19 replies to this topic

[crash]

Do you always need to take antibiotics if you have a UTI, or can you flush it out with lots of water?

[sistah]

Depends how bad it is but theoretically you should be able to and it does seem to work. A night on the grog can work wonders because it suppresses anti-diuretic hormone and makes you produce lots of diluted urine which can help to flush it out. The trick is making sure you rehydrate quickly. And then of course there's good old cranberry juice.

[georgie]

crash, on Jul 12 2006, 04:25 AM, said:

Do you always need to take antibiotics if you have a UTI, or can you flush it out with lots of water?

Cranberry juice or cranberry tablets can help with the infection and/or help to prevent infections.

[lune14]

Yes yes to cranberry!!!.... But as I posted somewhere in here before please keep in mind that when it comes to cranberry juice you can send yourself over the Sugar Hill! The best option for incorporating cranberry "juice" into your diet is to use the unsweetened variety (which you can use to flavor water vs drinking straight). Most people don't care for the bitter edge of cranberry juice, which of course is intense in it's unsweetened form. Drinking cranberry laced water daily might be a good thing. I took the tablets for a year and it never helped me... .was in the urologists constantly but worth a try. Just buy a quality brand.

[Chilepepper]

The only place that I know of as to where you would get unsweetened cranberry juice is it at your local health food store. It is a little expensive but well worth it. The juice at the grocery store is laced with sugar. Stay away from that for it will do you no good.

[Apparelyzed]

As soon as you suspect a bladder infection, you should increase your fluid intake to keep your bladder flushed out.

Cranberry juice is best taken before bedtime, and first thing in the morning. Cranberry juice works as there is a compound in it which helps to stop bacteria "sticking" to the bladder wall. So if you take either cranberry juice before bedtime, or a cranberry tablet with fluid before bedtime, you will help flush the bladder over night.

Although not proven, my salvo against bladder infections is red wine. I have a couple of glasses with my evening meal, followed by a pint of squash before bedtime. So far in 15 years, I've only had one bladder infection, and that was 4 months post injury whilst in hospital.

Of course, some could argue that my lack of bladder infections is due to me "flushing" the bladder out by the volume of fluid rather than the type, but for now, I'll stick with what works.

Simon.

[Simon]

Cranberry is great but the sugar tip is true, drink low sugar.
Only treat uti's with a symptom like shivering, fever, etc, not just as you've tested positive in a urine test unless its a bacteria causing kidney/bladder stones. Remember you can become antibi resistant if you have too many.
Could use grapefruit seed extract its great but tastes awful. Someone told me garlic capsules work a treat but not tried it.
Simon

[lune14]

Apparelyzed, on Jul 15 2006, 03:40 AM, said:

Although not proven, my salvo against bladder infections is red wine. I have a couple of glasses with my evening meal, followed by a pint of squash before bedtime.

Ok I must ask, what is "squash"..... I'm assuming you are not juicing a garden vegetable here! ;-)

[lil_feisty]

Quote

Ok I must ask, what is "squash"..... I'm assuming you are not juicing a garden vegetable here! ;-)

oh, im so glad you asked this... i was wondering also

Perhaps he means beer or something?

[Avocado Baby]

lil_feisty, on Jul 25 2006, 07:19 PM, said:

Ok I must ask, what is "squash"..... I'm assuming you are not juicing a garden vegetable here! ;-)

Quote

oh, im so glad you asked this... i was wondering also

Perhaps he means beer or something?

'Squash' is a fruit flavoured drink that you dilute with water.

[itsjustme]

Quote

a pint of squash before bedtime

Simon,

We went to our county fair last night and I had a Lemon Shake-Up (lemon juice, sugar and water over ice) which I'm guessing isn't that much different than "squash"?

At 3:00 a.m. I woke up sweating and spazing like a Mexican jumping bean, both legs, hips. I wondered what in the world was the matter. I had my legs propped up on a foam wedge so all I thought that maybe I just needed to move. It didn't dawn on me that I needed to cath right then!

A little later when the spasms didn't stop and I finally did cath, I guess that I was just about to pop! Is it the citric acid of the lemon juice that stimluates the kidneys or bladder to empty like that because I never get that kind of output at that time of the morning?

If I continued to incorporate that into my routine I'd surely have to do it earlier in the day! I hate being so rudely awakened!

[Apparelyzed]

Ok, Squash is basicly concentrated fruit juice which is diluted with water.

Itsjustme, did the lemon squash have barley water in it?

Lemon and Barley water is well known to flush the kidneys out, as it's a diuretic, meaning it promotes the formation of urine by removing water from the body.

Other diuretics are Cucumber, Celery, Alcohol, Caffeine, Salt and Glucose but to name a few.

Simon

[Apparelyzed]

Oh yes, I guess the cheapest diuretic is water!

Simon

[itsjustme]

Thanks Simon!

Nope! No barley--just good ole' fashioned country lemonade here! I'm not sure that we just really get the concept of "squash" over here, but that lemon juice, sugar and water sure did the trick in case anyone needs a good kidney flush! Just don't do it at bedtime!

[Simon]

itsjustme, on Aug 1 2006, 10:06 PM, said:

Thanks Simon!

Nope! No barley--just good ole' fashioned country lemonade here! I'm not sure that we just really get the concept of "squash" over here, but that lemon juice, sugar and water sure did the trick in case anyone needs a good kidney flush! Just don't do it at bedtime!

Hi
The lemon will certainly make things acidic which is great for infection and potentially stone prevention. However, the sugar is bad for you It'll encourage diabetes to set in. Try to cut down the sugar content as much as poss or squeeze lemon into the water you drink (preferable reverse osmosis water so its had as many chemicals etc removed). For acte infection use grapefruit seed extract, 50 drops, 3x per day in water or fruit juice. Fruit juice will mask its bitter taste.

[Philip]

Wow you all are forgetting Vitamine C. Take one aday more of you get the chewibles they are like sweet tarts! It really depends on the type of infection you get but if I suspect or for some reason I think I used the wrong catheter when I'm out I drink ask much water as I can stand wait and hour and drink more water. This was helped in some cases.

[itsjustme]

Okay.........I'm really confused about the Vitamin C. Should I or shouldn't I take it? Does it decrease the chance of UTI and/or increase the chances of kidney stones or fortunately and unfortunately both?

My cousin almost died of a kidney disease (can't remember the name of it now). She was taking 1000 mg. of Vit. C a day prior. Now the only Vit. C they let her take is what she gets in a once a day multi vitamin because of the effects of Vit. C on the kidneys.

[Irenec]

sistah, on Jul 12 2006, 07:32 AM, said:

Depends how bad it is but theoretically you should be able to and it does seem to work. A night on the grog can work wonders because it suppresses anti-diuretic hormone and makes you produce lots of diluted urine which can help to flush it out. The trick is making sure you rehydrate quickly. And then of course there's good old cranberry juice.

What is grog?
Irenec

[Philip]

itsjustme, on Aug 8 2006, 01:52 AM, said:

Okay.........I'm really confused about the Vitamin C. Should I or shouldn't I take it? Does it decrease the chance of UTI and/or increase the chances of kidney stones or fortunately and unfortunately both?

My cousin almost died of a kidney disease (can't remember the name of it now). She was taking 1000 mg. of Vit. C a day prior. Now the only Vit. C they let her take is what she gets in a once a day multi vitamin because of the effects of Vit. C on the kidneys.

I think everyone should take vitamon C. It's *needed* for you to repair tissue even if you are not using it for UTI. You need to take it to keep your skin healthy. I had a sore on my ankle for like months. I did all the right things but it was slow to healing. The Dr said to take Vitamin C and zinc. That sore healed up in two weeks. If you are getting enough Vitamin C in your diet then you should be ok. As far as what it does for UTI according to The artical "Urinary Tract Infections" on Natrualeyecare ,

"Many doctors recommend 5,000 mg or more of vitamin C per day for an acute UTI, as well as long-term supplementation for people who are prone to recurrent UTIs. Although no controlled clinical trials have demonstrated the effectiveness of vitamin C for this purpose, vitamin C has been shown to inhibit the growth of E. coli, the most common bacterial cause of UTIs.9 In addition, supplementation with 4,000 mg or more of vitamin C per day, results in a slight increase in the acidity of the urine,10 creating an “unfriendly” environment for some infection-causing bacteria."

reading this and other artical Vitamin C effect may be limited to a narrow number of oragmism. E. Coli is one of organisms and is a common source for causing UTi. My thought here is if most of your infections are caused by E. Coli Then Vitamin C should be taken. This artical "Urinary tract Infections" also goes on and discuss the benefit of Vitamin A and Muti-Vitamn. I hope this helps.

[itsjustme]

[quote] lune14 wrote: I recently underwent kidney stone removal (at a whopping $10k+) and the experience was basically a pain in the ass! Was the first time I ever had stones but none the less I had them bilaterally and was experiencing UTI's quite often since the stones had formed when I had rarely ever been incontinent in 25 years. (I self cath at 4 hour intervals, more if situation calls for it). My sudden and frequent incontinence and bloody urine once every 2-3 months was the only reason we decided to look for the stones at all as I had no pain/discomfort.

After the stones were discovered I was given a reference sheet by my urologist on foods to limit and foods to avoid in order to control the amount of oxalic acid. Here's some info that might be of some value. Please do NOT use this as a guide to your own medical treatments, rather consult your doctor always! I just felt it was good to know :-)

Foods with high oxalic acid content
(0.1% or over)
To be avoided:
Beet tops
Beets
Black tea
Chocolate
Cocoa
cola
Dried figs
Ground Pepper
Lambs quarter
lime Peel
Nuts
parsley
Poppy Seeds
Rhubarb
Spinach
Swiss Chard
Vitamin C [quote]

It seems that so many things, like the Vitamin C, that might help one thing, like the UTIs, might possibly have an advesrse effect in another way, like the kidney stones.