Do cranberry tablets work ?

[newbie2011]

Ive had a couple of bouts of cystitis in the last 6 weeks, have always suffered on and off for my whole life, dont want to keep trecking to the dr and getting antibiotics for it. I do all the usual stuff to prevent it, drinking cranberry juice, not having scented baths, wiping properly, weeing before and after sex etc etc. So was just wondering if anyone had any tips that I havnt tried over the years, and also - do the cranberry tablets/suppliments work ?

All thoughts greatfully recieved.

Oh, there is another cystitis thread on here, which was more severe than mine, I started to read that and then stopped as it scared me severly..... !

Yes they do. I don't like cranberry juice much so used them quite a bit in the past and they do the job very well. But if you are getting it after sex it may not be cystitis and you need screening for thrush or anything else.

newbie - I suspect it's our thread that has you scared off! Sorry.

quite a few people have been on praising the effects of dmannose so that may be worth a try.

I always end up posting on this.

Yes cranberry works but DONT take it if you are put on antibiotics for a UTI. It works by coating the urinary tract, which prevents bugs "sticking" and multiplying. But it also stops the antibiotics getting to the surface and fighting the bugs.

So don't drink/take cranberry while you are on treatment.

(I have a chronic urinary condition, my urologist told me this)

I tried Waterfall D mannose (link in hellsbelles post above) two weeks ago, after having cystitis yet again! And it seems to work! A bit expensive at nearly £20, but I'd rather use a natural product than anti biotics if possible.

If you order form their website, they will post straight away - I ordered one afternoon, and it arrived the next morning, very good service!

Thanks for the info on that, I have ordered a sachet of the mannose to try and cure the problem, but I see they also sell it in tablet form, I assume to take every day when you are not suffering - have any of you tried them ?
Whomovedmychocolate, it seems slightly sex related, but I have been checked out for everything else too in the last couple of weeks, but now its just starting ot really get me down and I dont want to keep going back to my dr, as he doesnt really seem that interested so I'd like to be able to sort it out myself...

Newbie - everyone seems to refer to the powder so I'd stick with that. I tried it for a few days and found it very good.

It may be worth ordering a 2nd hand copy of this (it's out of print) understanding cystitis...I have a friend who suffered recurrent cystitis infections and she swears this was the book that turned it all around for her.

I have been suffering on and off from cystitis for a couple of years now..

I never understood which the trigger was exactly, but like Newbie the usually stuff to prevent it just became part of my daily routine?.but that just don?t seem to work? Having the cystitis bouts every couple of months just got unbearable and I heard from a friend about the cranberry supplements which seem to work more on a prevention basis.

I heard about the dmannose but when comparing with others I found it too expensive? I am on hI Cran which is around £12 and it?s a month supply? I have been taking them for 3 months now and haven?t got a bout since?!