It was a Sunday and I woke up actually feeling refreshed and little pain. (Should have known it was too good to be true). Hubby and I enjoyed a nice lunch out without the kids and on our way home, I felt a twinge in my belly. I thought it was IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) because I had just ate and like clock work, I have to go to the bathroom. Thought nothing of it. About a hour later, I felt that twinge again. Ok, have to potty. Then all of the sudden, I couldn't see straight, my head was pounding, my heart was feeling like it was going to come out of my chest, I was breathing very hard and had this pain in my neck. Thought maybe straining while using the toilet was the problem but I wasn't straining that bad. This passed. I made it out to my chair and I sat there and thought "That was weird.". 10 minutes later, twinge in belly and holy hell all the sensations happened again!! But stronger!! Went back to the bathroom (I really don't know why I thought it was IBS at this point.), sat back down and thought "Maybe I should call 911? Am I having a heart attack?". It subsided,went back to my chair, worried, and pretty sure I should have called 911 after that one. But no, my stubborn self waited 5 minutes later after the twinge and the sensations came back for the 3rd time. My blood pressure was 194/95 and heart rate was 102. I just wanted to lay down. I couldn't keep my eyes open. My speech was slurred. Words kept escaping me. At one point I remember thinking that I felt drugged. My mouth became instantly extremely dry. Like I haven't drank anything in a week dry. I knew something was very, very wrong. In the ambulance, the paramedic tried to start an IV. I am and always have been an easy stick. Not this time. My blood vessels clamped down and he told me I was dehydrated. How the hell was I dehydrated? I drink? Hell, I just came from lunch where I ate and drank??
Once I was at the hospital, I tried to explain what was going on. Twinge became abdominal pain from the paramedic and I was desperately trying to say it was not abdominal pain in the traditional sense but my brain was not cooperating with my mouth so it took a bit to let them know that is was a twinge. I was able to eventually get out that sometimes I will have a UTI and not know it and that it causes neurological symptoms. Doc ordered tests along with testing my urine. As soon as I seen my urine, I knew it was a UTI. So, that got my nursing brain working. The twinge was my bladder having a spasm. Every time my bladder would spasm, that would send my autonomic system into hysterics. Increased my blood pressure, heart rate, made me instantly dehydrated, clamped down all my blood vessels which made it almost impossible to draw blood for tests. Of course since my brain and my mouth would not work together, all I could get out was "Autonomic problem damn it!".
I seriously thought I was having a heart attack. I didn't know what was going on. Scared the hell out of my kids and hubby. Scared the hell out of me.
Sure enough the urine analysis came back as did my white count. Positive for UTI and white count (indicates infection) was 23 (3.5-10.5 is normal). Friday before this happened I did have steroid epidural injection in my neck which helped increase that white count and fueled the infection.
I was given the antibiotic Levaquin, Pyridium (Phenazopyridine or Azo Standard) for bladder spams and Zofran for nausea.
I feel much better now. I know I had to make some changes. Decreased Pepsi aka my crack, increased water. I really hate water so I bought the flavoring drops to add to it. I'm such a kid at heart and was so excited when I seen this...
Sure enough the urine analysis came back as did my white count. Positive for UTI and white count (indicates infection) was 23 (3.5-10.5 is normal). Friday before this happened I did have steroid epidural injection in my neck which helped increase that white count and fueled the infection.
I was given the antibiotic Levaquin, Pyridium (Phenazopyridine or Azo Standard) for bladder spams and Zofran for nausea.
I feel much better now. I know I had to make some changes. Decreased Pepsi aka my crack, increased water. I really hate water so I bought the flavoring drops to add to it. I'm such a kid at heart and was so excited when I seen this...
No sugar, no calories and it's actually pretty good. Quick tip, don't follow the "1 squeeze per 8 oz of water". I have a 24 oz cup that I drink from. You only need 1 squeeze!
Since I don't know when I have a UTI because I don't have the normal symptoms, I bought UTI test strips for home. Once a week for now and then I'll start every other week. Just helps me to get a jump on it. You can get these from Wal-Mart fairly cheaply. Click... here for more information on ordering test strips from Wal-Mart in the US.
Hugs!!
Jenn
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