WOMEN’S BODIES: CYSTITIS. DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT
Acute cystitis
In every case of suspected cystitis the diagnosis should be confirmed by laboratory examination of the urine to identify any bacteria and see what antibiotics will get rid of them. A mid-stream urine specimen should be collected before any treatment is started. However, you will usually be given antibiotics at the first visit, especially if your doctor has looked at your urine under the microscope and seen that it contains pus and blood.
It’s important to check with your doctor when the laboratory report returns to make sure that you’re taking the right antibiotic, which should start to relieve symptoms within 24 hours. Most doctors also like to confirm that the infection has cleared completely by a follow-up urine test after you’ve finished the treatment course; this is particularly important if you’ve had recurrent infections.
It’s also very important to complete the full course of antibiotics. If you have a tendency to develop thrush when you take antibiotics, tell your doctor so that you can have some antifungal treatment on hand.
Here are some other ways to relieve the symptoms of an acute attack while waiting for specific treatment to work.
• Drink as much water as you can to dilute your urine and help flush out the infection.
• Empty your bladder whenever you feel the urge: never try to hold on if you have a urinary infection. Be sure to completely empty the bladder each time.
• Avoid coffee, strong tea, cola drinks (caffeine irritates the bladder) and alcohol.
• Take something to make your urine alkaline, such as a teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda in a glass of water, or one of the proprietary urinary alkalinisers your pharmacist will recommend.
• Avoid intercourse until all symptoms have gone.
Chronic and recurrent cystitis
If you have chronic or recurrent bladder symptoms it’s very important to have a thorough urinary tract examination so that the cause can be found and treated. Recurrent cystitis can be a symptom of mm serious conditions. Tests usually include X-rays of the kidneys and bladder and perhaps cystoscopy and biopsy of the
bladder lining. It’s also important to check that you’re not diabetic.
If you get repeated infections after sex (proved by bacteria being found in your urine), you should see a specialist urology to discover the cause of the problem. It may be that you have a chronic infection of the mucus-secreting glands near the urethral outlet, or some other bladder or urethral condition that can be corrected. Your doctor may advise you to take low-dose antibiotics daily to prevent further infections until the cause can be treated. However, bladder symptoms after sex aren’t always due to infection. It takes about eight hours for an infection to get established in the bladder, so if symptoms come on very soon after sex, they’re likely to be due to the urethral syndrome.
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