I've been married to the same man for 11 years, I go for regular paps and exams, and I've not been with anyone else. For the last year approximately, after my husband and I have sex, I'll have some UTI symptoms. It usually begins the day after sex and I'll feel irritated, which is not all that unusual. I'll also have burning during urination. So far, sounds like the start of a UTI, right? Well, the next day I'll get an extremely foul odor to my urine. I've had my share of UTIs in my life, and prior to this, my urine never smelled like this. This lasts for a few days, then the itching begins. It is usually mild for the first couple of days. By the second week, I begin to feel pressure along with the itching and the itching worsens quite a bit. These symptoms are usually relieved if I stay off my feet, which isn't always possible. This lasts for approximately an additional week, along with the foul odor. I do feel like I need to urinate more frequently during this time, and I don't always feel like I'm "finished". But by this time, I have pain on urination too. I contracted HSV1 from my husband years ago, but I haven't had a major outbreak since that first exposure, and I only had mild outbreaks for a few months after that. These new symptoms don't feel quite the same, but I wonder if this isn't a mild outbreak that has been triggered by sex. The other thing is, this doesn't happen every time we have sex. And it doesn't happen when we fool around without having intercourse. I haven't had a full pelvic exam or pap since these symptoms began as my doc sends me out with antibiotics for UTI. The only test he has done so far is a urinalysis and that indicated high white blood cell content.

So what gives? Is this a herpes outbreak or something else? I'm all but convinced it isn't a UTI. I do have an appointment scheduled for my annual exam this week, so maybe I'll find out something more. In the meantime, I'm miserable for at least one more week if history repeats itself.