UTI ... help?!?

[starling&diesel]

I just struggled on foot through the snow to go to the local clinic for my in-between-midwife-appointment (she's three hours away, so agreed that I could do one visit here with a doc, one there with her because of the distance) ... so I saw a doctor today. She's actually a friend, which helps.

My pee strip showed a crap load of leukocytes and a trace of blood, indicating a urinary infection. She prescribed keflex (cephalexin). She's not normally an antibiotic pusher, but because of the condition of my urine, she felt strongly about treating it.

Should I take it? I can't get a hold of my midwife. If I do, when should I space my probiotics to best utlize them? What else can I do to avoid a yeast infection as a result from the antibiotic? Yogurt, cranberry juice, probiotics ... anything else?

This sucks. :

[kssinca]

I don't know about cranberry juice and preventing yeast infections. I thought cranberry juice was just for UTIs.

I had a UTI and bacterical vaginosis early on in my pregnancy and I took an antibiotic but I forgot which it was now. Afterwards, I ate yogurt more frequently and took probiotics and started blow-drying my crotch area after showers.

[kayleesmom]

i Got a uti with my first and it sent me into preterm labor. so yep i would take the antis. and also get some acidephlus for after to prevent a yeast infection and get some cranberry pills to help with the UTI. good luck keep us posted.

[nighten]

The cranberry helps prevent bacteria from clinging to the walls of your urinary tract, I think? So it won't hurt, for sure -- but needs to be in unsweetened form. Take diluted juice from concentrate, or powdered and encapsulated. I take it daily to help prevent UTI (and potentially GBS as well), and for the Vitamin C.

Take probiotics at least two hours after and/or before taking the antibiotics. That should allow the a/bx enough time to work. Make sure you're taking a probiotic that has live cultures which are not dependent on pH in your gut to thrive, if possible. Dr Ohhira's brand is fantastic. Most effective probiotic I've encountered. It really, really, works.

But if your local HFS doesn't have Dr Ohhira's or an equally good form of probiotics, you need something now. So get some plain yogurt and eat it, avoid as much sugary foods and yeasty foods as possible, until you get some good probiotics. Take the probiotics five days beyond when you're finished with the a/bx. It's not a bad idea to take them daily during pregnancy (and beyond even), so continuing on after would be fine. But typically I take probiotics three times daily when working to prevent yeast overgrowth. I take once daily for maintenance. Twice daily if my stomach's feeling unsettled.

I would likely take the antibiotics if I were you, given your situation (three hours from your primary midwife, etc., and presumably not in an easy place to be retested in 7 days?). And honestly, I hate taking antibiotics. But given that UTIs can turn into kidney infections and those can cause problems in pregnancy (plus they're damned painful), unless you have access to colloidal silver and/or grapefruit seed extract, I'd take the a/bx. The good thing is that if you were to get a yeast infection, you should have plenty of time to deal with it before baby's born (which means no thrush).

There was a mama here (Larissa) who, early on, was able to treat her UTI naturally (despite those folks like me fussing at her for it ). Check the early threads here:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...&highlight=uti

and here:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...&highlight=uti

...for tips that might help if you're wanting to hold off on starting the a/bx.

Interesting site on the different a/bx:

http://www.aafp.org/afp/20000201/713.html

Sorry you're dealing with this and hope it clears up very soon.

[mama2simon]

I also had a uti at 35 weeks with my first child and ended up in preterm labor as well (resulting in meds to stop the labor). I would definitely take it .

[Larissa]

I understand the fear of preterm labor. But I would still opt for the natural treatment. I have found that the natural treatment works just as well and without killing everything that's good in your body at the same time. If you are proactive about the treatment along with drinking a TON of water, it will work just as well as antibiotics. I had a horrible UTI infection at about 18 weeks, and was able to treat it in a matter of 7 days naturally. I went in to be rechecked, and even had it cultured, and there was no trace of bacteria after my natural treatment.
So, it really comes down to what you are comfortable doing. I feel extremely comfortable treating just about everything without the use of antibiotics, but I know that happens to be my comfort level. . . and not everyone else's. But I feel strongly enough about the damage that antibiotics can do to avoid them. And I have done an enormous amount of research in homeopathics to feel comfortable with alternative treatment.

[starling&diesel]

Thanks for your feedback and advice, everyone!
After talking to my midwife, I've opted to do the course of ABX, along with a regimen of pure cranberry/blueberry juice, yogurt and probiotics and a candida diet. It's not ideal, but I think I'm okay with erring on the side of caution in this case.
My midwife suggested using the probiotic capsules as a vaginal suppository ... have any of you done this?
Thanks again!

[nighten]

I haven't done the vaginal suppository thing while pregnant, but if your midwife recommended it, then I'd follow her advice if you're comfortable with it (in addition to the oral version too). Presumably do it at night, since gravity might give you some issues?

Good luck with it all! Sorry you're having to deal with it.