Ending my UTIs

So, I've shared my story about dealing with menopause (lowered estrogen) related UTIs, now let's get down to the nitty gritty of what worked for me. Keep in mind, I'm a life coach, not a medical professional, I'm sharing information in the hopes that it is helpful, but it should be used as a springboard for questions to ask your doctor about what course of treatments are right for you or your loved ones that are dealing with this, not regarded as medical advice. When the initial courses of antibiotics I'd been taking were only working temporarily, but not fully healing the UTIs for good, I dove in and did a ton of online research as I was concerned about developing an antibiotic resistant infection, which did happen. The antibiotics were able to help with the e-coli UTI bugs, the most common type, but after insisting on being referred to a urologist and having more testing done I found out that I was dealing with Enterococcus Faecalis (E. faecalis) which I believe I had gotten from my last hospital stay. E. faecalis can be very serious and is increasingly becoming antibiotic resistant, it was exactly what I'd been afraid of. I knew I needed tons of prayer and a plan to bomb this thing and prevent it from coming back for good. I consulted with my ob/gyn, a urologist and got a second opinion from my sleeve surgeon about the best course of antibiotics, because I trust his opinion. May sound a little strange since it's not his specialty but I consult with him and his team for a lot of my health care and he was there for my other hospitalizations that weren't sleeve related as well. It's super important to get the tests you need to find out what bacteria you're dealing with and what antibiotics these bugs may be resistant to so that you can target them with what will work. In my case there were still a few antibiotics to try, I was prescribed two and one of them had black box warnings and so I declined that treatment. The other was, Macrobid, (nitrofurantoin) which I'd already taken previously and hadn't noticed side effects and it did help, but this time I was going to take it for a longer period to be sure I got rid of this thing for good. That's not to say I endorse Macrobid, or that it doesn't have warnings or side effects, I chose it because it had helped previously and I seemed to do fine on it, but of course I was concerned about taking it again and for a longer period of time. It just seemed the lesser of two evils at that point, and I prayed about it and made that decision. It was the right one for me, but again, it's super important to consult with your healthcare team, get the testing and cultures needed to know what you're dealing with, and then go to battle with the right medication and tools. Armed with the antibiotic, prayer, and a plan I began that course of treatment. While on the medication I gathered what I was going to need for the second phase of battle that I started after the antibiotic. I went back to the ob/gyn to get checked out more thoroughly and to ask about possible vaginal atrophy, which I'd just learned was a thing in researching for uti info, and requesting to be put on vaginal estrogen if she thought it would help. I really had to advocate for myself during this process and push for the help I needed, which I've learned now is sadly the case for many women. My concerns about the seriousness of what I was dealing with was poo-pooed by several professionals until I pointed out that I could die if an infection reached my kidneys, or turned septic with no antibiotic to help, and asked what they would do if it were their mother or family member facing this? I'd never gotten this bold in standing up for myself before but I was serious, and frankly I was getting mad, for not only myself, but the millions of other women who are treated (or not treated!) and have been harmed or even have died unnecessarily from lack of care or outdated information. Reluctant to prescribe the vaginal estrogen (estradiol cream) without me jumping through some hoops, and because I didn't look "too bad" down there for my age, my ob/gyn insisted I provide my last mammogram results and then would only allow me a trial of Premarin, which I did not want to use for humanitarian reasons, and then after the trial she would prescribe estradiol cream. I told her my concerns about Premarin but she insisted that it was the only way for me to get to the estradiol prescription that I felt was better, safer, and more humane. Because I felt desperate, and time was of the essence in not letting the bacteria take hold again, (it had taken weeks to get in to see anyone) I agreed and began the trial dose of Premarin. Again, I want to inject here that women's health care needs to be taken more seriously. I'll write more about dealing with vaginal atrophy on another post, but to say I didn't look "too bad" because I wasn't excessively bleeding and tearing down there from her exam is ludicrous. I shared with her about painful intercourse, and clearly had been having recurrent UTIs that were now becoming, in my opinion, life-threatening. This was a world class ob/gyn center in an affluent area and she came highly recommended. She acknowledged that I likely had vaginal atrophy before she even began her exam, so the hesitancy to prescribe the estradiol cream with me having no history of cancers really caught me off guard. It made me even more concerned about women who don't have access to this "quality" of care that I had. Along with the Premarin, with I ditched as soon as I got my hands on estradiol cream, some of the other UTI tools that I used in my arsenal were: PACs, the brand I used was Utiva D-Mannose Powder Vitamin C

Vaginal Moisturizer Once I'd finished the course of antibiotics and utilized these other tools I've mentioned my last urinary tract infection was healed and I've been UTI free for a year and a half now. I'm so thankful and my intention in sharing my story is to help you, or someone you love, with dealing with UTIs or other issues caused or exacerbated by declining estrogen.

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"Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise." Jeremiah 17:14 "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits--who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases" Psalm 103: 2-3 "Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul." 3 John 1:2