UK MP says chronic UTIs left her 'feeling like a drug user'

Labour MP Dr Allison Gardner has described how years of recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) left her feeling like a drug user as she searched for pain relief. She has lived with the infections for about 10 years, since her first symptoms appeared during perimenopause. Together with a cross-party group of MPs in the UK Parliament, she is campaigning for an official medical definition of chronic UTI, which does not currently exist. Without one, campaigners say, diagnosis and treatment remain difficult.

A condition without a definition

According to the Chronic Urinary Tract Campaign, more than 1.6 million women in the UK have chronic lower urinary tract symptoms. Chronic UTIs are infections whose symptoms do not go away and do not clear with a short course of antibiotics. They can also be hard to diagnose, because urine samples may show only a low level of bacteria.

Gardner, 60, says she was made to feel sidelined and "gaslighted" by medical staff, and that one consultant told her to give up sex. She says the pain and lack of answers brought her to a very dark place, and she even considered selling her house to pay for private surgery to remove her bladder.

Three years ago she found Dr Cat Anderson, a Staffordshire GP who works both privately and for the NHS. Anderson linked her symptoms to the menopause and prescribed hormone replacement therapy, after which Gardner had two years free of infections.

Plans for change

Anderson and London-based consultant urological surgeon Sachin Malde lead a panel of experts that plans to deliver a definition in 2027 and present it to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). NICE says it recommended further research to build a clear evidence base. NHS England confirmed there is no single national dataset capturing all chronic UTI cases.

The cross-party group also wants all GPs trained on chronic UTIs and a patient "passport" recording medical history. Liberal Democrat MP Luke Taylor, who co-chairs the group with Gardner, said it was disappointed that the women's health strategy did not mention UTIs. The Department of Health and Social Care says it is committed to reducing the impact of chronic UTIs and has invested in research.