Scarleteen

Hello. I am in Africa with work. In January I had unprotected sex with a girl in Africa whilst drunk. My urethra felt inflamed a few days later so I went to the doctor and had a shot of penicillin into the buttocks and a course of oral doxcycline for a week to get rid of any STDs. However, it continued to burn after I urinated or ejaculated. I then decided this could be trich and took a course of Flagyl (500mg a day 2x a day for 8 days). This also wasn't the issue as the problem persisted. I was tested for all the usual culprits (hep B, hep C, HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphylis and a genral urine bacterial test) and they all came back negative EXCEPT the urine test which showed I had some kind of infection.

I had to go to another country here in Africa for a week with work and I was checked there too. I got tested for the same list of STDs above. They all came back negative too. The doctor deduced that I had a urinary tract infection and gave me an IV injection of a common, broad spectrum antibiotic and a week's supply of the same medicine (Ciprofloxacin) to be taken orally 3x a day. I didn't drink alcohol during any medication in either country.

The problem is not only is the infection STILL with me, it has got worse and it is now uncomfortable all the time and has even started to make my testicle ache. I do not get back to my home country for a few weeks yet and the medical services here are sub-par as I have already been to the best private clinic in the country three times. Do you have any idea what I may have?

Persistent pain with a possible infection is something that needs to be diagnosed by a healthcare provider, in person. It could be that you do have a UTI that just didn't respond to the antibiotics you were given. If your urine wasn't cultured to figure out what the specific bacteria was that was causing the infection, then that's something you could ask for: not all antibiotics work against all bacteria, so it may be that you need a longer course of the antibiotic or a different one than you were prescribed.

Thanks for the quick reply. The dosage was so strong that if it were that, it would have got rid of the infection. The doctor was trained in the UK too and he owned the clinic.

They simply don't have the medical facilities in the country I am living in to culture the urine. They can only say I have an infection, not which it is.

What would you recommend I do as I am not home for a few weeks yet? I have since edited the post to say the antibiotic was Ciprofloxacin.

Unfortunately, if you don't have access to healthcare facilities that can do further testing, there's not much you can do until you get home. If you can get an over the counter pain reliever (something like ibuprofen or acetominophen) that should help at least a bit with the discomfort. I'm so sorry you're in this situation: it's stressful to be away from home and unwell, without access to the kind of healthcare you're used to!