When I got UTIs I'd just drink a quart of beer and clear it right up, now I use over the counter UTI Azo. Cranberry juice may help. Glad your doing better.
Well Beth that was a few years ago now I'm good to get down 2 beers. I always keep the Azo around just in case but it runs out of date [thank goodness] before I need it since I drink lots of water now. I wish I could afford wine but it cost more now so I'll have a Crown and coke now and then if no taste for beer.
If it turns out to be just an infection, ask doctor about d-mannose and if he does not know, research and try d-mannose.
@Marie Mallery @Mary Stetler The AZO Urinary Pain Relief I bought when I had a bladder stone removed "expired" and I limped around Walmart this AM when I picked up my antibiotic and bought another pak...but that's for the catheter discomfort. I've been taking AZO D-Mannose daily, but at a dose that's probably too low to make a difference (500mg vs 2 grams.) I may increase it once the course of antibiotics is done, if I don't just march myself to the end of my property and consign my corporeal being to Mother Nature.
Well whatever works is a good thing. Sometimes we need a doctors help and prescribed medicine. I do try to stay involved in my care also, I don't trust doctors that much either, but do use them if I have to. I feel like cussing just thinking of what a couple have done to me last 3 years. Trust but verify!
As I wrote, I went into the ER in early 2021 because the infection was so bad I could not urinate. They gave me antibiotics and sent me home, and it cleared up fine. I think my urologist could have done the same thing yesterday, since I was still able to go, albeit not a full stream. And I know that subsequent tests showed I was back to "my normal" retention level after that 2021 episode. I hope I get out of this episode with nothing more than a sore @#$# from the catheter, but I'll still have the high retention issue to deal with (but still not as high as others, according to the docs.) I know I've had this for well over 12 years, and the first infection I got was caused by the urodynamics procedure close to 18 months ago. I've been stockpiling foods, and might have to give away all this coffee I've bought. I really should not be drinking it with my bladder issues.
I am really sorry about your urinary issues. If you recall, I had similar problems after I broke my back and couldn't urinate for a while. As to the infection, you can try drinking cranberry juice or other tannin source as a preventative, but it really doesn't work well as a treatment. Keep LE/ Nitrite sticks on hand to use whenever you get symptoms. Sometimes a urologist will give you a prescription for a broad-spectrum antibiotic until you get a culture done. Always collect a culture sample BEFORE you start on the drugs, though. Many drug stores carry the URISTICK or something like it for at-home screening. Here is the Amazon link to the sticks I am talking about: link Be aware that these sticks only pick up gram negative bacteria--the usual culprits--although gram positive stuff may be picked up with the LE test. Gram positive infections are ones usually caused by procedures and are often missed in regular urinalysis, especially in non-hospital labs like clinics and office "labs" as they generally have less trained folks than hospitals do.
I was a heavy drinker...mostly beer, but I would never pass up a gin & tonic or a shot of tequila (man, that stuff should be illegal.) I quit drinking in April/May of 1990. Never had any kidney or urinary tract issues. July 4, 1990 I passed 10+ kidney stones. I passed 5+ in rapid succession at a park before getting on the road to drive a friend home. Got to her place an hour later, and again passed 5+ in rapid succession getting ready for my return trip to finish out my weekend. Serves me right.
Thanks for that, Don. Yeh, I recall your issues and fallout from your back. I was going to ask the guy if they make home test kits and if he would work with me. I'm doubtful, but I should at least have those on hand for my own edification. I'd like to think that we could do something because his office is 50 miles away. But I bounced around providers (with him in between a couple of times) before settling on just seeing him, so he may not have any more patience with me. I have no idea where this will end up long-term. edit to add: Those Amazon test strips are cheap! A 3 pak of AZO in stock at Walmart costs more than the 120 pak you linked to!
John thats good that you quit. I can't drink enough to worry about it now..Hubby turned grey passing a stone and had Lipotripsy,the whole trailer was rocking from that stone blasting. He has passed a couple and it wasn't pleasant. I decided that wasn't a good time to give advice.
You could try some healing teas instead of coffee. We make a combo of dandelion root, burdock root and chocolate mint (that we grow). It is kind of yummy. you can buy them on amazon and mix it yourself. The others (besides mint) we COULD make ourselves, but in # bags it is easier. We drink it straight though you could use a bit of cream. Don't go quietly into the good night. We would miss you.
I feel bad for your husband. Most people I've known who have stones have had them in a fall-in-the-floor-in-pain kinda way. And I've seen the bruises lithotripsy leaves. The poor bugger. I got lucky. Only a couple of mine were problematic, and none got lodged in my back (although I could briefly feel them travel through on their way to happier hunting grounds) I wonder if that's because I have always been a big water drinker, even when I was doing so much alcohol. In fact, when a urologist wanted to do a 24 hour urine collection test, I had to go back and get a second jug because I filled up the first one so quickly only halfway through the day. I had only one stone get stuck, and that was after it exited my bladder (thank goodness it made it that far.) That was when I was given my first catheter. The stone was so smooth and so perfectly shaped that the doctor was certain there was no stone in there and that the issue was something else. After a week of having the catheter, I passed that stone the evening the catheter was removed (probably dislodged it and stretch out the passageway.) It looked like a small flywheel key you find in lawn mowers: Since I'm blathering on the subject: I had not had stones in years when I moved here and started using hard well water for cooking and for my coffee...I bought bottled for drinking. The dissolved minerals brought back my stones, but in the way a cat gets them...splats of sand. As soon as I started using bottled water for everything, the "stones" went away. I've since installed a salt-based ion exchange softener and use softened water exclusively. It's a nuance on the "hard water will not cause kidney stones" position. It's true that hard water will not cause stones if you're not prone to them, but if your physiology makes stones, hard water is adding fuel to the fire.
Good point. I need to ask the guy how worried I should be about these infections. From what I read, some people (especially women) seem to get them routinely, while mine are more than a year apart. I know that retaining urine causes them, but it's not like it's happening monthly.