Others with UTIs from erosion?

I had TVT bladder sling surgery in 2010. All was good until 2016. From 2016 to 2018, I started having UTIs with microhematuria at a frequency of once every 3 months. I was put on 3 months of macrobid for prophylactic and did good for a while.

Four months later after finishing the prophylactic antibiotics, in May 2019, the UTI onslaught began. Since then, I have had 15 infections over 16 months. They have all been cultured or sent for DNA testing. Almost always, it is a different bacteria from the time before. I have been on daily prophylactic antibiotics for 13 months. I will spare the details of that journey. But, I left my last urology appointment with the doc wanting to implant an InterStim, which I thought might be the wrong thing to do. I felt like I was at the end of a long rope with no more options.


FINALLY, I found a place that has a mesh protocol to determine if the mesh is a problem (it is an academic center). They did a 3D Reconstructive Urethral ultrasound. It showed that the sling migrated a little and it has eroded into the urethral wall from the back side (between the vagina and urethra). The erosion is not complete and is about 2 mm from erupting into the lumen. That is why no one could see the issue on the cystoscopy.

The academic center does not accept my insurance, so I will be taking the test results to a local urogynecologist. I expect to discuss a surgical plan.

I have read some information about erosion into the vaginal wall. However, I have not read anything about eroding into the urethral wall. Is there anyone else out that that has had this particular type of erosion? If so, can you share your experience with me?

Also, did you get an MRI to look for any urethral diverticulum? The academic center mentioned this, but none of my other urologists had mentioned it previously.

I think that the prophylactic antibiotics may be a contributing factor to your recurrent UTIs. The problem is that antibiotics are indiscriminate killers that can't differentiate between the bad bacteria they're meant to target and the good bacteria that normally inhabit your urinary tract, keeping the bad guys in check; as a result, they kill off all the good guys, allowing the bad guys to take hold and multiply unchecked. The solution to this is to restore and support the good guys by taking a probiotic supplement. Ask your doctor about Floragen, a prescription product that contains the probiotic strain Lactobacillus acidophilus at a higher concentration than can be found in OTC supplements; for maximum benefit, take it at least 2 hours apart from the antibiotics, and for at least a week after you're done taking them. Best wishes for beating these infections soon, and for your continued health!

Thank you for your suggestion. I had been on probiotics for more than a year. We tried the prescription lactobacillus acidophilus, and it did not help curb the UTIs. I had four doctors recommend mesh removal, but two moved and two did not accept my insurance. I took the evidence back to the head of urology at the teaching hospital in my area. He said that there was no connection between UTIs and partial mesh erosion. That the connection only existed if the erosion was completely into the internal wall of the urethra. He told me that some women just get lots of infections and we don't know why. He refused to remove the mesh.

One of the docs not on my insurance suggested I see another doc in Dallas that she trained with. He works for the same large teaching hospital system. He just shook his head and said he could help me, that it needed to be removed. He said that mesh was shrinking and would continue until it had perforated through the urerethral wall. He took it out 5 weeks ago. I am still on prophylactic antibiotics, but have not yet had another infection. Only time will tell.