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Self Treatment: Do You Do This Too?
Wow, what a week. We adopted two new kittens who needed a home (and now one of them is having medical problems). We had auditions for my dance company (the first round) which required a whole lot of leg work (paperwork) and a whole lot of leg work (my legs). And I definitely am dealing with some sort of a bladder infection, while also waiting for more information on my cervical disc misery via the surgeon (who is thoroughly booked up and hard to reach).
How was your week? How are you feeling going into this one?
Having said all of that, you could understand why- when feeling these bladder infection type issues (and knowing I, like most CF women probably, have a history of UTIs, kidney stuff, and so on)- am not wanting to wait around forever to hear back from my doctors. I reached out to my PCP to let her know what was up, but since it was a weekend and I knew my week ahead was just as insane as the one behind, I took an OTC test (positive for infection) and started myself on Bactrim, since I had a bit of a previous bottle that I had paused due to stomach upset, and because that’s what is normally used in this case. I’ve done this before and know the protocol… but even so, I feel guilty about starting anything without my doctor deciding it first.
Real Talk: Do you ever self treat when it’s something fairly routine, and you have the meds on hand? (Assuming you also tell your doctor you started a medication, of course)
Is this just a me + UTI/Bladder thing, or is this all of us? (Be kind, of course, please, in your replies! Life is complicated, time is short, money is tight… and sometimes you just hurt too much to wait around for a very very very slow doctor reply)
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5 Replies
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I haven’t done this for a long time, but would definitely do so under the right circumstances (like yours) if I had the right meds (as you currently do). I’m sorry to hear that you’re dealing with another infection, especially amidst all the other things happening in your life right now. Isn’t that how it always seems to go though? Hoping for a quick recovery for both you and the baby kitten.
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Oh definitely I did this! If I had been waiting every time on friday evening with a starting exacerbation and fever until I could only hope to reach my doctor on monday afternoon, I would have probably been pushing up the daisies for a long time. I always keep a small supply of appropriate antibiotics just for cases like this. Don’t feel guilty, it’s not your fault that your doctors are out of order in the weekend, it’s the system. Just be sure to have a little chat with them on monday (“Hi doc, when you were away in the weekend and I could only talk to some stranger who knows sh*t about my medical history, I managed my own problem the best way I could – just to let you know. Any suggestions?”).
Hope your recovery is swift.
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Hi Paul,
or would it be more correct rather than pushing up the daisies you should read pushing up the Tulips.
Sorry Bailey, UTI’s are a bugger! Our CF Unit has prescribed a supply of Amoxicillin/clavulinate antibiotics for just this reason – so such infections can be jumped upon quickly.
Reva’s recent UTI was cultured but the report was that all they cultured were “normal faecal contaminates” (NFC) and they did not do a sensitivity. (Not bad when you do not have an anus nor any large intestine).
Next culture I will ask for identification and sensitivity even if they only culture NFC’s. I am concerned that there may be something quite resistent in there.
In cats my lab often failed to culture anything till we started looking for a small bacteria called Mycoplasma felis.
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😉
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Next culture grew Citrobacter freundii which is resistant to Amox/clav and Cephalosporins but sensitive to Trimethoprin.
I suspect that it was previously present but identifies a as ‘normal faecal flora’ and as such considerred not a cause of UTI. Its response to Bactrim which contains T was good.
Shows value in identifying even what may be thought harmless before dismissing it.
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