Severe constipation and groin/lower abdominal pain

I would always ask for Bactrin if I had an UTI - for difficult to treat UTIs there are other antibiotics available too.

Except you're neither one! Gheez Miller get a hold of yourself.

That may have been the case in the year 2003, but it is certainly not the case in the year 2014,in any Harvard-teaching hospital in Boston and the rest of Massachusetts.

As far as seeing a "good physician", we in the Boston area, as well as in the whole of Massachusetts are blessed by having some of the best Harvard-trained physicians in the World.

I might also add, that Chicago physicians are excellent as are many of the hospitals in Chicago.

Of course, my dear, you are wrong again.

No, she was prescribed Cipro based on a verbal list of symptoms. The culture came back negative and she stopped taking the antibiotics after two days. What was severe was the resultant c-diff infection.

It sounds like a trip to an emergency room might be in order.

Unless you secure a timely appointment to see a gastroenterologist of course.

Cipro is one of the most feared antibiotics by patients and doctors hand them out like candy... There's a whole list of things you can't eat, take or do, not to mention the common side effects and complications.

A doctor told us they're supposed to have this questionnaire thing and make sure you already didn't have symptoms such as constipation, since it's one of the harshest antibiotics you can take and it strips pretty much all bacteria in your gut and intestines.

The original doctor that prescribed that cipro "wasn't sure" if she had a uti or not so he just gave that and we had no idea what that stuff did until we researched.

Our emergency center sucks here and they literally don't want to see us anymore. They told us to go see our doctor and they refuse to help us with that now.

Somebody needed a bladder suspension surgery here and the surgeons scalpel blade broke off and went into his bladder and needed to stay an extra 25 days because of other complications. I always hear of problems and get scared of going for how incompetent they are so we try the clinics. (which are a million times better)

We made it into our clinic but the waiting time for a gastroenterologist is going to be at least two months.

We had no idea on that until after using it, she just got a bottle of APO-Sulfatrim DS 800/160MG. Doctor said that it's the easiest on the system and should work pretty good.

He has a replacement yes, but she's extremely busy so the appointment was supposed to be in like three weeks to see her. Our town is short on doctors so it's really hard to see anybody; forget seeing a specialist.

Thank you for the suggestion! I'll see if I can get a hold of that stuff.

Expect if you listen to the people it sucks, even being on it for the first day can cause horrible side effects and they're not rare. There are so many antibiotics cipro shouldn't be just thrown in your face just because it works, how about start lower and work up?

Good! The sulfa drugs should help - let her drink some cranberry juice along with it. It helps alleviate the pain.

Looking at the problems/delays, I have to ask if you are British.

I'll have to get some of that today.

She had a minor Uti in May and was prescribed antiboitics. What I didn't notice is that on the medication history slip it said she was given Cipro XL at 1,000MG! Her cramps then constipation started later that month and progressively got worse, maybe that's what started it?

I swear they just give that because it's high in killing bacteria, that's hardcore stuff and shouldn't just be used for Uti's...

Is there any teaching hospital anywhere near you - even a few hours drive a way? Lots of university hospitals are teaching hospitals, and they have clinics, and mine near me has a gastroenterology clinic.

When I first moved from California to New Mexico, I badly had to get my eye pressure checked (long story) and I called UNM eye clinic and they wanted to give me an appointment in a couple of months, and I was persistent about a complicated eye history and immediate need, and they got me in the next week.

I see you are in Canada. I'm not all that familiar with what you can do there as a patient-with-friend team, but maybe.

There was one other time I bulled my way into being seen, that when I was in a city I used to live in and moved from, and was back there getting a mammogram and regular gyno visit. Turned out the mammo was positive and I wanted to be see there instead of the new small town that was several hundred miles away, for the biopsy. I argued and argued at the breast cancer desk and finally the head administrator type said ok, if you will wait.
(I'm ok, that was almost 15 years ago.)

Another poster on a2k is a similarly strong minded broad re medical situations, to good effect. What to say, be persistent but courteous at the same time.

Not that I'm aware of, we have one main hospital and three walk-in clinics, other than that I haven't been able to find anything.

She was told to buy microlax enema tubes, so we'll see how that works out.

Nah I'm Canadian, I live in B.C. xD

I saw you guys were trying something new a couple posts up.

If that doesn't work, I recommend a trip to Vancouver, this hospital specifically:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UBC_Hospital

Which I believe is tied to this medical school:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UBC_Faculty_of_Medicine

This should guarantee a certain level of competence.


The wiki article for the hospital says they have a walk-in clinic:

"The UBC Hospital Urgent Care Centre [3] offers specialized treatment for non-life-threatening emergencies by emergency trained physicians and nurses. It is capable of treating allergies, asthma, broken bones, cuts that need stitches, eye problems, fevers, flus, IV therapy, minor burns, nosebleeds, skin infections and sprains and other conditions. The UBC Hospital Urgent Care Centre also offers a range of diagnostic services and testing including X-rays, blood tests, Ultrasound, CT scans and ECGs. The Urgent Care Centre is open daily from 8 am to 10 pm. Appointments are not necessary. The centre handles approximately 18,650 visits every year."

Vancouver pretty much has everything, too bad they're pretty far away. I don't think our car would make it going there though.

Well, the first time she tried the miralax enema nothing happened at all, the second day after trying it a little bit came out. If she had an obstruction wouldn't there be diarrhea and other problems? Unless maybe it's light fecal impaction or inflammation?

How about Edmonton or Calgary? They both have medical schools with an associated hospital.

Edmonton medical school:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Alberta_Faculty_of_Medicine_and_Dentistry
Associated hospital:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Alberta_Hospital

Calgary medical school:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faculty_of_Medicine_of_the_University_of_Calgary
Associated hospital:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foothills_Medical_Centre


If Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary are all too far away, what about Prince George?

Prince George has a hospital that is linked to a local university and also linked to UBC Hospital in Vancouver (it's not linked to an actual medical school though):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Northern_British_Columbia

I'd recommend the medical school hospitals of Vancouver/Edmonton/Calgary over the hospital in Prince George. But if the bigger cities are all too far away, then "University Hospital of Northern British Columbia" would still be a likely improvement over your current hospital.



I'm not qualified to give medical advice. I just know your best bet is to get her to a competent medical center.