“Do you urinate immediately after sex?” I stood there with my mouth hanging wide open and didn’t know what to say. I had never thought of such a simple concept before!
When I was first married, I found myself constantly suffering from painful and awful vaginal and urinary tract infections. The doctor prescribed the same regimen of antibiotics for each type of infection. I’d heartily suffer through the weeklong course of medication, awaiting my pain and itch-free days to come, as the antibiotics worked their magic.
And then, anywhere from two weeks to a month later, I’d have yet another infection! The most frustrating part of this pattern was that it was making sexual intimacy a painful and unpleasant experience. This is not ideal for newlyweds, and certainly frustrating to an important component of the marital experience.
I had a break from the infections both times I was pregnant; although, I wasn’t doing anything differently. I couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t a problem. Perhaps the hormones of pregnancy created different conditions in my vaginal and uterine wall? I have no way of knowing, but the sad side is that right after I gave birth, within a month, I was back to the same old, painful, annoying pattern of infections.
I went to see at least three doctors to figure out what was going on. One doctor sent me through the rigmarole of tests with a urology expert. I was poked, prodded, and urinated in more cups than I can remember, and even had to endure a camera placed in my bladder. The result: a healthy bladder (thank God) and a big question mark — they couldn’t figure out why I kept getting these infections.
Then, one day, I was talking to (of all people) my mother-in-law. A super-bright, witty, and wise lady, she asked me the following question: “Do you urinate immediately after sex?” I stood there with my mouth hanging wide open and didn’t know what to say. I had never thought of such a simple concept before! Obviously, the answer was no. I kicked myself for not having thought of it myself.
Well ladies, my wise mother-in-law was able to find the solution that many gynecological and urological experts couldn’t. After that conversation, I’ve almost never had a problem again with UTIs and vaginal infections. It’s been at least four years. If I can’t pass urine right away after sex, I keep trying every half hour for the next two hours. The problem has thankfully not returned.
We live in a society hyper-focused on information and finding answers to all of life’s mysteries. If we don’t have an answer to a persistent, annoying health problem, we start running from specialist to specialist. It’s not to say that this is wrong: it’s crucial to do what you need to do to take care of your health. But sometimes the answer is simple!
