What to Do When a Doctor Doesn't Believe You Have a UTI
You get those razor blade urine drops, maybe with or without blood, stabbing pain or burning in your urethra, and there it is, you know it --- it's a UTI! You run to a doctor and (s)he uses a dipstick test and doesn't find any nitrates, so (s)he tells you that you don't have a UTI and refuses to treat you. What do you do?
Don't give up!
I have outlined various plans below:
Plan A: Keep going to different drop-in doctors and tell them you have a UTI. Do not tell them that you saw other clinics that refused you. Just keep your story short. If you mention you went to different clinics and that other doctors refused you, it may negatively influence the next doctor to be hesitant in treating you. Just go in and say "I have a UTI. In my previous UTI(s), the xxx antibiotic and xxx amount of dosage worked for me" (that is, if you know what works for you). Make sure you ask for at least 7 days of antibiotics. The doctor may try to give you 3 days, but just be adamant and request 7 days (or more). 3 days often is not enough to resolve a UTI. If the doctor prescribes you 7 days or more, you may now go to a pharmacy to fill that prescription.
BUT, if the doctor is thoroughly stubborn and only gives you 3 days, please initiate Plan B).
Plan B: Just take that 3 day script with you and put it away into your purse. Now go find another drop-in doctor and repeat the process above. Do not tell that doctor that you already have a script written for 3 days. Just tell them you have a UTI and need antibiotics. The next doctor may prescribe you anywhere from 3 days to 7 days. Be adamant again about the 7 or more days. Yes, I know you have a script already for 3 days from the first doctor, but just do it. Once the 2nd doctor gives you a 7+day script, go to a pharmacy and fill the one with the 7+ days script. You can leave that first doctor's 3 day script in your purse for now. It can be a back-up to fill as an extension to your antibiotics, if your UTI is doing well but not fully resolved by the 7+ day course. Or if you are 100% fine with the first course already, then keep the 2nd script and use it as an emergency fill to take with you on one of your travels! Because say you live in US, but you are flying to Germany, and if you get a UTI there, at least you have this to take during an emergency, or can show the doctors in a foreign country what to prescribe you.
BUT, what if the 2nd doctor is just as stubborn and only gives you 3 days as well? Now you are stuck with two short 3 day scripts. Please initiate Plan C).
Plan C) go to 1 pharmacy to fill the first 3 days script from the 1st doctor. Then go to a different pharmacy (make sure it's not under the same company) and fulfill the other 3 days script from the 2nd doctor. Now, at least you have 6 days of antibiotics filled and you can take them. If your UTI resolves from these 2 bottles, keep both bottles to show a future doctor one day (not the same drop-in doctors or they will get mad), to educate him/her that you need at least more days to resolve a UTI. Don't throw away the bottles, they are your golden ticket to prove that your UTI needs at least xyz amount of antibiotic days to cure it.
Further Strategies you should take:
So going forward, you must create a future plan for dealing with all this, to minimize stress for the next time that you may get a UTI.
Firstly, the reason why I say to be adamant to get a minimum of 7 days, is because if one of the doctors listens to you on that, stick with that doctor for your UTI health! This doctor will now know your situation for future UTIs and can always prescribe you the right dosage of antibiotics.
Secondly, photocopy or take a photo of your script or pill bottle (of the antibiotics that worked out for you), so that if your doctor is away or on vacation, you can bring that photo (or the empty pill bottle) to a future drop-in doctor to show that "this is what my doctor has always given me, please follow this." When they see that, they are much more inclined to follow and you avoid the headache of hesitant doctors refusing to treat you. I have learned from my current practitioners that 7, 10, or 14 days should be the standard round. I have educated my doctors now to prescribe me 14 days in the future (with the help of Ruth Kriz's medical notes explaining about that), so I do not run into these types of problems again. If my doctor is away and I have to go to a drop-in doctor next time, I have a scanned copy of Ruth Kriz's letter to bring along to educate them to dispense me 14 days, and not the ridiculous 3 days that drop-in's love to give. You can always ask your GP to write a note like the one Ruth wrote me (telling doctors to dispense you xyz dosage of abc antibiotics for whatever days), so you can show it to drop-in doctors if you have a UTI emergency while your main GP is away or booked up. I also got my doctor to pre-write me a 14 day antibiotic script that I keep in my desk. This script lasts for a whole year. It's useful because I can then just go to a pharmacy with this script when I have a UTI come on, instead of running to drop-in doctors or wait for my doctor for a booking. And I will be renewing this script every year. So this is my new strategy moving forward.