about 4yrs ago and I too suffer from UTI's. I am on the vivelle dot .1 and estratest cream. The cream does wonders for me. I still get UTI's occasionally, especially if I don't use enough lubicrant during sex. ALso after taking antibotics I always get an yeast infection! This cycle of infections is awfel. If I keep using estrast cream it seems to help with my bladder issues. I wish I would of never had the surgery and could of kept my ovaries!!


Lissa Marie