Help I'm in UTI misery

[utihelp]

Sorry for posting on AIBU, I'm desperately looking for tips to help with a UTI. I am in so much pain 😩 trying to avoid antibiotics unless I absolutely can't shift this any other way. I've sent DP out for cranberry sachets from the supermarket. What else can I do?

I suffer often with UTIs. Go and get two two little bottles of water, get them to room temp and pour a bit of cordial in them if you struggle with just water. The. Lick yourself in the bathroom and start drinking.

I get in the bath and pee in the bath as nature takes its course. It helps. Then I get in bed with a hot water bottle. Not really practical today but if you can it will help with the pain. As long as you’ve drunk all four litres, it will be fine by morning.

As a fellow UTI sufferer , I sympathise with you and I appreciate you've explained about the gastro problems, but please don't avoid antibiotics if you need them. One of my family members ended up in an ICU with sepsis from an untreated UTI, a short term gastro issue is much better than life threatening sepsis.

Do all antibiotics give you gastro issues, there are a few that you can have for UTIs, so it might be worth asking the DR for a different one? Sorry if you've already tried that. Hope you feel better soon.

Pee in the bath (filled with warm water of course). Sit there for ages drinking and peeing.

I don't think the cranberry stuff really helps. I always found drinking only water and lots of it 3-4 litres in a day. That can help flush it out. Also helps relax the bladder. Put a pad in so you aren't so worried about wee. I always find the more you go to the toilet the worse it is. You don't want an empty bladder because that's when the pain and bladder spasm starts.

This worked for me. Bicarb & hot water bottle on pubic area.

Bicarbonate of soda, 5 ml (one teaspoon) in half a glass of water, 2 - 3 times a day. But don't take for too long, as high salt content.

If it’s mild you totally can. I have done it many times.

There is an analgesic which is over the counter in the US. It’s called “AZO” and you can buy it on Amazon. Amazing relief of symptoms while you chug water like a loon.

Google waterfall d mannose. I get the powder one. I used to gave repeat UTIs until I stumbled across this solution. If you need antibiotics then take them first and you can use d mannose next time as soon as you feel any hint

I find if you run a warm bath it’s easier to go for a wee in the bath than toilet, seems to take away the pain. I also take painkillers and literally drink so much to try and flush it out x

Cranberry and lots of water, I always find just being able to go to the loo a relief as well. I had awful uti s in my 20s and unfortunately the only thing that solved it was antibiotics. They usually got me feeling normal within 4 hours of starting them.

100% this

You need antibiotics if you don't take them it could lead to sepsis and hospitalisation

Drinking litres of water doesn't work for me, I need the anti biotics to shift it

Seven Seas Essential Cranberry FORTE, as maintenance. Recommended to me by a retired nurse, who is a sorceress

I've had recurrent UTIs for over 20 years due to damaged bladder lining (autoimmune). Only kept at bay now by taking nitrofurantoin every day for 5 years which has given me lung disease. I am "too young" to have the bladder removal that was recommended 6 years ago. So I live with the now infrequent infections and restrictions such as no alcohol. If my advice is worth anything - please take the antibiotics. You do not want an embedded infection or kidney damage from this. Cranberry juice is not effective for an infection. You would have to drink so much of it that you would feel sick and it still wouldn't be enough. It's an old wives tale based on cranberry having some positive effects but only when very concentrated. You will need water, lots of it. I drink lucozade sport or rehydration drinks so I don't get sick from the water I have to drink during an infection. No alcohol, no caffeine, no spicy food or citrus as the pain will be worse. Orange juice is my kryptonite. Also apple juice. Put a hot water bottle on your kidneys or abdomen, or take a bath. If its making you need to pee every few seconds I recommend just sitting in the running shower and not holding it in when the pain is very bad. Cocodamol helps with the pain when I can't sleep. Not wearing tight clothes around my middle. I also feel better just eating what i want and being lazy when I'm unwell from it. Less stress makes the pain easier to deal with.

Sorry for going on. I wouldn't wish this on anyone so try and help if I can. I get a UTI every time I have a period due to the inflammation the period causes in my abdomen, makes my bladder lining get pinprick bleeding which for some reason turns into an infection. Jury is out as to whether it's embedded in the lining because I can't afford to go private and the NHS don't test for it.

I hope it clears up quickly!

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.

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.

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.

• 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 !

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.