Hi,I am 33 years old and have been battling recurrent urethritis since last year. I also had 2 bladder infections caused by e li. I have had the IUD since January 2004. In late 2006, I had a bacterial vaginal infection ( once again e-coli showed up in the culture). I do not have an STD. Could my misery be caused by this darn IUD? I do get a fishy smell every now and then ( like once every 4 months) and my secretions have increased. Could this be allowing bacteria to travel to my urethra? I am so tired of this problem. I have had a cystoscopy and a sono on the kidneys. The results did not show any malformation, growths or stones.If anyone has noticed a correlation between UTIs and the IUD, I would really appreciate it if you could let me know.Many thanks !
There have been quite a few people who have an allergy to the copper in the IUD, and the allergic symptoms cause a cascade of other issues. Inflammation can lead to bladder infections, vaginal infections, etc I would definitely call your gynecologist asap to discuss the problem; if you aren't getting anywhere with that doctor, you may consider a second opinion and also an IUD replacement with another device. If you go to: www.ncbi.nlm.nih /pubmed/ and enter in the search bar: IUD, copper, cystitis (This will be easier from a public library, where they have medical journal subscriptions) a few papers will come up that you can access regarding your current issue. It may help to head to the doctor well-prepared.
