Infection

As I said in my last post, it seems I have an infection. Probably a bladder infection.

The test results came back Sunday morning, the office where I had originally been seen was closed, but others in the same organization were open, so I went to one on Sunday afternoon, saw a different practitioner, and we discussed everything.

She said the population of the Streptococcus anginosus was lower than they would normally treat (9,000 vs 100,000) but because of my symptoms she would go ahead and prescribe an antibiotic, as well as suggesting an over the counter med called AZO. Turns out this is short for phenazopyridine hydrochloride, a specific pain reliever for urinary tract pain.

The pharmacist helped me try to find the one she suggested, which in fact they didn’t have in stock. As I understood it, it had the addition of cranberry juice, vitamin C, and probiotics. I figured, well heck, I have all those things already, so no big deal. I ended up buying the house brand rather than the name brand. Why spend more money? The pharmacist told me that one of the side effects of this pain reliever is discoloration of the urine to bright orange. Man, he was not kidding, and I’m so glad he told me, as I might have freaked out a bit upon first pee.

So I have now taken half of my prescription, and all of the recommended doses of the pain reliever.

And I’m still feeling the same painful sensations upon the bladder emptying.

I’m wondering and hoping that it is about abscesses this particular strain is known for causing, and that maybe it will take a bit of time for those to heal? I don’t know. I’m not a doctor.

But I will be seeing the gyn-onc on Thursday, and all of this will be good data for him to decide whether my symptoms are worrisome to him or not. Maybe by then I’ll be feeling just fine. I definitely felt better yesterday than I have in days, so maybe I am on the mend.

Or maybe it was the placebo effect. Of course Lissa Rankin MD would say not to discount the placebo effect, that it shows that we can heal ourselves through positive belief. Well documented. As well as the nocebo effect where we can sicken ourselves through belief. Also well documented.

In any case, I’m in the middle of this little experiment. More news as events warrant.