ASK FOR LONGER ANTIBIOTICS COURSE

FOR years, UTI treatment guidelines in the UK have specified that GPs should only issue three days of antibiotics to clear up an infection.

Yet it’s estimated that a third of patients fail to recover on this dose. This was never a problem when GPs would routinely see patients three days later for a follow-up – at which point more, or different, antibiotics would be prescribed if things weren’t improving.

But in the modern NHS, it’s almost impossible to get a prompt follow-up appointment, so many women end up back where they started – with another full-blown infection. Worse still, says the Chronic Urinary Tract Infection Campaign group – which lobbies for greater awareness on the condition – repeatedly taking three-day courses of antibiotics simply heightens the chances of a woman’s infection evolving into a long-term condition that could have a devastating effect on her life.

If you suffer recurrent UTIs that don’t normally respond to a three-day course, then don’t be afraid to demand five or even seven days of antibiotics.

Or ask your GP if you should try Hiprex (also known as methenamine hippurate) – a twice-daily antiseptic tablet that’s been around for decades but is not widely used as an alternative to antibiotics. It works by creating a hostile environment in the urine, which makes it hard for bacteria to grow.

Crucially, it can also be used for long periods as – unlike antibiotics – bacteria don’t develop resistance to it.

But stay away from Hiprex if you have kidney or liver problems, or gout, as it can make them worse.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently reviewing evidence on the drug to decide whether it should be deployed more widely in cases of hard-to-treat infections.