‘I Collapsed at a Wedding After Ignoring a Urinary Tract Infection’ | This Morning

Most women will experience a urinary tract infection (UTI) during their lifetime, but despite being so common, it's still often considered taboo. If left untreated, UTIs can spread to your kidneys and cause permanent damage. This is exactly what happened to presenter Cherry Healey. She ended up collapsing at a friend's wedding and was hospitalised for five days, resulting in permanent scarring on her kidneys. Today, Cherry shares her experience and is joined by Senior Urologist Jean McDonald to discuss the importance of addressing symptoms early.

Broadcast on 12/06/2024

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[MajesticJewnicorn]

Thank you for raising awareness of this. I'm 32 years old and a UTI developed to become a kidney infection and this has never left my body nearly a decade later. I'm resistant to many antibiotics so this has been difficult to deal with, and I collapsed at work once as well. The most common type is from E. Coli which spreads to the urinary tract, and it is difficult to get rid of.
I want to thank the amazing staff at the LUTS Clinic at Whittington Hospital who have kept me stable for a few years and are keeping an eye on me. They have an amazing medication called Hiprex which works alongside antibiotics. We need more LUTS Clinics nationally.

[leilaevans]

My 8 year old daughter has just recovered from a UTI. She was ill for a month. Pale as a ghost, on off temperature, sleeping all day long. I took her to see three doctors all of which told me it was a virus. It wasn't until she developed a rash everywhere and me taking her to A&E was she diagnosed with a UTI. She was on antibiotics for 5 days but it took her another 2 weeks to recover. She didn't have a single UTI symptom. She couldn't tell me what was wrong. It was horrendous.

[janewarren]

No discussion that more women in perimenopause and menopause suffer UTIs. GSM is a huge problem due to the decrease of estrogen. Like usual, women's health and root causes of this debilitating infection are ignored.

[antheaosborne]

I’m 76 and suffered UTI from the age of about 7yrs and back then it wasn’t talked about. In my 20s finally I got relief and a Doctor recommended I have my bladder stretched and since then I’ve never had another UTI

[sueleitch]

Had antibiotics for uti but it spread to pelvis, pelvic inflammatory disease. Excruciating pain 😢

[wisdomforwellness]

In my experience UTI pain is worse than child birth! I have had three children and UTI pain is worse in severity.

[wendybeirne]

My UTI's go from 1-1000 within hours, I have so many.
Within hours, I bleed and in agony. Awful things.

[ScotVenus]

This happened to me when I was 23 (45 now). I had kidney issues from age 6 as my earliest memory but was never hospitalised. I also ignored the uti when I was 23 and just drank cranberry juice as I was due to go on holiday with my boyfriend the next day. During the flight, I was in a lot of discomfort and had to go to the bathroom even during the seatbelt signs. I tried to ignore the pain as I didn’t want to ruin the holiday for my boyfriend so I just kept taking paracetamol, and the holiday rep also discouraged us from calling a doctor as they said it would be expensive, however the next night we were out and it was warm (Tenerife) but I began shaking uncontrollably and felt very cold. My hands and feet were turning blue. My boyfriend carried me back to the hotel and when I went to the toilet it was just blood. An ambulance was called and I was taken to hospital in costa adeje where the staff were tremendous. I spent 4 nights on an antibiotic drip and was in such intense pain that I was even praying as I thought I was dying inside. For 3 days I was given nothing but water, yoghurts and unseasoned carrot soup. The staff were incredible. The bill came to over £10k. Get your insurance guys!!! I fortunately was insured and had the all important E111 form. I’ve never ignored non-muscular pain since…..

[katyfolk]

So glad that this is being spoken about!!!! My daughter has what Cherry has. It was found in her during a growth scan while I pregnant (which was unrelated). She had the dye flush through her when she was a few weeks old and now is about to have it done again at 3.5.

[AbigailBrown-wkxl]

I had a UTI during pregnancy. It was so painful. It is so important to get checked out by a doctor. Take some antibiotics 😢

[cara]

I am prone to utis cause i have spina bifida. I ignored one in 2018 and ended up with sepsis. Ever since then ive been getting them every couple of wks

[telristoop]

For women who have lots of UTI's but no bacteria is found in tests, please look into if you have Endometriosis. Long time UTI sufferer turned out I had endo, the diagnosis does not help, but at least I know it does not help taking antibiotics for my bladder pain.

[Mary-ggmj]

I hope this helps someone out there. I had several a year for a long time. I was told about D Manose (OTC) which is Vitamin D with cranberry. I take it daily. I also increased vit D. I hardly ever get them anymore. The D Manose was a game changer.

[HelenaGLongbottom]

UTIs are so so common and especially dangerous in older people!

I had one recently and first day mild, woke up the next day had already started spreading up to my kidneys and I felt so poorly was awful. Took me 3 course of antibiotics to get rid of it…

[keleeannkitson]

Im still on amoxslin for a uti and im 16 weeks pregnant 😮 never had it before and i do not want it again!! Sore miserable and depression kicked in.. it was like a serious burn down stairs 😢 straight away because i couldn't do nothing but sit on sofa .. but getting better this week x

[mazybee]

I have these regularly and usually need antibiotics for mine. One of my worst symptoms is pelvic pain, back pain and kidney pain. It's been so bad I couldn't walk, very painful. I find it silent the symptoms. I've been in hospital for them too. It's awful

[snowygirl]

I’m taking antibiotics now for a uti…so painful I had to go to the hospital here where I live over the king’s birthday weekend

[Faypearson]

I got loads of UTI’s when I was a child, now I’ve got scarring on my kidneys and they’ve also reduced in size due to the damage. UTI is no joke.

[MariDangerfield]

I've been suffering from the after effects of repeated UTIs for a year now. I have been told by three separate specialists that the main problem is that GPS are not told the correct dosage of antibiotic to administer. The consequence is that the bacteria can become resistant after that 3 day course and you can end up with an embedded uti or post uti inflammation, which then can be a tricky situation to treat and potentially life changing. Not to mention that dipstick tests and culture tests can miss bacteria if the count is too low - very outdated methods of testing! I have had to restrict my diet massively and experience flares on a pretty much weekly basis. GPs need to be told the correct information in the first place!

[AliPittaway]

I’ve had a lifetime of UTis and kidney infections, not sure which came first but they usually come together. Not great but I find probiotics very good.