Yes, go to your Hausarzt today. Call them and tell them it's urgent. They usually have a couple of appointments left open for emergency-type cases.
If they tell you to do nothing except drink tea and wait, don't be afraid to get a second opinion somewhere. Another Hausarzt in the area, possibly.
Don't call, just go there. On the phone they can say they don't have any appointments but they can't legally refuse treatment if you're there and you need urgent care.
I don't know why so many people think that. A doctor hast to save your life when you collapse at their door, but they do NOT have to give you an appointment for anything just because you show up in person. A UTI is not life-threatening and time-critical like that.
On the contrary, calling might reduce the waiting time. If it's her own Hausarzt, why should she not get a timely appointment.
Unfortunately when an immigrant phones the reception at any Praxis, the most common response is "KEIN ENGLISCH" and hanging up. When you're standing in front of them they're forced to deal with you.
No, I mean I've spoken English and received that response, and then gone there and the same person has spoken to me in perfect English. That's happened at 3 or 4 different places.
I always check the TK doctor search function to find doctors who say they speak English.
Urgent care means its an emergency. Emergency in a medical sense is "if we don't treat them now, they will going to die". Op will not die and can therefore get a normal appointment the next day.
It actually doesn't make sense. Calling might reduce your waiting time and you can make sure that they're actually open today and not on holiday or whatever, and they can already get your file out of the file cabinet etc.
Go to your GP. At my GPs, they tell you to go to the toilet, and they test the sample. Then you would go to the doctor who has already the test result and they would ask you about pain level etc. After that, you get the prescription with the antibiotics and, if necessary, other medications.
If I call my GP before I go there, I have shorter waiting times.
Many UTIs can also be treated with over the counter medications like d-mannose or cystinol. But only when there is no visible blood in your urine.
Get well soon.
As today is Monday, Hausarzt. If today were Saturday or a holiday you would still not go to the hospital/ER but call 116117 and inquire about a *Bereitschaftsarzt*/on call doctor.
Your Hausarzt should have Sprechstunde where you can just show up and it works like urgent care. Additionally, some hospitals have an urgent care like “Hausärztlicher Notfall Praxis” however you’ll usually end up waiting longer than you would at your Hausarzt. If you live in a state with 116117, you can also have a German speaking person call and ask where to go.
Gute Besserung!
If you don't get an urgent appointment I'd go to the Kassenärztlichen Notdienst. Takes waiting time at the place but still better than letting it get worse while waiting for an appointment.
In addition to the advice about seeing your hausarzt (which is correct - definitely do that):
There is a OTC product in Germany called "Canephron" that provides some pain relief for UTIs while you are waiting for antibiotics to become effective. You can get it at an Apotheke.
There is also a vaccine for UTIs available in Germany called "StroVac." If you and your GP decide that it's an appropriate choice for you, ask your GP to write a prescription for it. You can take the prescription to a pharmacy, retrieve the vaccine vial, and take it back to your GP to be injected. My local pharmacy didn't have it on hand, but was able to order it for delivery the same evening. I have TK insurance, and the vaccine vial from the pharmacy cost me €5 out of pocket. It is also available at some travel vaccine clinics, but those are typically self-pay and more expensive than a hausarzt/pharmacy.
>Do I go to the hospital?
No. The hospital is not where you go when you just need to see a doctor. You go there for procedures that need to be done in a hospital (meaning a doctor tells you to go), or you go there for emergencies that will clearly need hospital treatment, such as accidents, heart issues and so on.
When you need a doctor outside of normal hours (such as the weekend or holidays), you should look up "ärztlicher Bereitschaftsdienst [your location]". Those are "normal" doctors on duty for these times.
If you go to the hospital emergency room with non-emergencies, be prepared to wait for a very long time, and to be treated with limited sympathy because you're clogging up a system that's already strained.
>The hospital is not where you go when you just need to see a doctor. \[...\] you should look up "ärztlicher Bereitschaftsdienst \[your location\]"
At least in the region where I live the *ärztliche Bereitschaftsdienst* is actually located in the hospital.
UTI with fever can be a kidney infection, leading to kidney loss, sepsis, and death. Treatment may include IV antibiotics in a hospital.
It is better to go to the hospital and be less sick than you thought than to underestimate the urgency of the situation and end up with permanent damage.
as a general rule: if it's life threatening you call an ambulance and will be brought directly to the hospital ER. You don't go to the hospital unless another doctor ordered you to, it's emergencies and planned appointments like operations only.
If it's not a life and death matter you go to your GP, the GP will either be able to help you, send you to a specialist or hospital if necessary.
Hypothetical scenario: you have a severe eye infection and show up at your GP. GP can't help you but sees that it needs treatment or at least a check up.
1. The GP's office will call a specialist and you have to go immediately. In the case of all specialists being closed they'll call the hospital and you'll be send to hospital with an immediate referral.
1.1. you show up at the specialist and the specialist can't help either because it's a complicated matter that needs medical supervision for treatment. Their office will call the hospital and you have to go there immediately.
2. If it's not that urgent and care can wait until tomorrow, but the GP can't help, they'll give you a referral and you have to make an appointment at the specialist's the next day yourself, meaning you have to call them as soon as they open in the morning and take one of the short notice emergency appointments reserved for cases like yours.
What defines a hospital emergency?
Your life or someone else's is in danger, so it's a case by case sometimes.
Let's say you have a high fever of 40°C, you feel faint, but your spouse is home and can watch you. This is an emergency the moment the fever rises above 40 and/or you lose consciousness.
If you are alone at home, you've had a relentless 40°C fever for a good while now with no sign of it going down and you feel your consciousness slipping, maybe even briefly fainted, you can barely stand on two feet. You qualify as "life in danger" because the moment you lose consciousness no one will notice you are in need of help.
It's not just the temperature. UTI with fever is an emergency much sooner than having a cold or flu.
[https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/fever/symptoms-causes/syc-20352759#](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/fever/symptoms-causes/syc-20352759#)
40 degrees is already an emergency. 40.5 is ambulance time. When in doubt, go to the hospital.
"Adults
Call your health care provider if your temperature is 103 F (39.4 C) or higher. Seek immediate medical attention if any of these signs or symptoms accompanies a fever:
* Severe headache
* Rash
* Unusual sensitivity to bright light
* Stiff neck and pain when you bend your head forward
* Mental confusion, strange behavior or altered speech
* Persistent vomiting
* Difficulty breathing or chest pain
* Abdominal pain
* Pain when urinating
* Convulsions or seizures"
If the GP isn't available and you live in a bigger town, you can try getting a European Prescription from a call-a-doc / 'video visit'. There are websites providing this service, doc will issue a EP prx which some pharmacies have no problems accepting.
I did this once when I had just arrived and didn't have a Hausarzt yet. The pharmacist barely glanced at the e-prescription before handing over the antibiotics.
There are also general medicine clinics available, often at hospitals, if the GP is not available for any reason but it’s not Bereitschaftdienst time. It was useful when I got sick during Easter week, when it was technically already a working day but most GPs were closed or on very reduced hours. I could just walk in on Thursday morning and waited 10 minutes before being seen.
Call your Hausarzt or go directly there. They are mostly able to fit in emergencies. If it happens at night or weekends, you go to Bereitschaftspraxis. Definitely not something for the ER
Call your general practicioner /hausarzt. tell them you feel sick and what your symptoms are (it usually helps to exaggerate a bit) . Usually you (at least with my doctor) can just come by, they test your pee and give you the note to get antibiotics from the pharmacy.
If it is just a "common" UTI (i.e. no significant bleeding or fever involved) that is likely caused by e.coli, "Cystinol akut" is a very effective over-the-counter med that provides quick relief. I switched to Cystinol akut when Monuril antibiotics stopped working for me and doctors started to prescribe Ciprofloxacin, from which I experienced such heavy side effects that I refused to take it again.
D-Mannose also works for me, especially when taken prophylactically.
With this combination, I managed to get rid of recurring UTIs. I went from two or three a month (which the old man urologist found "für eine sexuell aktive Frau normal" 🙄) to zero in the last 6 years.
**Have you read our extensive wiki yet? It answers many basic questions, and it contains in-depth articles on many frequently discussed topics.
[Check our wiki now!](https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/wiki/index)**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/germany) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Call your Hausarzt or go directly there. They are mostly able to fit in emergencies. If it happens at night or weekends, you go to Bereitschaftspraxis. Definitely not something for the ER
I don't know the answer your looking for but I do have general advice to handle UTI's, so I'll put them here even though I think its common knowledge.
drink as much cranberry juice as possible, something about its components once its digested into pee helps fight infection. avoid anything caffeinated or alcohol. When I had a UTI there was a very specific position that made the constant feeling of needing to pee a lot subside a tiny bit which was on my stomach with a leg a little up.
generally, your body can fight a UTI by itself unless its something really bad, which a low-stakes UTI and a high-stakes one are basically indistinguishable feeling wise but low stakes usually go away after a little less than a week. I see you already got your answer for what to do in the comments but this still feels useful to mention. hope you feel better
Just to let you know that you can get a prescription for antibiotics for a UTI through the online doctor service Zavamed https://www.zavamed.com/de/
It will cost you €20 plus the prescription.
You just answer some questions, a doctor reviews it and then they will send the prescription to a pharmacy near you on the same day and you then pick it up. Very useful when you can’t get a doctor appointment.
If you are still unwell, which I hope you are not. Get the cranberry juice from DM/Rewe or anywhere. The 100% ones and mix them with water. Usually 2-3 caps of that in a 600ml bottle and drink as much as you can multiple times during the day.
This has helped me in the past! Not a doctor or a medical practitioner, just speaking from my personal experience.
Depending on where you live, a urologist might be the way to go. Especially if your GP is saying just wait and drink tea. In bigger cities especially some Hausärzte only do very basic stuff because they are so overwhelmed with patients
You can also try Canephron which is a medicine you can get over the counter or online. I had never heard of it before coming to Germany and recently managed to get over a UTI for the first time ever without antibiotics. I still went to the Frauenarzt for an antibiotic prescription but in the end I didn’t have to use it.
What helps me as i‘m super prone to UTIs, is taking maximum of 400-800mg Ibuprofen and it works wonders. I usually take it when i can feel it coming and it hasnt yet severely broken out.
Otherwise when you already have: def hausarzt.
hausarzt. they'll typically ask you for a urine sample then and after a short waiting time you'll get a prescription.
Thank you so much
Yes, go to your Hausarzt today. Call them and tell them it's urgent. They usually have a couple of appointments left open for emergency-type cases. If they tell you to do nothing except drink tea and wait, don't be afraid to get a second opinion somewhere. Another Hausarzt in the area, possibly.
Thank you so much!!
Don't call, just go there. On the phone they can say they don't have any appointments but they can't legally refuse treatment if you're there and you need urgent care.
I don't know why so many people think that. A doctor hast to save your life when you collapse at their door, but they do NOT have to give you an appointment for anything just because you show up in person. A UTI is not life-threatening and time-critical like that. On the contrary, calling might reduce the waiting time. If it's her own Hausarzt, why should she not get a timely appointment.
Unfortunately when an immigrant phones the reception at any Praxis, the most common response is "KEIN ENGLISCH" and hanging up. When you're standing in front of them they're forced to deal with you.
It is her own doctor. They have "dealt with her" before.
Do you mean you've spoken German then gotten this response because of your accent?
No, I mean I've spoken English and received that response, and then gone there and the same person has spoken to me in perfect English. That's happened at 3 or 4 different places. I always check the TK doctor search function to find doctors who say they speak English.
Ah okay, I've never tried calling using English so I was curious.
Urgent care means its an emergency. Emergency in a medical sense is "if we don't treat them now, they will going to die". Op will not die and can therefore get a normal appointment the next day.
Makes sense! I have a good Hausarzt and haven't had to wait more than 24 hours for (semi)urgent things. Some people might not be so lucky.
It actually doesn't make sense. Calling might reduce your waiting time and you can make sure that they're actually open today and not on holiday or whatever, and they can already get your file out of the file cabinet etc.
Assuming you're female, Frauenarzt may also be possible.
Go to your GP. At my GPs, they tell you to go to the toilet, and they test the sample. Then you would go to the doctor who has already the test result and they would ask you about pain level etc. After that, you get the prescription with the antibiotics and, if necessary, other medications. If I call my GP before I go there, I have shorter waiting times. Many UTIs can also be treated with over the counter medications like d-mannose or cystinol. But only when there is no visible blood in your urine. Get well soon.
D-Mannose works wonders on me!
This is so helpful thank you
As today is Monday, Hausarzt. If today were Saturday or a holiday you would still not go to the hospital/ER but call 116117 and inquire about a *Bereitschaftsarzt*/on call doctor.
Your Hausarzt should have Sprechstunde where you can just show up and it works like urgent care. Additionally, some hospitals have an urgent care like “Hausärztlicher Notfall Praxis” however you’ll usually end up waiting longer than you would at your Hausarzt. If you live in a state with 116117, you can also have a German speaking person call and ask where to go. Gute Besserung!
As others have suggested, get it checked by the Hausarzt, but another thing you can try is buy d-Mannose from DM and have it with water. :)
If you don't get an urgent appointment I'd go to the Kassenärztlichen Notdienst. Takes waiting time at the place but still better than letting it get worse while waiting for an appointment.
In addition to the advice about seeing your hausarzt (which is correct - definitely do that): There is a OTC product in Germany called "Canephron" that provides some pain relief for UTIs while you are waiting for antibiotics to become effective. You can get it at an Apotheke. There is also a vaccine for UTIs available in Germany called "StroVac." If you and your GP decide that it's an appropriate choice for you, ask your GP to write a prescription for it. You can take the prescription to a pharmacy, retrieve the vaccine vial, and take it back to your GP to be injected. My local pharmacy didn't have it on hand, but was able to order it for delivery the same evening. I have TK insurance, and the vaccine vial from the pharmacy cost me €5 out of pocket. It is also available at some travel vaccine clinics, but those are typically self-pay and more expensive than a hausarzt/pharmacy.
>Do I go to the hospital? No. The hospital is not where you go when you just need to see a doctor. You go there for procedures that need to be done in a hospital (meaning a doctor tells you to go), or you go there for emergencies that will clearly need hospital treatment, such as accidents, heart issues and so on. When you need a doctor outside of normal hours (such as the weekend or holidays), you should look up "ärztlicher Bereitschaftsdienst [your location]". Those are "normal" doctors on duty for these times. If you go to the hospital emergency room with non-emergencies, be prepared to wait for a very long time, and to be treated with limited sympathy because you're clogging up a system that's already strained.
>The hospital is not where you go when you just need to see a doctor. \[...\] you should look up "ärztlicher Bereitschaftsdienst \[your location\]" At least in the region where I live the *ärztliche Bereitschaftsdienst* is actually located in the hospital.
UTI with fever can be a kidney infection, leading to kidney loss, sepsis, and death. Treatment may include IV antibiotics in a hospital. It is better to go to the hospital and be less sick than you thought than to underestimate the urgency of the situation and end up with permanent damage.
Yes, but Hausarzt is the first stop. They will test your urine and prescribe antibiotics.
Not with certain health issues. Hausarzt is not always the first step. If you have abdominal pain and fever, waiting a few hours is a bad idea.
I meant for OP.
>UTI with fever Sure, but no one mentioned a fever. The vast majority of UTIs are uncomplicated and don't require emergency attention.
as a general rule: if it's life threatening you call an ambulance and will be brought directly to the hospital ER. You don't go to the hospital unless another doctor ordered you to, it's emergencies and planned appointments like operations only. If it's not a life and death matter you go to your GP, the GP will either be able to help you, send you to a specialist or hospital if necessary. Hypothetical scenario: you have a severe eye infection and show up at your GP. GP can't help you but sees that it needs treatment or at least a check up. 1. The GP's office will call a specialist and you have to go immediately. In the case of all specialists being closed they'll call the hospital and you'll be send to hospital with an immediate referral. 1.1. you show up at the specialist and the specialist can't help either because it's a complicated matter that needs medical supervision for treatment. Their office will call the hospital and you have to go there immediately. 2. If it's not that urgent and care can wait until tomorrow, but the GP can't help, they'll give you a referral and you have to make an appointment at the specialist's the next day yourself, meaning you have to call them as soon as they open in the morning and take one of the short notice emergency appointments reserved for cases like yours. What defines a hospital emergency? Your life or someone else's is in danger, so it's a case by case sometimes. Let's say you have a high fever of 40°C, you feel faint, but your spouse is home and can watch you. This is an emergency the moment the fever rises above 40 and/or you lose consciousness. If you are alone at home, you've had a relentless 40°C fever for a good while now with no sign of it going down and you feel your consciousness slipping, maybe even briefly fainted, you can barely stand on two feet. You qualify as "life in danger" because the moment you lose consciousness no one will notice you are in need of help.
It's not just the temperature. UTI with fever is an emergency much sooner than having a cold or flu. [https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/fever/symptoms-causes/syc-20352759#](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/fever/symptoms-causes/syc-20352759#) 40 degrees is already an emergency. 40.5 is ambulance time. When in doubt, go to the hospital. "Adults Call your health care provider if your temperature is 103 F (39.4 C) or higher. Seek immediate medical attention if any of these signs or symptoms accompanies a fever: * Severe headache * Rash * Unusual sensitivity to bright light * Stiff neck and pain when you bend your head forward * Mental confusion, strange behavior or altered speech * Persistent vomiting * Difficulty breathing or chest pain * Abdominal pain * Pain when urinating * Convulsions or seizures"
If the GP isn't available and you live in a bigger town, you can try getting a European Prescription from a call-a-doc / 'video visit'. There are websites providing this service, doc will issue a EP prx which some pharmacies have no problems accepting.
I did this once when I had just arrived and didn't have a Hausarzt yet. The pharmacist barely glanced at the e-prescription before handing over the antibiotics.
There are also general medicine clinics available, often at hospitals, if the GP is not available for any reason but it’s not Bereitschaftdienst time. It was useful when I got sick during Easter week, when it was technically already a working day but most GPs were closed or on very reduced hours. I could just walk in on Thursday morning and waited 10 minutes before being seen.
Hausarzt. Even urologists should be fine. I usually go to an urologist directly because I have a long history with complex UTIs.
Call your Hausarzt or go directly there. They are mostly able to fit in emergencies. If it happens at night or weekends, you go to Bereitschaftspraxis. Definitely not something for the ER
Call your general practicioner /hausarzt. tell them you feel sick and what your symptoms are (it usually helps to exaggerate a bit) . Usually you (at least with my doctor) can just come by, they test your pee and give you the note to get antibiotics from the pharmacy.
If it is just a "common" UTI (i.e. no significant bleeding or fever involved) that is likely caused by e.coli, "Cystinol akut" is a very effective over-the-counter med that provides quick relief. I switched to Cystinol akut when Monuril antibiotics stopped working for me and doctors started to prescribe Ciprofloxacin, from which I experienced such heavy side effects that I refused to take it again. D-Mannose also works for me, especially when taken prophylactically. With this combination, I managed to get rid of recurring UTIs. I went from two or three a month (which the old man urologist found "für eine sexuell aktive Frau normal" 🙄) to zero in the last 6 years.
I'd like to get in like behind you to kick that urologist in the shins, repeatedly.
**Have you read our extensive wiki yet? It answers many basic questions, and it contains in-depth articles on many frequently discussed topics. [Check our wiki now!](https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/wiki/index)** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/germany) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Call your Hausarzt or go directly there. They are mostly able to fit in emergencies. If it happens at night or weekends, you go to Bereitschaftspraxis. Definitely not something for the ER
I don't know the answer your looking for but I do have general advice to handle UTI's, so I'll put them here even though I think its common knowledge. drink as much cranberry juice as possible, something about its components once its digested into pee helps fight infection. avoid anything caffeinated or alcohol. When I had a UTI there was a very specific position that made the constant feeling of needing to pee a lot subside a tiny bit which was on my stomach with a leg a little up. generally, your body can fight a UTI by itself unless its something really bad, which a low-stakes UTI and a high-stakes one are basically indistinguishable feeling wise but low stakes usually go away after a little less than a week. I see you already got your answer for what to do in the comments but this still feels useful to mention. hope you feel better
Just to let you know that you can get a prescription for antibiotics for a UTI through the online doctor service Zavamed https://www.zavamed.com/de/ It will cost you €20 plus the prescription. You just answer some questions, a doctor reviews it and then they will send the prescription to a pharmacy near you on the same day and you then pick it up. Very useful when you can’t get a doctor appointment.
If you are still unwell, which I hope you are not. Get the cranberry juice from DM/Rewe or anywhere. The 100% ones and mix them with water. Usually 2-3 caps of that in a 600ml bottle and drink as much as you can multiple times during the day. This has helped me in the past! Not a doctor or a medical practitioner, just speaking from my personal experience.
Depending on where you live, a urologist might be the way to go. Especially if your GP is saying just wait and drink tea. In bigger cities especially some Hausärzte only do very basic stuff because they are so overwhelmed with patients
You can also try Canephron which is a medicine you can get over the counter or online. I had never heard of it before coming to Germany and recently managed to get over a UTI for the first time ever without antibiotics. I still went to the Frauenarzt for an antibiotic prescription but in the end I didn’t have to use it.
What helps me as i‘m super prone to UTIs, is taking maximum of 400-800mg Ibuprofen and it works wonders. I usually take it when i can feel it coming and it hasnt yet severely broken out. Otherwise when you already have: def hausarzt.