I started having reaccurent UTIs (incl.2 kidney infections) about 7 years ago. I had them when I was very young, but didn’t get them again until adulthood (when I also became sexually active). I heard and tried all the hygiene rules and health tips…cranberry pills, urinating after intercourse etc. which only helped somewhat. I remember spending miserable nights at walk-in centers in the middle of the night. I had started to feel a psychological impact of whether I was ever going to ween myself off of UTIs.

I have recently been diagnosed with a double ureter, one which empties into the urethra. This diagnosis has taken a lot of time and various examinations to determine. I thought that something physical could be determined ASAP, I went through two rounds of testing, and many of them had come back inconclusive. I was even passed over from one urologist to another for further investigation, before determining that there was definitely a physical reason for my history with UTIs. I am waiting on further testing to determine a course of action.

I do have a major suggestion for people struggling through UTI’s: phenazopyridine. Those purple pills they give you along with antibiotics to help alleviate the symptoms of a UTI Once I discovered my doctor was willing to prescribe me these, and I could take them at the onset of an infection and go see my doctor the next day during regular office hours, and not have to wait in a medi-center at 3am, not have to load myself with ibprofen before going to the medicenter, after that a lot of the stress surrounding UTI’s left and subsequently so did the frequency of infections. Also I don’t think medi-centers were are that helpful, because I was dealing with a different doctor each time. My last UTI was 9months ago, and I feel pride that now UTI’s are no longer my main source of stress.