Regardless, if you have a UTI you must see a doctor. Antibiotics are the only thing that will treat a UTI. Cranberry juice and other natural remedies may help to prevent a UTI, or soothe symptoms – but nothing over the counter will cure it. Leaving a UTI untreated can potentially lead to a kidney infection. Best to see a doctor.

Actually, my Urologist put me on Macrobid as a prophylactic. He said that because I was female and had already had several I would always be prone to them. Now that I take 100 mg a day, I haven’t had any. (knock on wood! :o) )

I freaking hate this, it’s over $100 to see a doctor and I’m trying to find a way to get money. Why so expensive just to pee in a cup and get medication?

@chelle21689 because offices have a ton of overhead. They have to pay for the phone line you call to make the appointment with (which is a business line that probably costs $800/month) then there’s the salaries of the staff, such as the receptionist, the practice manager, the billing agent, the nurse, and the MD. There’s malpractice insurance, which for MD’s can easily be $40,000 and go much higher. There’s lab fees, medical record storage, possible electronic healthcare systems that can cost 10’s of thousands up to hundreds of thousands of dollars, the IT support staff to keep patient data backed up, accessible and secure. The list goes on and on… They probably barely break even on a $100 pee-in-a-cup visit.

@chelle21689 You might want to find a community clinic near you, or at least ask your doctor about a self-pay discount… Just a thought.

@chelle21689 Have you tried to call your doctor yet to see if they would be willing to call in a prescription for you? If you’ve had UTIs in the past, some doctors will call in a prescription. Worst case scenario, call and say you can’t come in for an appointment and see if they will just write an order for the urine test if they insist on doing a culture first.