[gira]

Hi, I'm new here! I actually made this account just to talk about this.
So, a little general information:

• I'm an 18 year-old female
• I'm sexually active (only one partner and he doesn't have any std's or problems with his penis) and I have sex 1-2 times a week
• Uti's do not seem to be hereditary in my family.

I've read around A LOT of various forums about people with this problem, but I just want to put my situation out there so the answer is directed towards me (it'll make me feel better haha.)

Well, I got my first uti about 2 or 3 days after the second time I've ever had sex (August 2011), which is what makes me believe that's the reason. So, I had that, got antibiotics for 10 days, it went away. Then, I had an allergic reaction to sulfameth, so my doctor noted that, but the uti was gone.

I got my second uti in October 2011, a day after I had sex and we used a flavored condom. Same thing, got new augmentative antibiotics for 10 days. Since the condom was a different kind, I thought that maybe I was allergic to latex or the flavoring, so we started using nonlatex.

Then, in December 2011, I got a uti AGAIN around a week after I had sex. Instead of going to the doctor right away, I drank TONS of water and peed the pain away (after I peed, like, 15 times the burning/gross blood didn't show.) I assumed water was the cure because I had no symptoms for two days after that. Then, one morning I peed more than a couple drops of blood which really so scared me! My doctor thought it was odd that I got one every two months and had me get 2 ultrasounds for my bladder and kidneys, and multiple blood tests; they didn't really show anything that would cause utis. Along with that, I was sent to a pediatric nephrologist who said my kidneys were fine. The one thing that was odd was that an infection didn't show on the urine tests, just blood. My doctor still had me take the pills, except for 5 days, and it went away.

I didn't get another uti until late March 2012. I took another bloodtest and nothing was unusual and no infection on the urine test. Then I got antibiotics for 10 days to fix it. My doctor said it's probably uti's that just aren't showing on the tests since the antibiotics seem to get rid of them and the symptoms are the same (terrible burning and blood in urine.) So I was all better until...

Now . Same symptoms, same everything. I'm waiting for the doctor's office to open so I can go get antibiotics again.

But here's the doozy:
My doctor (pediatrician) doesn't know I'm sexually active, nor do my parents. Telling my parents is completely out of the question. And the only reason I won't tell my doctor is because she never makes my parents leave the room when I visit, and she's very...serious? I don't know the word, but she doesn't seem understanding and I feel like I can't tell her that I have sex. I feel like if I tell her, she would pose my problem as an emergency and "be forced" to tell my parents because my health is at risk.

My nephrologist knows, though. She had to look at my vagina, so she had everyone leave the room and asked me personal questions and i told her my parents don't know. This was all in December/January. She said I need to pee after sex, which I began doing. Like, I said I didn't get another uti til late March, which was passed 2 months from December, so I thought that was what caused them. But after March, I realized it wasn't. She gave me her number if I think I'm getting them because of sex, so I think I'll call her instead of my pediatrician.

Is there ANY other reason I could possibly be having these?
For a while, I ruled out sex only because I have sex often, and I didn't get them every time I had sex.
Any info would be helpful.

[gira]

I'm so confused! I want to delete this post because no one here helped, but there is no edit button. If an admin or someone sees this, can you please delete this somehow?

In case anyone's wondering, my nephrologist did not give me medicine. Instead, she told me to eat at least 4 oz. of plain yogurt every day, drink lots of water, and cranberry juice, too. I haven't had any problems yet!

[Ashlee T.]

Sorry Gira...there was a period of time in which the site experienced technical difficulties to the point that many of us couldn't access it. Indeed, some new posts were missed but we do all genuinely try to respond to new threads. Also, when a repeat topic is posted that many veteran members have responded to and responded to, alot of times we hope the poster will find their answers on other thread rather than us reposting the same thing again for each person.

I'm glad you're feeling much better. If you're going to a pediatric doctor as an 18 year old sexually active woman, I can totally understand why you'd feel uncomfortable. It also strikes me as odd that your parents go to the doctor with you at age 18. There is no legal reason they would need to.

Any sexually active woman needs to see an OBGYN. It's important to establish one early on. You're going to want to talk to them about many things and UTI's are one of them, sex is another, protection is another, etc. If you're sexually active you should be going in for your annual exam/pap smear. It's not as horrible as some make it seem, it's actually not bad at all in my opinion. It seems far less embarassing than your current situation and is absolutely important, especially if you're sexually active.

It sounds like your flora (internal PH levels) were off. Perhaps from frequent antibiotic use (if you have used antibiotics frequently?). Either way, the yogurt and cranberry are assisting in leveling that out. As she said, urinate after sex. Wipe front to back. Try to make sure that you are clean and he is clean prior to sex. I recommend taking an AZO cranberry tablet daily. It gets old having to drink the juice all the time, plus it's high in sugar and calories. You can get the tablets over the counter at Walmart, pop one a day and be done with it.

[chaya]

Did your doctor check you for diabetes and/or low renal threshold for glucose? Both conditions result in glucose (sugar) in the urine. Having sugar in the urine can cause frequent and more severe UTI's and yeast infections.

[lizzardb63]

I would get a OBGYN and you DON'T have to tell your parents. You are 18 years old and by law should get your privacy.