Help I'm in UTI misery

Glad to see you got antibiotics and symptoms are easing.

I am a long time UTI sufferer and the best things so far I have found are having a hot bath with Epsom salts (TMI but also peeing in the bath weirdly helps!)
Drinking dissolved D mannose powder in a really small amount of water, holding this in as long as possible then drinking lots of water and peeing to flush it out.
Having a hot water bottle between the legs.
Cutting out tomatoes!

Glad you got the abx as kidney infections are horrendous. Take the d-mannose as well as it stops the bacteria embedding into the bladder wall. If you are prone to infections it is worth taking d-mannose as a preventative measure any time you do a triggering activity- sex/wearing tight clothes/swimming etc

Sorry, nitrofurantoin is an antibiotic, I was mistaken. But they do get concentrated in the urine and potentially have fewer gut related side effects. Hope you feel better soon op.

Sorry if others have said this but demannose is great for keeping recurrent bladder infections / irritation at bay.

I thought I had UTI for years but instead it was just irritation from UTIs when I was younger. So when it flared I thought UTI but my samples weren't bringing back anything. A dr finally recommended Dmannose as it was life changing.

But if you have a confirmed infection you need antibiotics as it could spread to your kidneys.

Good luck as know what it's like xx

Nitrofurantoin are usually given for utis. They aren’t antibiotics. They essentially react with your urine to make it like an antiseptic liquid, they don’t usually affect the gut at all, and certainly nothing like antibiotics do.

No that's Hiprex you're thinking of. Nitrofurantoin is definitely an antibiotic.

Thank you. No doubt I'm drawing on my own experience. Oh to have a UTI cleared in 3 days!

@MyCatHatesSandals antibiotic courses depend on the type of infection and the antibiotic.

A lot of antibiotics for uncomplicated UTI only need a 3 day course.

If they don't work a longer course isn't the answer, most likely you need a different antibiotic.

Actually I had only 3 days antibiotics last time. I don't know what was in them, but good grief, they did the trick. I felt masses better after only 1.

It always flummoxes me that doctors prescribe anything less than 5 days at an absolute minimum. Be prepared to fight for more antibiotics if need be.

I hope you feel better soonest.

I have suffered from numerous UTIs over the years, unfortunately, and try to avoid antibiotics if at all possible. But, sometimes you need to take them if the infection has properly bedded in. One thing that has really helped to prevent and treat future ones is Uva Ursi tincture. Good to keep at home in case you ever need it in the future!

I treated a UTI with d mannose when similarly trying to avoid antibiotics. I had blood and nitrites on dip.
Took 2 tabs every 3 hours I think for 24 hours

You can. Some pharmacists think you can't, so insist if you have to. I take 2 a day, but I have embedded infections now, so 1 should help for straightforward UTIs

I think it’s worth getting some antibiotics prescribed - then they’re there if you need them. And you may need them. UTIs typically respond very well to them. But I have sometimes found that just knowing they’re there if I need them brings relief.

As some PPs have mentioned, D-Mannose is very effective if it’s an ecoli infection - make sure you take them as instructed. I have used Waterfall D-Mannose in the past - you need to take them every few hours much the way you would take antibiotics.

Cut out all caffeine, alcohol and sugar. Even avoid fruit for now and spicy foods. All of these can irritate. Drinking warmish water with lemon and/or parsley in can be very soothing. And some gentle herbal teas. In terms of foods, good salad vegetables may help also.

Drink a pint of water in one go. Pee it all out hopefully within the hour. Drink another full pint. Pee it all out. And again…. It clears you’re urethra out and I found by the second ir third big pee out the discomfort and symptoms eased dramatically.

Lemon (or any flavour) barley water helps.

Cranberry is rumoured to be a preventative but once the uti is present cranberry might actually worsen it.

I used to get a UTI every month at one point in my life, it was hell. I ended up on a daily dose of Nitrofurantoin for a year. Now I either take a daily Dmannose or the industrial strength Cranberry capsules from Amazon, around 45,000mg strength works just as well for me to stop the infection if I have one but also to prevent one.

Drinking normal cranberry juice did nothing for me.

Good luck, it's awful having a UTI I feel your pain. Hope you feel better soon

I want to try hiprex for prevention - can you get it over the counter?

If you feel that you can leave the house then you can't be that bad? Mine started Sunday and I was in agony on and off the toilet trying to pee. I'm now on day three of antibiotics.

Also - just remembered, you can buy a prebiotic gummy supplement on Amazon with Cranberry & female urinary beneficial compounds. I think it has helped on the prevention side. I'm sure other places than Amazon will have something similar if you don't like buying from Amazon.

I'm just going to say, like many others, that if you have a true infection, you need to take the antibiotics.

Cranberry and all the natural remedy stuff do nothing in my (well tested) opinion.

Take Omeprazole for the gastro side.

D-Mannose does help as a preventative, I think, after much testing. But it won't cure an infection.

• I found D-mannose good for both prevention of and curing UTIs
• ’clean diet’ - no dairy, bread, processed sugar, meat. Just fruit and veg which has an alkalising effect on the body
• if you do take antibiotics, follow up with Replete Intensive probiotic - expensive, comes in powder form - v effective for getting you back on track

Good luck !

Bicarb in water - I was desperate at the start of a bank hol weekend with no where open and this did the trick luckily.

I’m not sure how good it is for you though but I couldn’t sit and wait for the drs at that time.

You need to get pure cranberry from the health food shop, not the supermarket one, as it also contains added sugar.

Pure cranberry is tart and tastes like shit, so drink it with water.

I said pee in the shower but I totally thought this as well. I didn't know other people did it. It 100% helps. It's one of the most relieving things.