- Messages
- 326
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Diet only
Like many on this forum, I am prone to the occasional UTI. Generally, they are a nuisance more than anything and a short course of antibiotics soon has me on my feet. However, this weekend I had a totally different experience.
My symptoms started last Thursday when I started to feel run down and tired. By Friday this had expanded to include lots of visits to the toilet so I started drinking lots of water (6 glasses in 8 hours). However, the symptoms weren't that bad so I decided to weather it. What a mistake!
At 2am I woke up with nasty pains in my lower abdomen and by 3am it was so bad that I rang 111 as I had now stopped passing urine. There is no 24 hour medical care in my area so they recommended attending the local out of hours clinic between 11am and 3pm! By 7am I was in absolute agony and didn't know how I would last, so I rang 111 again begging for help. They reiterated what I had been told earlier, so I was left to suffer in extreme pain for a further 4 hours. Somehow I did last. I went to the clinic at 11am and they checked my BP (220/110) and BGs (10.9). They informed me my bladder was extremely full and I needed to be catheterised at a fairly local hospital and they couldn't do it despite the fact the nurse I was speaking to was a senior and prescribing nurse and catheterisation is taught to first year student nurses. By now I was in so much pain driving was impossible so they ordered an ambulance that took four hours to arrive. During this entire time I was given no treatment whatsoever and by now I was also experiencing pain in my kidneys.
Eventually I made it to the hospital where, within minutes of arrival, I was catheterised and experienced immediate and blessed relief! Interestingly, both the paramedic and later the nurse who catheterised me both commented on the appalling treatment I had received. Just to put this into context, the human bladder is apparently expected to hold approximately 500ml of urine. Between 3.30pm and 10pm I disposed of 6 litres of urine, as a result,I was kept in overnight as the surgeon was concerned about my kidneys. Thankfully, after several hours of medication my urine output stabilised and I was discharged.
So now I'm sat here with a slowly filling catheter bag that will stay on for a week, then next week they will check my prostate to explain the cause of the blockage.
So my learning from all this? First, don't ignore a UTI - get to a doctor ASAP. Second, accept my local medical service is abysmal and move as soon as possible.
My symptoms started last Thursday when I started to feel run down and tired. By Friday this had expanded to include lots of visits to the toilet so I started drinking lots of water (6 glasses in 8 hours). However, the symptoms weren't that bad so I decided to weather it. What a mistake!
At 2am I woke up with nasty pains in my lower abdomen and by 3am it was so bad that I rang 111 as I had now stopped passing urine. There is no 24 hour medical care in my area so they recommended attending the local out of hours clinic between 11am and 3pm! By 7am I was in absolute agony and didn't know how I would last, so I rang 111 again begging for help. They reiterated what I had been told earlier, so I was left to suffer in extreme pain for a further 4 hours. Somehow I did last. I went to the clinic at 11am and they checked my BP (220/110) and BGs (10.9). They informed me my bladder was extremely full and I needed to be catheterised at a fairly local hospital and they couldn't do it despite the fact the nurse I was speaking to was a senior and prescribing nurse and catheterisation is taught to first year student nurses. By now I was in so much pain driving was impossible so they ordered an ambulance that took four hours to arrive. During this entire time I was given no treatment whatsoever and by now I was also experiencing pain in my kidneys.
Eventually I made it to the hospital where, within minutes of arrival, I was catheterised and experienced immediate and blessed relief! Interestingly, both the paramedic and later the nurse who catheterised me both commented on the appalling treatment I had received. Just to put this into context, the human bladder is apparently expected to hold approximately 500ml of urine. Between 3.30pm and 10pm I disposed of 6 litres of urine, as a result,I was kept in overnight as the surgeon was concerned about my kidneys. Thankfully, after several hours of medication my urine output stabilised and I was discharged.
So now I'm sat here with a slowly filling catheter bag that will stay on for a week, then next week they will check my prostate to explain the cause of the blockage.
So my learning from all this? First, don't ignore a UTI - get to a doctor ASAP. Second, accept my local medical service is abysmal and move as soon as possible.