My 5 year old granddaughter Sydnee gave me the best health care advice when she said, “You know grandma, if you got hot pee, you need to take medicine.” That set me to thinking Urinary Tract Infections and medicine.
It’s Friday Evening…
You have a friend or family member who has problems with memory and now they are suddenly, increasingly confused. This might be the symptoms of a Urinary Tract Infection. Increased confusion is often seen with someone who is elderly and not able to express the signs and symptoms they are having.
If you or someone you care for go to a physician office or Urgent Care, the urine sample they get will only be “dipped.” If this shows a potential Urinary Tract Infection you might be given a prescription for a good general antibiotic like Bactrim DS. Some of your urine will be sent on to an area lab to have a “Culture and Sensitivity” done. This test takes almost 48 hours to “grow” the bacteria that is causing your problem.
Now it’s Monday morning….
And your physician’s office calls to say that the bacteria causing your Urinary Tract Infection is “resistant” to the 10 days of Bactrim DS you bought and you now need to take Cipro instead.
Now it’s Tuesday morning…
It’s about an hour after you have taken the second dose of the Cipro and you break out in a red rash and hives. Please call your physician or go to an Urgent Care right away. You may be allergic to Cipro. You need another antibiotic. So now they order Levaquin.
Now in 4 day’s time you have brought 10 days’ worth of Bactrim DS, Cipro and Levaquin. If you don’t have prescription insurance you may be out around $250.
Here’s some good health care advice. When placed on any new medication you don’t need to buy the whole 10 to 30 days all at once. Your pharmacy, at your request, can sell you just a few days to a week of the new medication to see if you tolerate it or with an antibiotic if bacteria cultured is “sensitive”. This could greatly decrease your cost and you won’t have a house full of half used meds.
Ask your Pharmacist or Physician who can help you decide.
~Jackie Knoll, Health Ministry member