Has anyone tried alternative therapies for UTI's?

[CauldronOfBrownJoy]

I have suffered from "honeymoon" cystitis for the last 5/6 years, off and on. I am currently ttc and am getting a uti almost every couple of weeks.

My doctor has said that I have a weak bladder system with low leucocytes, and that any bacteria or chemical imbalance at all is causing an infection. She has offered that I could either:

see a gynacologist
see a urologist (I did this a few years ago and nothing helpful resulted - I don't have a shortened urethra or anything like that)
see an acupuncturist
try any sort of herbal remedy that will strengthen the good bacteria in my bladder.

I already wee after sex, and shower, take mild cranberry supplements and I'm going to try aloe berry drinking gel.

Has anyone tried any of this methods, with any success please?

TIA

Oh it's so miserable. I had UTIs for over 10 years. Have you had a cystoscopy and a bladder biopsy taken? In my case it turned out that I had a very deep seated bladder wall infection and I needed about 7 months of non-stop very strong antibiotics. Seems to have cleared, but I'm not going to be convinced until I get a repeat cystoscopy and biopsy done (end of next month). Another uro-gynae I saw suggested that it might be an auto immune thing. Does bactieria actually show up in your urine? The weird thing about me was that my urine was clear, even though I had symptoms and traces of blood and protein. Reason was that the infection was in the bladder wall. I tried acupuncture and it did alleviate some of the symptoms. And I also tried Tibetan herbal medicine (like Chinese but you get foul balls of herbs to crunch up rather than powders - have probably offended herbal practitioners the world over with my crass oversimplification!). Again, this seemed to alleviate the symptoms. Another lady on here, I think her user name is gailforce, recommended seeing a nutritionist. She had similar problems with UTIs and found that getting supportive treatment from a nutritionist helped her body to respond to the antibiotics more effectively. I've got a PM from her in my in box. I'll hoik out the details and post back. I assume you're doing all the obvious things like washing before sex (and making sure DH washes too) but not using harsh soaps. I was told that spermicide would make things worse (uro-gynae again) - but if you're TTC that's not going to be a factor. Off to inbox - back in a minute....

Here we go:

She said her Nutritionist recomended probiotics: Nutri Ltd Metagenics Ultra Probioplex ND capsules. These are available from The Nutri Centre. She also found that Yakault and Bimuno which is a prebiotic available in Boots and some supermarkets helped.

thanks so much cardamomginger!

I went to the urologist a long time ago and had a cystoscopy which didn't find anything.

Usually I do have bacteria in my urine but oddly this morning the doctor didn't find any. I thought it was possibly because I had been treating this infection with antibios but the symptoms just hadn't quite shifted, so that might have somehow affected my sample.

Did you find everyone you saw suggested something different? I feel like I'm going round in circles!

I'm definitely going to look for an acupuncturist and start taking stronger supplements. Then I'll have to think about going further medically, either to a gynae or whoever. Its a bit complicated by the fact that I live in Germany so its a slightly different setup.

TIA for the nutritionist information too.

oh x post - thanks!

Hi, I also suffer from the dreaded cystitis and up until about 8 months ago I was getting a bout of it every 3/4 weeks. It's completely miserable isn't it. Unfortunately I worked out that wine makes mine worse and I'm always prone to an attack of it if I've been drinking wine a few days before. Sad because I do really enjoy a glass of wine but I can still enjoy a G&T without any of the unpleasant symptoms returning. I don't know why that is but in the 8 months or so that I've stopped it I've noticed a huge improvement!

I also started taking Holland and Barrett high strength cranberry supplements everyday on a recommendation from a friend who is plagued with UTIs and they really do work. I'd tried other brands before, but these ones just seem a bit stronger.

The last time I'd a really bad attack I trawled the internet for information because it was so bloody painful and I felt truly crap. Some things I learned were that apparently barley water is supposed to be good for flushing the kidneys. And that instead of buying those disgusting over the counter powders, you can make you own with 1 tsp baking powder in half a pint of water (you can add squash or barley water to it because it's rather vile on its own) Another thing that's important is not to wear tight clothes so no thongs or skinny jeans for a few days till it clears up, but you probably knew that.

Another really relaxing thing is a soak in the bath with some epsom salts (don't know that it actually works but does make you feel a bit better!) Remember you can take painkillers like paracetamol but if you have a fever, aches and pains or low back ache to call your GP because that can be a sign it has spread to your kidneys and kidney infections are very unpleasant!

HTH and good luck on TTC!

thanks for the info hellomotoe. Gah! Dreading giving up wine, but actually considering I'm ttc too it might have to be done...

Oh yeah - and another uro-gynae I saw said the drink a sachet of cystitis powder stuff in a glass of water immediately after sex. That really did seem to help stop things getting worse. I think the idea is that any bacteria that have been introduced when you've had sex and that have managed to hang on despite you having a wee won't be able to take hold so easily cos the urine you go on to produce won't be so favourable to bacteria growth. And yes - docs do suggest different things and yes it does drive me nuts! XX

Docs suggest different things because either theres more than one answer or theres no good / clear answer. if you're getting such regular infections, your doctor might be able to prescribe a course of 'prophylactic' antibiotics - ie you take them daily - just one at night, to settle it all down and to stop you getting infections. This normally takes 3-6 months. Might be worth asking?

Some suggestions other than antibiotics ... etc

• drink lots of water - UTIs can be triggered by dehydration
• if you're getting recurrent infections of any sort, then it may be that your immune system is not operating optimally. This may be addressed by movement which encourages flow of lymph around your body (swimming is good), rest (easier said than done) and boosting your immune system by taking echinacea or something similar.