[QUAD-L] UTI

[Lana Baugh]

My son, Gabe has a C4-5 injury. He is nine years post. He is straight cathed about every four hours. He had a lot of bladder problems, spasms, infections and pain.The doc was great however, she never mentioned several things to us because she didn't think it was necessary or that we didn't have access to the care.So we had to research and dig and I hope these things can be helpful to you.   1. If your generic ditropan-or what ever you take isn't working well, it might be that you need name brand. Helped Gabe.   2.If your bladder spasm meds aren't working maybe you have built up a tolerance and need to switch for a couple months then go back to the med. Gabe builds up a tolerance every 2-3 years.   3. If your oral antibiotic isn't working you can "instill" the antibiotic directly into the bladder. It's easy. We have done it several times. The doc said she didn't mention it because she didn't think we had a nurse that could do it. First time around a nurse helped after that the doc just worked with us. A pharmacy can mix up the antibiotic into sterile water or if you don't have a pharmacy that will do that the doc can just write up an RX  for a vial of an antibiotic and you can mix it at home with sterile water.  To do it you just need to have an empty bladder, a 30 mm syringe with out needle. a cath in the bladder, sterile gloves- draw out the prescribed amount of fluid and instill the antibiotic into the bladder through the cath. We have a protocol so we can keep every thing sterile. Gabe had a bacteria that I guess only infects the lungs. He was on antibiotic for three months. We did the instillation and it kicked the bugs a....   I hope these ideas help.   Lana, mom