Persistent Utis –What Is The Answer?

My Weekly’s favourite GP from TV and radio writes for you.

- Dr Sarah Jarvis

Do you ever find it intensely painful to pass water, have to rush to the loo every five minutes and suffer low tummy pain?

At least half of women get a urine infection at least once, and for many it’s a much more frequent misery. How can you reduce your risk?

The most common kind of urine infection is cystitis, or inflammation of your bladder and urethra – the tube your urine passes down when you wee. You have “recurrent” urine infections if at least two urine samples in 6 months, or 3 in a year, prove a bacterial infection. A kidney infection is more serious and makes you feel far more unwell.

Conditions causing similar symptoms include overactive bladder. So your doctor won’t make the diagnosis without checking a urine sample for signs of infection. In mild cases drinking lots of fluid and taking paracetamol can relieve symptoms while your body fights the infection. But if symptoms are severe or don’t settle, you’ll need antibiotics.