Hi Hope
I think defeating UTIs depends on what other bladder issues you have. For example, are you emptying your bladder properly? If you are retaining urine in your bladder, you’ll find you get more UTIs. If you haven’t seen a continence / bowel and bladder nurse, then perhaps you should get an appointment, I believe either your GP or MS nurse can refer you but you can also self refer. They can use an ultrasound scanner on your bladder to check how much you are retaining. If you are retaining urine, there are things you can do to empty better, from changing your seating position on the loo (putting your feet up on something is the easiest). The urology nurse can talk about other techniques.
Then there’s what you put into your bladder, you’ve said cranberry juice is a no no, but are cranberry tablets the same? Or there’s something called D-Mannose, this is a supplement that many people swear by. It’s worth a try. It supposedly makes your bladder an unfriendly place for bacteria to live. You should also make sure you are drinking enough water. When you’ve perhaps been getting urge frequency, people often drink less before bed to combat the times they have to get up in the night. The problem with this is that overnight, if you have less diluted urine sitting in your bladder, you’re more likely to get a UTI. Many people also cut out caffeine to help their bladder, so you could try cutting it out.
Also, I don’t want to suggest that you (or anyone else) is at fault here, but there’s cleanliness. Keeping clean is more than a matter of washing hands and keeping ‘down below’ clean, it’s also about what you touch outside of the house. You can get small bottles of antibacterial hand gel to use when your away from home, they’re not foolproof, they don’t kill off all bacteria, but it’s a help. And if you think about what you touch when you use a public loo, it’s worth a try to avoid getting bacteria anywhere near your urethra. I’ve become a bit particular about using antibac gel all the time when I’m out of the house.
I do intermittent self catheterisation, which is useful for people who are either incontinent or aren’t emptying properly. It makes keeping clear of UTIs even more important, and often more difficult. I mostly manage by keeping absolutely scrupulously clean, having good ‘clean’ technique for using catheters and by taking D-Mannose when I go on holiday, as I’ve found that I generally only get UTIs when I’ve been using unfamiliar loos. I think I’ve only had one UTI in about 18 months.
Lastly, make sure that the antibiotics you are given are the right ones for the specific bacteria you have. To do this, ensure that the sample’s been sent to the lab and that they’ve clearly identified the correct antibiotic. If you have trouble taking Nitroferantoin, either ask your surgery if there is another antibiotic suitable, or get some Omeprazole to protect your stomach while you’re on the antibiotics.
Sue