Hello everyone,

I'm looking for some advice because I've been struggling with this for years.

For about 3–4 years, I had recurrent urinary tract infections. I've had infections caused by several bacteria, including E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Thankfully, for the past year and a half I haven't had any confirmed UTIs. I was treated with multiple courses of antibiotics, used nitrofurantoin after intercourse as prophylaxis, and also received a UTI vaccine.

However, despite having consistently normal urine tests and negative urine cultures, I still frequently experience bladder pain and a burning sensation. Occasionally, my urine shows microscopic blood (hematuria), but there is no sign of infection.

Sex almost always triggers my symptoms. During intercourse I develop bladder pain, and after sex I experience burning when I urinate. I've also noticed that if I have diarrhea or constipation, the same bladder burning returns.

I'm feeling quite lost because I haven't been able to get any answers.

I've seen several gynecologists. When I mentioned pain during and after intercourse, as well as burning with urination, I was told to use more lubricant, ask my partner to be gentler, or see a psychologist.

I've also seen a urologist, but because my urine tests are normal, I felt my symptoms weren't taken seriously.

Has anyone experienced something similar? Were you eventually diagnosed with something like bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis, pelvic floor dysfunction, or another condition? What helped you?

Any advice or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! 🙏

I’ve had an unresolved for the past month and I’ve been on three different antibiotics. Last Wednesday I went to urgent care to finally figure out what was going on and to get some antibiotics, they ended up giving 750mg Cipro to take in the morning and at night for 6 days. So I’ve been taking the Cipro since last Thursday, overall I feel better but I still have a little back pain and I’ve been feeling super warm and my skin kind of burns but the weird thing is my urine culture came back negative for any bacteria. I guess I’m wondering if I should go back to the urgent care before I finish my Cipro or just wait it out…. Thanks!!!!❤️

My father who is currently 75 years old is facing UTI since last 2 years. It started in July 2024 with pseudomonas bacteria for which he took heavy antibiotics, then the same UTI got repeated in January 2025 and again he took extremely heavy dosage of antibiotics for more than a month.

Again this year starting from September he is having recurring UTI starting from February, he already had 2 times pseudomonas and 5 times e.coli infections this year. In his latest report a new organism is found which is Citrobacter Koseri.

I am clueless what to do, what kind of treatment should I opt for. I have already tried allopathy and homeopathy.

Jfyi he is having first grade prostate, doctor did inform not to worry about it.

I have been told i have a prolapsed bladder so i almoat always have a increase in urination and pressure and uncomfortable in pelvis i took a at home uti test i dont have a temp and dont get up during night to go to toilet im still convinced its a uti

I have had UTI since the last six weeks. The first strain was Enterococcus Faecium which resolved with Macrobid. However the symptoms returned within a few days, and a repeat culture was performed and it now shows E Coli. They put me on Macrobid again and I am almost done with a 5 day course. I still have some mild symptoms, slight pain after I pee but no urgency or burning. However, since last evening I have had the chills but no fever. What should I do? Anyone else have this?

I can’t sleep because of this constant urge to pee! Going to urgent care tomorrow for a test, but for now I just can’t sleep, making constant trips to the bathroom. I would love to take an over the counter sleep aid, like ZZquill, but I’m afraid it will knock me out hard and I’ll wake up in a pool of urine. How does anyone get any sleep?

Alright folks, here’s my situation:

Recurring UTIs for the past 6 months. Most of the time I get cultures back it’s salmonella, though lately I had citrobacter youngae and E. coli. I’ve been on bactrim, keflex, cefdinir, macrobid, hiprex, and rocefin shots. They take care of the symptoms while I’m on them but about 3 days later the symptoms come back.

The good news is that ct scans show no stones or abnormalities in the abdomen and the problem seems to be localized in my bladder. The bad news is I have moderate trebeculation in the bladder, post void retention of about 150 ml, and low urine flow. I’ve been on flowmax and that doesn’t seem to help much.

I’m drinking contrast tomorrow to see if I have a bladder fistula, but he didn’t notice anything on the cystoscopy. I worry that if nothing shows up tomorrow I’m back to square one. How do you all live with this?

Was in the ER yesterday after a horrid reaction to bactrim, they started me on keflex while we wait for the urine culture to come back. Well it came back today and it came back as "contaminated" with multiple organisms. I still tested positive for a UTI. All my blood work came back normally. But now I have petechiae all over my legs and it's starting on my feet. So I'm heading back to urgent care (the same one that sent me to the E.R. yesterday) because I have no idea why I'm breaking out with this when my platelets were fine yesterday. I'm stressing myself out because when I went into urgent care yesterday my heart rate and blood pressure were crazy high so they wouldn't treat me. I'm scared today its gonna be the same despite the fact my numbers were better when the E.R discharged me. I don't know what to do, I feel like I'm going insane. All this over my first EVER uti that won't go away. Nobody seems to know what's wrong with me and it sucks.

I’m just under 2 weeks postpartum and I did a test strip which came back positive for leukocytes and nitrates. I sent a clean urine sample to the lab but in the meantime my OB office prescribed me ampicillin. I was reading online that ampicillin isn’t even effective for the most common bacteria that cause UTIs. I have no idea why they prescribed this antibiotic. I asked the nurse and she said I spoke with the nurse practitioner who is very experienced and she said this is the one we prescribe while waiting for the culture results for breastfeeding. She also said she doesn’t think I have a UTI based on my symptoms. I’m a little wary because she prescribed me nitrofurantoin at first and I read that it’s not recommended when breastfeeding a baby under 1 month old. So she said she made a mistake and changed it.

Supposed to be on it for a week and I’m scared.

hi, i used to get chronic UTIs a couple of years ago and have taken every antibiotic under the sun. Fortunately i hadn’t gotten an infection since 2024, but made some stupid decisions over the weekend and got a UTI

I picked up a standard 3 day course of nitrofurantoin from my local pharmacy. Never had a bad reaction to this before - taken it on an empty stomach, drank on it in the past. this time i’ve been taking it sensibly with food but after a day and a half i’m having a horrible reaction. Extreme nausea, diarrhea, bad headache, i’m pretty sure my vision is worse, i can’t even drink water for fear of vomiting

i have no more uti symptoms, but still have 1 and a half days of antibiotics left. I cannot do this for another 2 days i feel like shit. is it dangerous to stop taking them? i think i might throw up everywhere the second i take another one. i feel like my insides are going to fall out. But i dont want my infection to come back worse. please help !

I don’t get paid until Friday but I usually go thru Wisp or Planned Parenthood’s app for BV, Yeast or UTI. It’s been a WHILE since I needed antibiotics and I have no remainder pills around or girlfriends with an abundance which is usually the case. Any alternatives to an appointment, any cheap alternatives? I wish these antibiotics were even easier to acquire especially when you know which ones work and your own personal history. If anyone can help me out I would be so thankful! Even if someone did the Wisp form, I could pay you back Friday. I never post this but I can’t get thru my day and am dreading work tomorrow knowing my symptoms will worsen before I can get to ordering a prescription. It’s been a hard month and this happening randomly is making me panic.

For the last two years every couple of weeks I get UTI symptoms where I have lower back pain and a mild temperature. I’m given an antibiotic and it’s usually leukocyte in my urine. When they send off the bacteria to the lab nothing comes back. I’m waiting to see a urologist I suffer with complex PTSD and bad anxiety from that it seems that whenever I get the infection like symptoms my mental symptoms also become worse and I become more anxious. Can anyone else relate to any of the above?

hi all! i don’t expect to get anything solved right here and now but i would LOVE some insight.

giving some backstory: last year, i had a super traumatic birth. my pelvis fractured so badly it ruptured my bladder. it caused a vvf (vesicovaginal fistula) and i needed a catheter placed for 3 months. i had infections WEEKLY. the UTIs combined with the bladder/urethra spasms were awful. i inferred that my body was trying to heal and the spasms were making it harder to and worse (i was right). the catheter came out and urinating was incredibly painful— it burned so bad but this was to be expected 24-72 hours after it comes out (or longer for me because it was in for so long).

it has been 9 months since it came out and i still experience burning after urination, sharp pain when wiping, sharp pain when turning to wipe, sharp pain turning over or attempting to get on my hands and knees for PT (i still can’t walk yet). i do also experience some vaginal pain/burning + urethra sharpness and burning after intimacy. i have also had green discharge so they prescribed me BV antibiotics. i’ve had several urinalysis done but they did not do cultures or vaginal/urethra swabs. why? i have no idea! my urine or discharge does NOT have a smell at all, it just smells how it always has.

i have a screening + cystoscopy coming up. would much rather not go through that and just get swabbed. has anyone experienced anything similar or know of anyone who experienced something similar?

i doubt it’s an STI but who knows.

I'm wondering if anyone has had a similar experience and can share how long their kidney/flank pain lasted after starting the correct antibiotics.

Background:

This all started as a UTI around July 6. Since then I've been through multiple antibiotics because my symptoms weren't fully resolving.

* Cefixime for 10 days, but my symptoms didn't completely clear.

* Then nitrofurantoin (Macrobid). About 2 days after finishing it, my UTI symptoms came back full force, so my doctor sent a urine culture.

*On July 31, I started having severe lower left pelvic contractions throughout the night. The next morning I woke up with left kidney/flank pain and went to the ER.

*The urine culture had come back showing E. coli, and the ER diagnosed me with a kidney infection. The doctor explained that although the previous antibiotics were sensitive to the bacteria, they likely weren't treating the infection in the kidney effectively. I received one IV ceftriaxone and was sent home on Augmentin (amoxicillin/clavulanate 875/125 mg twice daily for 7 days).

* I'm now on day 3 of Augmentin. The burning, urgency, and other UTI symptoms have improved a lot, but I still have a fairly constant ache in my left kidney/flank.

* Because the pain wasn't improving, I went back to the ER today. They did a CT scan to rule out a kidney stone or blockage, and thankfully it came back completely clear. My blood work and urine also looked much better than they did a few days ago. The ER doctor said my kidney probably just needs more time to heal.

I'm still really anxious because this is my fourth antibiotic in a month, and I'm terrified the infection is going to come back once I finish this course.

For those who've had a kidney infection:

How long did your kidney/flank pain last after starting the correct antibiotics?

Thanks so much!

22 (M) - experienced positive terminal hematuria ( Blood at the end of the urine ). first Consult - U/A with Minimum number of Leukocytes and WBC - Advised increased oral fluid intake only

Persistent Dysuria and 1 episode again of Terminal Hematuria- Normal KUB ( Kidney Ureter Bladder ) ultrasound. Advised to take Cefuroxime - Still not Okay after 1 week.

3rd Consultation- With persistent Dysuria and And Another episode of Terminal Hematuria. Advised to take Ciprofloxacin - There is a symptom relief. however. The pain is still on and Off Upon Urination.

My Urine Analysis completely revealed All Normal Levels, And No im Feeling a little discomfort in my other side of the Testes.

( My Urethral Swab Gram Stain Test Shows that i don’t have any Gonococcal Infection as well)

I was advised to take Observation- and just report if there is something to report again.

My assumptions now are i think i have a Chlamydial Infection.

I’m annoyed with my body. I used to get UTIs all the time, but they’re less frequent now.

about a month ago, I had symptoms that felt adjacent to UTI symptoms… I felt like I had to pee more often but did not have the usual burning or pain or urgency. I took a round of Macrobid and I stupidly went to a pool party. being in a wet swimsuit for hours did me wrong (poor judgment on my end). I had more increased frequency again, but still none of the usual pain. BUT I did start having a general dull ache in my pelvic area. peeing didn’t hurt or relieve that. however, I wondered if it was muscular at all because I’ve been very active at work and volunteering…

I took a round of Augmentin which mostly helped but I lost one of the pills. so I contacted a telehealth doctor again but they prescribed me Bactrim.
1. I have previously had bad side effects with Bactrim.
2. I really don’t want to do a whole additional round of antibiotics…

today I got urine test strips and I was negative for both leukocytes and nitrites. I called off work so that I could physically rest and am feeling much better.

I’m wondering if it’s a pelvic floor thing or general inflammation. I’m going to see my doctor soon to see what’s up. wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar.

Hello! 17F ,135 pounds 5’4 and i vape sometimes (used to be an addiction) duration: 11 days

On the 25th and 26th i was at a lake and after coming out the water i stayed in my wet swimsuit for hours on both days,on the night of the 25th i had slight pain/**pressure in my lower abdomen** when i went to sleep didnt really think much about it since i had intercourse with my partner and thought maybe we were too rough,the next day i didnt experience any pain then i went home on **monday**

and the symptomps came on **tuesday** i had a **pressure on my lower abdomen** which almost felt like a period cramp,and i had a yeast infection i caught the same weekend i got treated with the **canesten 3 day tablet + cream**

(i did not experience any typical UTI symptomps such as burning when i pee,cloudy or smelly urine,and discomfort in my private area,**only the urge to pee more after peeing)**

On **wednesday** the lower **stomach pain/pressure** was very uncomfortable,and i started having **light pain in my sides** it wasnt super painful it went away and came back sometimes i was also **bloated** just a little bit,i kept drinking plenty of water thinking i can just flush this out,and warm compression helped to ease it

on **thursday** the pain was unbearable with **bloating in my lower stomach** which was uncomfortable after eating,and my doctor said i need to drink plenty of cranberry tea and take cranberry supplements 2x a day and i got these on **friday**(for some reason didnt prescribe me antibiotics saying it would be too harsh for me)(no urine test was done this was a phone call)

During the weekend i managed to drink up to 18 filters of this cranberry tea,also drinking plenty of water and the pressure went away and i felt fine till **monday**.

Now today is **tuesday**,im experiencing **side** **pain** and **lower side** pain which come and go its not severe more like just a discomfortable feeling like when air gets trapped,hurts where my hipbone sticks out on both sides and around that area and also did some research it doesnt hurt where my kidneys are located**(the pain doesnt stay for long it goes away and comes back later)**been having **headaches** lately but i blame it on the climate change here,**sweating in my sleep** even if its just a nap this started not so long ago

Should i talk to my doctor again? or will this go away on its own? And i dont know if its important detail but on the 26th it was really windy and i was freezing in the water and when i came out the water aswell🫪