UTI-like Symptoms Without Infection
Hey y’all! I have a question regarding some new symptoms I’ve been having over the last two months that are baffling me and leaving me feeling gaslit by my own body.
To start, I have been prone to UTIs in the past due to a birth defect that’s been fixed; went nearly 28 years without having another UTI until last year, when I had two. I had another one in April—all treated with antibiotics that I took the full course of.
Then in May, about 10 days before my period, I got those same symptoms again—burning, frequency, urgency, and what felt like bladder spasms when I peed. U/A came back negative & symptoms resolved without treatment after a day. Two days after that, I had what felt like yeast infection symptoms—internal & external vaginal/vulvular itching. Treated with OTC monistat, symptoms again resolved. Except when I started my period, and I had both UTI & yeast infection symptoms.
My PCP did an exam, said it looked like a yeast infection, collected & sent a vaginal swab, and gave me a 1x dose of fluconazole. The swab came back negative for BV and yeast infection, but she had me take the medication anyway since clinically it appeared like I had one. Either way after taking the pill my symptoms resolved and that was that.
Until I started my period last week, and the same symptoms came back. A day of UTI symptoms that resolved after taking a dose of AZO, then two days symptom free, a day of vulvular itching resolved with monistat, and then a day with all of the symptoms + nausea/vomiting. I went to the walk-in that day (this last Friday), and had a U/A & vaginal swab. Swab was again negative for BV/yeast/trich, and U/A had mild leukocytes but not much bacteria. The doctor thinks it may be an atypical UTI and started me on a week of an antibiotic based off the urine culture from my UTI in April, thinking I may be colonized with the bacteria that caused it then. My symptoms yesterday & today are: mild burning when i pee, peeing small amounts, and intermittent urethral pain.
I made an appt with my PCP for the 17th to see if i can get a referral to a uro-gynecologist per the walk-in doctor’s recommendation, but i am curious if anyone here has had these symptoms/symptom patterns before? I have never experienced urinary issues with my period before May, and I’m worried that this will be a new normal for me. It is also affecting my sex life as my boyfriend is worried that if we have sex on a symptom-free day that I’ll experience them the next day. I love him for that, but I also don’t want to live with something that will impact my sex life so significantly, and I’m hoping that maybe I can get some advice on how to manage that aspect?