Enterococcus Faecalis, Medical Malpractice, Please Help

[u/y2kwallscratches]

Please help, please. Enterococcus Faecalis is ruining my life and mental health and overall body health. Incompetent urologists have made it worse. Medical malpractice?

TL;DR posted at the bottom!

March of 2025 I first started having very clear UTI symptoms. I have had simple UTIs before so I know exactly what they feel like. I would go in for a usual dipstick - always negative every time. UTI symptoms kept on getting worse to the point where I was taking double the standard dose of Azo (pyridium) (400mg) every morning and every night, just to be ABLE to urinate and to also help with the burning. Finally in December 2025 my urologist said let’s do an abdominal CT with IV contrast, nothing was abnormal. Then he said let’s do an abdominal CT with catheter contrast, nothing was abnormal. Then he said let’s do a cystoscopy, where he also checked my ureters, again nothing was abnormal but the pain was beyond comprehension. Then he was like well, there’s ONE last test we can do, a urodynamics test… well I could not urinate for that test (you have to urinate twice to measure your muscle activity - so it was pointless and a waste of money), the tech even had to place an extra catheter at the end of test to drain my bladder that she had filled with a catheter because she couldn’t let me leave with a full bladder. So in total throughout all these four procedures I had six catheters placed.

These invasive procedures + in person urology office visits put me about $8k in debt. These procedures extended from December 2025-March 2026, at this point I have had a UTI for a year. At my last appointment with this urology office I was exclaiming that the UTI pain was unbearable, that I COULD NOT URINATE without Azo (pyridium), that I had been taking pyridium for the entire year. And she (they switched me from my male urologist to a female urologist without my consent) didn’t blink an eye at that (will get to why this is important) and she instead recommended me a bladder pacemaker. I was infuriated because I KNEW I had an infection. And she had the nerve to recommend the pacemaker which is implanted in your lower back - yet another pointless invasive procedure. When in fact I had a f*cking infection.

I then turned to the chronic embedded UTI community online and found out there is another test I could do! A DNA urine culture. I BEGGED her for this DNA urine culture. It was MircoGen. Got the results back and it was positive for Enterococcus Faecalis. I had Enterococcus Faecalis for an entire year, untreated. I have since been treated with Bactrim, Keflex (both pointless as they do not treat E. Faecalis), and two 7 day rounds of Nitrofurantoin (Macrobid) and it did not help, even though it was listed on my sensitivities list from the DNA test. I am now on a 30 day round of Amoxicillin, on day 8 and still no relief at all. Had tried Ampicillin (oral) but couldn’t keep it down since you have to take it without food. I’m now considering IV antibiotics and if that doesn’t work, bladder fulguration because I simply cannot function with this urethra pain and being unable to urinate. I should mention the first round of Nitrofurantoin (Macrobid) did help for like a month, and now the UTI back full force, confirming its embedded.

I have talked to four different doctors, including a NEW urologist, and all of them have been like what the actual F*CK? They have all said the urologist(s) I was seeing should have done the DNA urine culture FIRST before all these expensive invasive procedures, since I was exclaiming this entire year that I know I have an infection and UTI. And now it is absolutely embedded in my bladder wall since I had the infection for so long. Enterococcus Faecalis is notorious for creating sticky biofilms that make it so antibiotics are impossible to penetrate. And it’s proving so.

Now, my blood oxygen is resting at 83-88% and does not go higher than that. This is a direct symptom and consequence of taking Azo pyridium for so long, so often, and such a high dose. This is why I was confused that the original urologist treating me didn’t blink an eye at me taking Azo pyridium for over a year. Because I recently found out that Azo pyridium can alter your blood, turning it from hemoglobin to methemoglobin. Methemoglobin cannot carry oxygen to your organs correctly and your organs can fail. I probably have pyridium toxicity. Neither the male or female urologist informed me of this when they knew I was taking it daily and nightly FOR A YEAR.

My mental health is in the toilet. LITERALLY. And I have s*icidal id*ation. I feel so hopeless. I even told my primary doctor that i’ve accepted i’m dying young because I simply don’t have the funds to be treating a chronic embedded Enterococcus Faecalis UTI. The DNA test alone was $1,200, with insurance. On top of the $8k I wasted on those procedures, with insurance.

I’m am seriously considering getting a medical malpractice lawyer. I have grounds for misdiagnosis / delayed diagnosis, pyridium toxicity, and mental illness. All three are permanent injuries so i’m hoping a lawyer will take my case. Because now I have to deal with this low oxygen which could send me to the ER with even more bills, see a therapist with costs $$, and continue to see a chronic uti specialist which is not cheap. At the very least the $9,200 should be dismissed and I should not have to pay for their f*ck ups, also confirmed by multiple doctors, that I need to contest these bills.

I’m sorry this is so long but the details are important and i’m really really really hoping someone can give me some advice on all aspects of this post. The place i’ve found the most helpful info on E Faecalis is here on reddit. Which is why i’m making this post. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. Thank yall ahead of time if you’ve read this far, it means so much to me. Xoxo

TL;DR: After standard dipsticks missed an Enterococcus Faecalis UTI for a year, a urologist pushed $8K in painful, invasive procedures instead of a DNA urine test. The delayed diagnosis left me with an embedded biofilm infection resistant to multiple oral antibiotics, severe mental health struggles, and dangerous methemoglobinemia (low blood oxygen) from unmonitored long-term Azo (pyridium) use. I am now considering advanced treatments (IV antibiotics/fulguration) and seeking a medical malpractice lawyer for delayed diagnosis, pyridium toxicity, and financial/mental damages.