My Mom has had constant UTIs for many years. She will get off one antibiotic, then a few days later, another UTI. Any suggestions?

For my mom a daily probiotic and a cranberry supplement has seemed to extend the time between infections. We try to encourage the water but she drinks very little. Sister and I repeatedly talk about changing positions while on the toilet to empty her bladder better.
We only know she has an infection primarily by her extreme change in mood,
urine order very strong and cloudy. She never has pain and I suspect she has pelvic nerve damage from four large babies delivered. I have no other ideas.

Use a gentle non fragrant body wash and laundry detergent.

My mom experienced the same thing. In fact, if she acted out of character (based on her new norm) then we had her tested. She eventually had extensive testing and they found that her muscles were weak and her bladder was naturally tipped such that she was never able to fully empty it. I'm sure the diaper didn't help! Some antibiotics were so bad that she'd cry at just the thought of having to take them. I wish I had a good answer. It's absolutely miserable for them. I'd suggest getting educated on the testing that labs do. She can have a UTI but they call it negative if it isn't so bad yet. (It's been a while since I had to know this so I'm afraid I can't give you the details. ) Then you have to test 3-5 days later. Good luck!

have mom take a Pro-Biotic supplement every day.
My mom went through the same thing.
we used Nature's Way Probiotic Pearls for Womens vaginal and digestive health.
But a less expensive one may work just as well.

Have you tried Cipro? I have to self-cath 3 times per day and I had the same problem with UTIs.

My 90 yr. old mom just got out of the hospital with a serious kidney and blood infection probably brought on by her constant uti’s as well. They have advised us to ask her doctor about low dose daily antibiotics. I have not heard about d-mannose. It is worth trying first? I wonder if it is strong enough.

I would first recommend an appointment with a Urologist for a complete workup. It may show an anatomical cause. Have her increase water intake, flavored
if she prefers, but at least 8 glasses to flush bladder. Encourage her to urinate when needed and to not hold it, and change panties if wet. Switch her bath soap to one without fragrance, hypoallergenic, and launder her undergarments with fragrance free detergent. UTI's can be very dangerous if advanced. Constant intake of antibiotics is not good for anyone.

I wonder if it's a lot of sitting without getting up and just moving around even a little bit. I think older people tend to sit way too much! Perhaps, trying to get the patient up at least every hour to walk for about five minutes.

Uqora! Google it. My 87 yr. old mother has had frequent UTIs and she’s been taking this for 4 months and hasn’t had one since taking this. She is taking 2 pills every day of the “ Control” and so far it’s working!

Hi Hatethis
Have your mother been checked out by a urologist to see if her bladder is completely emptying? Also, have you tried getting her to drink something like cran grape juice? Anyway, just a few suggestions. God bless you and hope you find something that works, because UTI'S are terrible.

First find out if she has a pessary inside her that you are not aware of. They need to be taken out and cleaned every three months. At 94 moms gynecologist finally removed hers. Apparently after wearing for a long time your bladder will stay in place. A pessary will cause UTI’s if not cleaned properly. My mom her last two years was on a low dose antibiotic daily. This was a life saver for her and me. Mom used to get UTI’s monthly. One actually hospitalized her with Sepsis. Best of luck to you finding a solution.

Hopefully the urine tests are cultures AND you wait at least 3 days after completing the course of antibiotics. The culture determines the exact type of bacteria and therefore narrows the choices of antibiotics to one more specific for that bacteria.

I had a urologist tell me that if I were to get recurring UTIs, like 3 in a row, then it would be at least a 6 month course of antibiotics. Thankfully it never got that bad!

My mother was one to have multiple UTIs every year. I wasn't involved in her care at that time (she was much younger and self-sufficient), so I don't know if testing was done or if they just Rxed antibiotics. She finally went to the urologist and was Dxed with Interstitial Cystitis. This condition can cause symptoms that might mimic UTIs, painful urination, etc.

Ensure she gets sufficient hydration (avoid over-hydration, that has it's own issues - mom did that too!) One problem that can lead to multiple UTIs is not voiding completely:

"If the bladder cannot be completely emptied, so-called residual urine remains. Since the rinsing of the bladder is impaired, germs can easily settle on the inner wall of the bladder and cause infections. This encourages as well the formation of urinary stones."
Source: https://www.uromed.eu

Mom was given some type of catheters to use each time she went, to get rid of the remainder. Special foods to eat/not eat as well. Not a good choice for someone with dementia. Unfortunately as we get older, once most of the urine is voided, the "urge" isn't there and it's too easy to end up with left over urine in the bladder. Funny that she finally got sick of all of it and just stopped with the catheter things and the diet. For whatever reason, the UTIs and/or IC seemed to subside as well. She didn't have another UTI or complaints for a long time - first UTI in MC resulted in sun-downing, the only time she ever experienced that! Subsequent UTIs (1-2) after that presented as night time bed wetting (soaking!!!)

So, if/when the next one occurs, get a urine culture. If it shows up again after treatment, consult with a urologist. If it truly is bacterial, she may have to stay on the antibiotics longer. If it isn't, it may be Interstitial Cystitis (or some other bladder condition.)

My 90-year-old mother had a long history of UTIs. Even with some dementia she was aware of wiping front to back. Her doctor finally put her on a low-dose of antibiotics and then she got a UTI on the antibiotics. At that point he heard my request and went ahead and prescribed d-mannose daily for her in her care home. You don’t need a prescription for it, I got mine online in a powder form and they mixed it with some juice every day. But without the prescription I couldn’t get the aids to give it to her every day. For the last five years of her life she was UTI free. I swear by d-mannose. It is only a simple sugar that has the unique ability to stick to the inside of the bladder by keeping bacteria from adhering to it.Usually a teaspoon a day is enough to keep the UTIs away. Best of luck!

Unfortunately our story seems the same as yours. My Aunt lives in a Nursing Home and gets frequent UTI's and we can usually can tell by what she says that the dementia is increasing which means the UTI is coming back and it is very upsetting that they will not test her for it unless she has a temperature. We did get them to put her on a daily low dose antibiotic which works pretty good for her. You have the problem of resistance to the drug but I personally would rather try to keep a handle on it and not let it get so bad and wait for a temperature which means a much wider spread infection.

D-mannose was like a miracle for me personally. I was getting upwards of four UTIs a year no matter what I did, and many went into kidney. This was a decade ago. I have no UTI for the decade after taking one D-mannose a day. The capsules are big, but tasteless to slightly sweet if you break open and dump in a drink, east ti take. I use the Source Natural product from Amazon, about 120 capsules for 30.00 so it is certainly worth a try.

Has the doc done a culture of the urine? That will determine the type of infection and determine the antibiotic for best treatment.

Get appointment with a urologist. There are some urologist that specialize in female plumbing.

Do you assist with her toileting, or does she clean herself? Either way, make sure all wiping and cleanup is done front-to-back, and use baby wipes for both urine and BM cleaning. If she's wearing incontinence underwear, frequent changes are mandatory.

I also made sure my mother drank plenty of water to keep things moving. The easiest way for me to keep track was to line up four 8-oz. bottles of water on her little desk every morning, but I had to keep reminding her to "guzzle up" throughout the day. She hated it, but I kept on her, and as a result she suffered only one UTI in the 12 years she was in my home.