I've been suffering with a UTI . . . thanks for the hearts!

[fleur-de-lisa]

Been feeling crappy lately. Thanks so much!

[Phoenix61]

1. Nature's Answer UT Answer is amazing

It's a liquid concentrate. When my mom got to be elderly she was prone to UTI's. She got a teaspoon mixed in juice twice a day and she never got a UTI again. It tastes really good mixed in strawberry pedialite.

[fleur-de-lisa]

2. Thanks for the tip!

I have been getting them every 3 to 4 years since I was 15. I can alleviate the symptoms by drinking tons of water and taking extra Vitamin C, but it only postpones the inevitable trip to the doctor. I will have to give this a try.

[TexasBushwhacker]

3. This stuff really works for the pain

https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/azo-maximum-strength-urinary-pain-relief-tablets/ID=prod6354780-product?ext=gooPLA_-_All_Products&pla&adtype=pla&kpid=sku6204167&sst=16ba3a2d-1ce3-48d9-86d2-bb97bef66991

Warning - It turns your urine red-orange.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Another trade name for that is Pyridium. It really works,

but it makes you pee bright orange, which can be startling. I once had a UTI and was treating it with Pyridium (it might have been by prescription in those days). I totally LMAO one day when my then-husband yelled from the bathroom, "What did you put in my food?!?" He'd taken one of my pills by mistake because they looked a lot like his allergy pills.

[Aristus]

6. Pyridium is only symptomatic treatment, though. It doesn't cure a UTI.

Pyridium is very effective for treating the symptom of dysuria, that painful burning sensation. Actual treatment of the UTI is a broad-spectrum antibiotic.

When you get the symptoms, best thing is to visit your primary care provider.

For my patients, I obtain an office urinalysis. It takes only about five minutes to reveal white blood cells in urine, which develop in the presence of infection, or whole blood, which can result from irritation of the lining of the bladder.

If either or both show up, I put my patient on a broad-spectrum antibiotic, Bactrim most often. I also send a specimen of the urine to the lab for a culture. If the results show resistance to this antibiotic, I switch the patient to a medication to which the microbe is susceptible.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. I had the antibiotic, too, but Pyridium is the one with the funny side-effects.

On a similar note: My mother was an RN. Back when she was working (which was in the late '40s), there was a doctor in her hospital who was a fat, unpleasant guy who liked to pilfer goodies that had been brought to patients who were allowed to eat those things. Mom and her friends observed this and decided to mess with the doctor (also probably motivated by the fact that in those days doctors, and this one in particular, tended to treat nurses like crap). A patient was given a box of chocolate-covered cherries, the kind with a liquid filling, and the doc had swiped a few. So the nurses injected some of the cherries with methylene blue, with the predictable consequences. The doctor would have known what had been done, but he never found out who did it.

[Aristus]

8. I don't understand doctors like that. Or anyone like that, really.

I've got the best clinic staff in the world, and they know I know.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. This was in the '40s, and (I hope) times have changed.

But my mom was permanently a bit skeptical of doctors. She had stories...

[TexasBushwhacker]

12. Actually they have the tests OTC now too n/t

[Aristus]

13. Still need a prescription for the treatment, though.

I can't imagine the medical chaos that would ensue if antibiotics were available over-the-counter in the US the way they are in Mexico.

[TexasBushwhacker]

15. Of course

But I had a UTI and confirmed it with one of the OTC tests. My PCP couldn't work ne into her schedule but she called in a prescription for Bactrim.

[Aristus]

5. Some women drink cranberry juice to help prevent UTI's.

This is because cranberry juice makes your urine very acidic. Bacteria are just like us; they don't like acid. But I caution my patients to avoid juice because it's just a lot of sugar that your body doesn't need. So instead, I recommend cranberry tablets, which you can get at any supplement store. One or two of those a day should make your urine acidic enough to reduce the risk of recurrent UTI's.

[rurallib]

10. Works for my wife - that is her go to when UTI strikes

[FSogol]

9. I'm not a doctor, but I've heard you can help UTI by changing

The type of liter in your liter box. HTH



Get well soon.

[Upthevibe]

14. I hope you feel better

very soon.....

[fleur-de-lisa]

16. Thanks, but I'm not litterbox-trained yet.

I usually just pee on a shrub in my yard. Or if I'm at work, I just go in the stairwell and spray the walls.

[FSogol]

17. LOL, Mark your territory. n/t