Poorly

[lnr]

OK symptoms:

I've had something similar to mild cystitis for a few days, needing to go to the loo lots, feeling like you need to pee even when you don't seem to, slight burning sensation when actually doing so. I've been drinking lots of water in an attempt to flush it out and it was seeming to get better but isn't so great today. I hadn't drunk much other than coffee and red wine yesterday though, and have tried to drink more water since.

Yesterday I had a stomach ache which felt a bit like period cramps, but was at least a few days early for that, and was rather stronger than usual. I had one very loose bowel movement and figured some sort of digestive system bug, although I was still feeling achy afterwards. I seem to have had rather too many days where my digestive system is a bit dicky over the last few months though.

But neither sickness or diarrhoea since then, and I'm still aching, but more in my lower back, just to the left of my spine, and it seems to ache most when I stay still, regardless of position, rather than when I move. Reluctant to take painkillers when my digestive system is being weird.

Doctor's appt at 10, see what he thinks of the above. Unsure whether to discuss ADs with him too, or to wait and make an appt with Dr Perry later in the week.

Comments

[emperor]

Hm. You'll need to make sure the doc you see today knows you're on ADs, so it may be worth talking to them about them anyhow...

[lnr]

Well, apparently I have a urinary tract infection of some sort, which is probably what's causing the pain in my lower back as well, and could be related to the dodgy guts. Urine sample gone off for more tests, anti-biotics to take and instructions to drink lemon barley water by the gallon. (Apparently there are expensive sachets of stuff you can buy, or you can just use bicarb of soda in water, but lemon barley tastes nicer than the latter, is cheaper than the former and works just as well). Took forever to get this diagnosis though and get the drugs and barley water because everywhere was running slow. Will work from home today until I've got the hang of how often all this drinking is going to make me run to the loo, and hopefully some ibuprofen will fix the back pain.

[marnameow.livejournal.com]

Ibuprofen may also make dodgy-tummy dodgier, though. Paracetamol may be gentler, though less effective. Or ibuprofen gel rubbed in.

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

Low-dose paracetamol with codeine (pharmacy counters sell it) is actually very good for dodgy tummies, as the codeine can have a slight constipating effect - irritating when you're in good order otherwise, but a very useful side-effect in this kind of case. Plus the paracetamol is not so likely to make the stomach upset worse, and the codeine means it works better. You just have to be careful about not getting hooked on it. :-/

[lnr]

Went for paracetamol in the end (since there are some hefty ones left from when rjk had his toe done) seems to have helped. See how I feel later. Might get a nap now that I might be able to sleep better though. Although after a litre of barley water so far I may just be continually interrupted by my bladder instead.

[k425.livejournal.com]

Cranberry juice is good too. Helps to restore the acid/alkali balance in your bladder (I can't remember which it's supposed to be but the infection usually pushes it the other way). Whatever you're drinking (water/barley water/cranberry etc, not tea/coffee/wine!) You need to be looking at 1/2-1 pint an hour. You won't notice the colour of your wee when you wee - this is A Good Thing. If the pain in your lower back gets worse go back to your doctor as you /might/ be looking at an infection that's tracked back to your kidneys. Of itself this is not something to panic about but can warrant stronger painkillers. I've only had cystitis a couple of times in my life. I've had back-tracked renal infections twice that must have started off in my bladder but were asymptomatic, and they were bad enough to hope you don't have that problem

Oh, and remember to check with the pharmacist whether the antibiotics affect your pill - some antibiotics kill the pill but not all, so it's worth checking.

Oh, and remember too that antibiotics can cause a) thrush and b) dicky guts. Live yoghurt can help with that.

[kaet.livejournal.com]

Fwiw, I've had a stomach ache/cramps/dodginess and mild UTD the past couple of days. I thought it was related to the end of this odd thing I had with the sore throat, rash, and other weird collection of symptoms. The most annoying thing about it is that it stopped me sleeping last night, which means I'll only have half a day again, :(.

[hollyp.livejournal.com]

I'll second the cranberry juice. It (and blueberries) have a chemical in them which actually prevent bacteria from adhering to the walls of the bladder, thereby making the infection go away faster and not come back. If you can, get cran juice that's not sugar sweetened (sweetened with other fruit juice instead), as the sugar acts as food for the bacteria. We have tons of options here, but I don't recall there being as many for cranberry juice there. I drink a glass of it each day, and it's kept me UTI, etc. free for about 7 years.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_nicolai_/]

Being a bloke, my need for medicinal cranberry juice is limited (but not zero, urine infections in blokes make doctors go "This isn't supposed to happen" and they get quite curious), but I would love to know where to get just cranberry juice in the UK (and not "cranberry juice drink" that's 10% juice, 15% sugar, and the rest water and junk). It's good for cocktails :)

Nicolai

[marnameow.livejournal.com]

If you find a source please let me know? I love proper cheek-sucking-in cranberry juice and detest the sugared-up versions.

[damerell.livejournal.com]

They didn't say "this isn't supposed to happen", they said "how would you like to pay" - with my luck, the one and only time it happens to me, I was in California (for work, natch) - and, being used to civilised medicine, it's not like I look up work's medical insurance details before calling an ambulance when I piss a load of blood in the middle of the night. Apparently the solution to this problem is to pretend to be a confused British guy, because they did treat me purely on the strength of my word.

[Apparently, judging by the $1,000 ambulance bill I got later, two things are true; Americans are expected to _guess_ whether they need an ambulance in the middle of the night when they piss blood, and seriously consider taking a taxi; and it would have been cheaper to fly back to the UK right away and see my GP than to go to a hospital in the USA let alone be treated by them.]

Another top but gross tip is not to have a nice really hot bath while recovering, because then you pass chunks and that Fucking Hurts.

[lnr]

Eeeeeeuuuuwwww!

Thankfully I am not that ill.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_nicolai_/]

But would you have made it through the 20-minute-or-so of takeoff without needing the toilet?
Ick, definitely. I wasn't that ill, I went to my GP before I got that ill too. Boringly, Addenbrooke's recent policy is only to ultrasound-scan male kidneys if you have multiple waterwork troubles, not just one, which makes perfect sense to my geeky troubleshooting skills but denied me a close look at some technology I haven't seen before.
The doctor said "Don't worry, you won't go in the same door as all the pregnant women". Like I would care, if they got annoyed I would merely be pointing out that men get ill too.

[damerell.livejournal.com]

If I'd known that I didn't have eg kidney failure (which they assume it is and act accordingly until your blood and urine tests come back, because if it's not you've been on a drip for a few hours which is OK, but if it _is_ kidney failure and you weren't put on a drip right away it might kill you) and it was safe to spend a day getting back to my GP - which of course is the rub - I'd have worn plastic pants, I guess. Ick again.