My Success Story

Scared I’m speaking to soon🤣 but fingers crossed I have hopefully overcome my bladder issues🤞🏼 for 2 and a half years I had been suffering with UTI symptoms including burning, pelvic pain, frequent urination etc. I got told it was anything but a UTI including IC, however this diagnosis never sat right with me. Since becoming sexually acitve I have been extremely prone to getting UTIs (every single time), this one was different as despite multiple rounds of antibiotics it wouldn’t go away. The health system in the UK were not willing to help me as my tests were showing as negative, so after a year, and many pointless NHS appointments where I was told it was IC or in my head, I resorted to private healthcare in desperation to get some help. I had multiple appointments with Catriona Anderson at Focus Medical Clinic, who was fantastic and very understanding, who confirmed my suspicions that it was most likely not IC and in fact an embedded UTI. To Resolve my symptoms, for the past 18 months I have been on continuous doses of antibiotics, gradually lowered from 4 a day to 0, Hiprex 3x a day, down to 1 a day and also a female probiotic. I also started seeing Dr Malde from Dr Anderson’s recommendation and began the Uromune vaccine. Since this treatment plan I have managed to have 0 symptoms for around 4 months, I continue to take the vaccine currently till the end of December, the probiotic and 1 hiprex a day (mainly because Iv developed some health anxiety that I’m scared it’ll come back but also as a preventative) I also do a lactic acid pessary once a week to kill ecoli in the vagina as it hasn’t been established why I’m so prone to getting UTIs, so this is apparently meant to help prevent that happening especially if I have sex so it can’t transfer the ecoli from my vagina that I seem to have to my bladder. My only concern right now is that I’m currently single so although I have conquered my bladder symptoms for now, I’m worried if I ever got in a relationship again I’m going to face these problems again, as apparently research isn’t advanced enough to find out why I’m so prone, however the doctors are confident my current regime of tablets would prevent UTIs during sex so I’ll have to see

If I could recommend anything it is seeing a private specialist about your problems as as great as the NHS can be, I think they’re severely behind in the research, knowledge and treatment options for IC/ bladder treatments as a whole, before meeting these doctors I had resigned myself to having constant pain and put my life and relationships on hold. I would also encourage to not fully resign yourself to the IC diagnosis incase it’s not! Dr Anderson said she had treated many women diagnosed with IC with UTI treatment and they had recovered so please please explore all the options to the fullest.