[karilann]

Thought I'd share a bit of insight from my sister.
We were having a conversation about recurrent bladder infections. I told her I just had a culture done and it came out negative. Now they will do an ultra sound to check out my lady parts. blah blah blah.
Now I've had this all done before with pretty boring results....nothing wrong....however; I have this reoccurring bout of feeling like something is wrong "down there".
Now granted when I have the burning, gotta go right now feeling, I know its a bladder infection. So I take some AZO and chase it with a bottle or two of cranberry juice.
But more and more I have this feeling that something just doesn't feel right.
Long story short...my sister told me she went through this (she also has an autoimmune disease, Sojourns) and found out her urethra had atrophied and was irritated. Took a urologist to do a simple fix dealing with a large catheter and lots of water...ugh.
But I wanted to pass that along to any of you who may think you have something wrong (down there) and chalk it up to a low grade infection.

[Sam]

KarilAnn,
Be careful with the antibiotics. I know its tempting to self medicate when you have a problem and already have lost some faith in the medical community. If what you take does not kill the bacteria, be it the primary cause of the symptoms or secondary to a more serious problem, the bacteria that live through that dose of antibiotics will hand that resistance down to their "offspring". Eventually, you wind up with something that doesn't even improve the symptoms.

I know I'm the wrong gender to truly understand what women face with urinary and reproductive problems. However, sometimes what you "feel" is more accurate than what first line tests show. You live in your body and know it better than anyone else. Sometimes it takes another opinion or more indepth tests to find the problem. At any rate, frequent and reoccuring infections are not something to take lightly. Its not normal and certainly suggests that something else might be going on.

Sam

[Debbie D]

I agree with Sam...I always get ABs when I have any symptoms and the results are positive. I don't want my kidneys to suffer.

There are so many things that can go wrong with our elimination system...it's wise to have a specialist (I see a urogynecologist) who is familiar with MS and how it affects this system.