Seriously recurrent UTI's!!! Any advice, natural remedies, etc. please

[Chicken Chaperone]

for Cystex- the outside of the box says "Take 2 tablets with a full glass of water 4 times a day" but it doesn't say for how long and I've lost the little paper
from the inside with the more complete directions- I'm sorry! I remember taking it for 5 days and since the package says 40 tablets I think that sounds right.
If there are any math majors handy who can correct me and who enjoy 'story problems' ::shiver!:: please feel free to!

 

[gritsar]

I have polycystic kidney disease and I keep a bottle of UTI test strips in the house, that's how frequently I get UTIs. Hated running to the doctor non-stop and now I just test at home and call the dr. and say guess what? I noticed that when I went off vitamin C for awhile I was getting them alot more often then when I take my 1000 mg. of vitamin C a day.

 

[froggie71]

I had gotten a couple UTI's back to back. On my next visit back I told my Dr. I thought I could be diabetic. Did a finger prick test in the office and came back with a sugar of 485 when it should be 80-100. Sure enough I'm Diabetic

 

[babylady4]

Agreed; try to keep your urine as acidic as possible. Lots of grapefruit juice would help with this as well....

 

[A1 Steak Sauce]

Chicken Chaperone - Ok, thanks for looking that up for me, and your math is right too lol.

gritstar - I'm about to invest in those test strips (I don't know why I haven't already actually.) Lol I'm about to just move into the dr. office.

froggy71 - Dang, sorry to hear that. Well, they did a blood test when I was in the hospital after my little incident, and they said my blood sugar was normal, so I don't think it's that... I hope.

babylady4 - I've never heard of the grapefruit juice... I'll try that too. I try to drink no sugar cranberry juice when this store has it, but boy that stuff makes your eyes cross it's so sour lol.

Thanks

 

[MagsC]

Yeah, I was going to say, they recommend lots of berry juice, not just cranberry.
Sigh, yup, chocolate can set it off, but its your call. Maybe if you do everything else, you wouldnt have to cut it out.
Echinacea/Oregon grape root. You can buy the capsules and ground up herb online and fill your own, thats probably the easiest.

 

[ChooksChick]

I'd like to point out for everyone here that your blood sugar can look normal on a random finger prick and still be wrong at other times. It took months to diagnose my husband as diabetic until they ran an HbA1c test (basically an average over the last 2-3 months) and found out he was WAY diabetic.

If you have any of the other symptoms, like 'heavy-feeling' limbs, exhaustion, blurry vision occasionally, headaches, etc., you ought to request if from your doc. It's a blood test that doesn't require fasting and should run $10-20.

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

UTIs and sinus infections being chronic can be related to yeast infections and going on antibiotics will just bump you back and forth between the 2. I got rid of both with yeast buster type stuff from the herbal store. Many names but all have wild Oregano leaves or extract as the main ingredient. I now use the oil, just staight up, wash it down with citrus like eating and orange or grapefruit to get the taste out of your mouth. Take it for at least 2 months the first go then as needed at it for a week or 2. It is great for when you think your comming down with a flu or cold too.

A few conflicting things here, I was told to quit vitamin C and Bs as they can irritate the area and make infection more likely. Now that is in pill format so not talking about natural sources, but high doses.

Rest of what I read here is important, sugars should be checked, sugar in diet is bad, milk should be restricted to yougert and such so that lactose is at least low. Sweetners are no better than sugar. Oddly berries even though some are very high in sugar are all good.

 

[Dar]

this may be hard to do because it was over a year ago... BUT.. think back.... did you change ANYTHING?
Laundry soap?
personal soap
assuming you are a woman... woman products


I had a wicked problem with yeast infections which then when I got those cleared up I would start with a UTI, and the UTI cleared up but the RX they put me on upset the delicate balance there and i got another yeast infection.

I started double rinsing everything and washing my underwear separate in a hypo allergic solution (bought it at the health food store) and finally fot my system back on track... then got complacent and it started all over again.. just to find out that tide had changed its formula and i now can use it or sunlight.

 

[happytxchick]

The first thing that comes to mind is, "Are you a diabetic?" Elevated blood glucose levels can cause reoccuring UTI's; I can't believe your Dr. hasn't suggested a test (well, I guess he/she could have...I haven't read all of the posts on this thread).

Next: just the basics..
drink 100% cranberry juice (not the cocktail, which has too much sugar and other junk in it)
wipe from front to back every time you go to the bathroon - b/c us girls can drag bacteria from you-know-where onto our meatus (open of the urethra)
only wear 100% cotton panties
tee-tee before and after intercourse b/c if you don't go before bacteria hanging out down there can be pushed inside (and then after, for similar reasons)
have your partner thoroughly clean himself before intercourse
drink plenty of water
avoid tight-fitting pants
schedule your peeing (don't go more than 2 hours without going tee-tee, to keep the bladder empty and flushed)
don't use harsh soap to wash your lady parts...only warm water and a very mild soap, if any (if you do use soap, avoid direct contact with the meatus)

ETA: oh, and eat lots of yogurt...I can't believe I forgot that...that is like the main thing I wanted to say...when I started eating yogurt, I didn't have another one for, literally, YEARS!

I'm sorry this is happening to you...I used to have these a lot when I was a teenager, and I've had a couple since I became a nurse (because we never stop to pee or drink for 12 hours...

)...so I know how painful and horrible they are...so sorry!