recurring UTIs

I'm relieved to hear I'm not the only cyclist who struggles with UTIs since my doctors have always insisted there is no correlation between cycling and UTIs. Here's my current issue. I have the butterfly saddle, do all the urinate before, after, during. I drink tons of water. I used to get UTIs all the time and then I started doing a low-dose antibiotic, which seemed to clear things up. Now, sadly, I am getting UTIs from taking a spin class--that lasts about 50 minutes. After four hours on the bike, I'd come to expect them, but after 50 minutes on the spin bike???? Any suggestions? Can you contract a UTI from someone else via a bike seat? Is there any chance that the pad inside my gear (always newly cleaned) could somehow cause this?

There are probably plenty of people who would be happy to weigh in on this topic; however, this is your first and only post and especially with a rather delicate subject matter, you might have trouble getting people to respond.

So - Welcome to TE! It's always a good idea to introduce yourself on the "getting to know you" thread (marked as a sticky in open topic - cycling related).

It probably has more to do with how much you are drinking vs how much you are sweating out IMHO. You might go to a doctor (a different one) for a problem like this.

If you irritate things (and cycling can irritate, particularly if your saddle is not quite right), you set up pathways to infection (consider--scratch healthy skin and you might not even see a reaction; scratch dry irritated skin and it leaves a mark and may get infected). Yes, lots of water, shower right away, keep the shorts clean (hot water and a non-perfumed, preferably hypoallergenic cleaning agent) but also drink cranberry juice. 8oz every day.

Cranberry and blueberry have compounds that can reduce the number of bacteria that will hang around in the bladder and cause infection. http://www.drmirkin.com/women/1335.html Years and years ago a nurse practitioner at a health clinic taught me about cranberry juice. Best advice I ever received. Some of us, due to anatomical variation, are just more prone to UTIs.

The way my doc explained it to me is that once you get a UTI, the beasties that caused it try to find homes in the nooks and crannies to colonize. Then they hide there until you stop taking the antibiotics. Meanwhile the ones that survive in these hidden places are slowly developing resistance to the drugs. Then when you stop taking the drugs, they are fruitful and multiply, much to your pain and discomfort. Then if you hit them again with the antibiotics, you kill off all the weak slow ones and only the strong survive, hiding away in their colonies, waiting for the coast to be clear again.

If you really want to hammer the beasties setting up house in your urinary tract, take Vitamin C.

I suffered from repeated UTIs for years, to the point where I have so much scarring that they have difficulty catheterizing. I'm pretty sure the last time I had surgery they had to go to a ped's catheter. I know they had trouble finding one small enough to get past the scar tissue.

I wasn't even riding a bike, I was a runner back then.

Then my doc told me to take 2000 mg of Vitamin C a day, I think for a month? Anyway it doesn't hurt to take that much because it's water soluble and washes right out. And at that dosage, it REALLY super-acidifies things on the way out.

I've had ONE, count it, ONE UTI in the 25 years since then. And I had so many of them before that by the time I was 23 or 24 I had actually developed an allergy to Pyridium.

If I even think I feel like maybe there might be a UTI coming on - and even this has only happened once or twice in 25 years - I break out the Vitamin C and nip it in the bud. Only one full-blown UTI in that time.

If you're getting on the bike in the morning before your shower, sponge bathe your nether parts - all of them - before putting your shorts on.

+1 on cranberry juice.

I was getting uti's apparently because I was unable to completely empty my bladder.

Have you actually tested positive for a UTI or do you "just" have symptoms of one? It's possible that what you're feeling is superficial irritation of your uretha. you might train a pain reliever like Uristat if that's the case.

If you are actually getting UTIs from spinning, I'd second the Vitamin C. Wear clean shorts and get out of them as soon as you're done with class. Empty your bladder before and after class.

I have recurring UTIs but they're not from cycling. The same preventions apply. You want to discourage the bacteria from
moving up your uretha to your bladder and to create an inhospitable environment for the bacteria, either with antibiotics, Vitamin C or cranberry. Take then at bedtime for the best results.

Cranberry all the way!

I've had a few of those things and cranberry always helps the most.

Don't bother with the fake ocean spray types of cranberry juices, if you look at the ingredients, there's hardly any actual juice in those at all. Get something that says it actually contains large amounts of real juice in it. I always forego bottled juice and just squish up some cranberries myself, or eat them whole.

Another thing that really helps in terms of cranberry is concentrated cranberry pills that you can get at any health foods store.

I guess if antibiotics are not working properly then all you can do is keep yourself and your shorts as clean as possible, and try some of these hollistic approaches. but I can see how a combination of sweat and things rubbing together might create an attractive home for those horrible little bacteriums!:(

Please do not use antibiotics as prevention. You are paving the way for a nice, antibiotic-resistant infectoin.

The irritation idea struck me - are you leaning too much on your urethra, rubbing it against the saddle or fabric?

(Definitely can't catch it from a spin bike seat, but possibly from an infested pad...)

+1 on Vitamin C and/or Cranberry juice. If it takes hold I use Azo's for a few days in addition to the Vitamin C.

I wouldn't really worry too much about the chamois - the bacteria are there all the time, it's imbalances and vulnerabilities in your immune system and the particular tissues that allow an infection to develop - but the best way to sanitize a chamois is to dry your shorts outdoors in the sun.


ETA: to echo what Indysteel and Alpinerabbit said, are you getting tested each time you have symptoms of a UTI? If all you have is frequent urination (and I DO know how awful that can be all by itself), perhaps you're drinking too much water without replacing electrolytes? taking another medication that causes spastic bladder? simply responding to stress?

Have you been evaluated for interstitial cystitis?

I've had a nightmare of UTIs since August. I think had one almost every month for about six months. I did finally go on a preventative dose of antibiotics. The persistent feeling of either having an UTI or feeling like I was about to get a UTI was absolutely draining. I tried cranberry tablets, Vitamin C, copious amounts of water, peeing after sex, peeing before sex. Nothing worked.

When I finally visited a urologist, he explained that the bladder is a very sensitive organ. A low dose of antibiotics, taken nightly, can give the bladder a chance to fully heal. He was right on that count. I started that therapy in February and haven't had one since. The downside, however, is that the first antibiotic he prescribed--Macrodantin--caused some bad side effects. They don't occur in all people, but for those that can't tolerate the drug--the side effects can be quite serious. I'm tolerating the second drug--Proloprim--a lot better. It's not quite as effective, so I'm also taking 1000 mg of Vitamin C each night, too. Plus, yeast infections are more common.

I was only supposed to be on the antibiotic for four months. From there, I'm not sure what we'll do if they recur. While the drugs have worked, I feel very uneasy about taking them.

I'm not trying to be a buttinsky, but I would note that the dose of Vitamin C you're taking - 1000mg per day - is half what my doc had me taking when I had this problem.

I was taking 2000mg every day, in ONE dose all at the same time, for at least a month. Taking it longer than that wouldn't hurt.

Just food for thought, I am not a doctor nor do I play one on the internet.

Another fan of cranberry juice here, and I prefer the 100% unsweetened cranberry juice. Maybe you could even dilute some into your water for your ride.

I question the efficacy of the cranberry pills. They did not work for me. When I tried to do some research as to whether they are supposed to, the only medical studies I found said they were not effective. On the other hand juice does work and has been shown to work.

As Michael Pollan would suggest--eat food. Stay as close to the cranberry as you can get--IvonaDestroi probably has the best approach, although since blueberries also qualify I like to justify a big piece of blueberry pie. Hey, if nothing else, as comfort food, it also does its job :rolleyes:

A friend had reccurrent bladder infections and her doctor advised her to not go to the toilet too often, instead train your bladder go be able to get full before you need to go.

And then give it a "good flush".

may be another approach.

I think the point of both Vit C and cranberry juice is that there will be lots of excess that gets flushed out via the kidneys, bladder and down the urethra. In other words, your pee will be acidic. This combats infection quite effectively! So in mho, and with the usual warning that I am not a doctor nor have I ever played one on tv, I second those suggestions. If you don't like cranberry juice, there are several types of herbal tea reputed to help. Here in Norway the one most recommended is from a plant called "kjerringrokk". I'm not sure what that plant is called in English. Doesn't really matter, though. The main point is lots of acidic liquids. Any tea or fruit juice will probably do.

Also, do you use any body glide or chamois butter? Avoiding chafing should help, and that's what those do. You may think you don't need it for a 50 minute class, but I sweat more in a 50 minute spin class than in 3 hours on the road, and sweaty shorts can chafe. So maybe try some glider?

Back in my student days when I was having multiple UTIs per year a doc at the uni clinic once asked me was I sexually active. I wasn't at the time, though I had been some months earlier, so she really freaked me out! :eek: Was she suggesting I had an STI all those months later? As in, syph? Nope. She wasn't (whew!). She was suggesting a mechanical cause -- lots of juices flowing, the usual bacteria that're always on the body surface (and mostly for good reasons!) and then the mechanics of having s*x sorta pumping them into the bladder where they didn't belong and were causing trouble. Not that her theory was right just then, but it did help to know when I was next in a relationship: It helps to pee after. So I also second that suggestion: Drink enough that you really need to pee after that spin class.

Use only a very mild soap down there. Don't dry your skin out! Yes, you want to get rid of sweat, and you don't want pee droplets going stinky. But pee is actually somewhat disinfectant (as opposed to poo ... which is why we're taught to wipe from front to back), so you don't need to overwash.

And if none of these simple tricks help, then get thee to a doctor. You don't want those UTIs turning into some sort of chronic thing like kidney trouble.

I have had recurrent ones since I was in the 1st grade. They could never tell me why I had them. I was also on a preventitive antibiotic for one year (yes, a full year). It helped a lot. When I got pregnant, they came back and so I was on another one for the duration. During my delivery, I was catheterized for the whole thing. I think the catheter might have dilated the urethra and I didn't get one for 6 months (was I one happy girl). I have since gotten one and seen a naturopath. Her advice: stick with cranberry or blueberry juice, not pills, wash nether regions often, especially AFTER sex and bowel movement; drink water and juice and nothing else (I do tea too); get a sitz bottle and rinse the area after urinating; and finally, eat a balanced diet without much sugar as the sugar is excreted in urine and provides plenty of "food" for e.coli, the most often offender. Wipe front to back, always wear cotton undies, give it an air-out often. That sort of stuff. I had to cut out sugar recently and have found, to my pleasure, that it worked. I haven't had anything in a year or more now.
Also, the chamois has once irritated the area and I thought I had one. But after drinking LOTS and peeing often that day, it went away. First few pees, not so great. Hope it helps!
Mistie

Does the spin bike have a different saddle? The irritation I got from the wrong saddle felt very much like a UTI.

In other cases, when it really was UTI, I had good luck with cranberry (oh, I wish they'd had those pills when I was younger). For whatever reason, Vitamin C never seemed to work for me, but that's not scientific. I know lots of women swear by it.

Pam

I saw a urologist years ago about my recurrent UTIs. He explained to me that my constant infections had changed the shape of my uretha, and that it was now easier for bacteria to collect there. I had a cystoscopy, which solved it for a few years but then I started getting them again. I've taken a prophylactic antiobiotic ever since. I don't like being dependent on antibiotics either, but (possibly too much TMI here) unless I stop having sex I'm unlikely to be able to stop taking them any time soon!

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Originally Posted by Pip

I saw a urologist years ago about my recurrent UTIs. He explained to me that my constant infections had changed the shape of my uretha, and that it was now easier for bacteria to collect there. I had a cystoscopy, which solved it for a few years but then I started getting them again. I've taken a prophylactic antiobiotic ever since. I don't like being dependent on antibiotics either, but (possibly too much TMI here) unless I stop having sex I'm unlikely to be able to stop taking them any time soon!

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I was told the same thing (about the shape of the urethra). This is what my doc saved me from when he put me on the Vit C regimen. Another doc wanted to do the surgery, put me on the antibiotics forever. I was a college student who didn't have that kind of money. So I went back to the clinic when my doc was there (this was back in the good old days when student health services actually provided health services to students) and told him what was up. He explained to me that the surgery was at best a temporary fix, explained the problems of permanent antibiotic therapy, and then he put me on the Vit C, and that was the end of it.

Even if I'd had to take the Vit C forever, I'd have been much happier than going through what you've gone through.

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Originally Posted by alpinerabbit

A friend had reccurrent bladder infections and her doctor advised her to not go to the toilet too often, instead train your bladder go be able to get full before you need to go.

And then give it a "good flush".

may be another approach.

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Interesting. I've heard that advice with respect to an overactive bladder and to nocturia (nighttime urination) but that's a different problem from recurring UTIs. If you suffer from recurring UTIs, you should urinate when you feel the urge; it's not good to hold it. No if you feel a constant urge to urinate and/or feel the urge but don't have much volume or a strong stream, those are possible signs of infection.

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Originally Posted by indysteel

Interesting. I've heard that advice with respect to an overactive bladder and to nocturia (nighttime urination) but that's a different problem from recurring UTIs. If you suffer from recurring UTIs, you should urinate when you feel the urge; it's not good to hold it. No if you feel a constant urge to urinate and/or feel the urge but don't have much volume or a strong stream, those are possible signs of infection.

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In point of fact apparently what set off my round of continual bladder infections was summer camp when I was 9 or 10. I was used to outhouses - I had relatives who still didn't have indoor plumbing, after all - but THOSE outhouses were CLEAN. These stank of pine cleaner all the time, and since they had little kids "cleaning" them (it was part of camp chores) who were grossed out by the whole experience, they weren't really clean, and they were full of spiders (when you're 3' tall and weigh maybe 40 lbs you're not going to be going after the spider webs over your head).

They also had a habit of dumping lime down the holes, which they THOUGHT would cut down on smells, but what it REALLY did was stop the normal composting process dead in its tracks, thereby increasing manifold the smell generating potential of the contents.

End result being - frantic efforts to avoid having to go in there = urinary retention = bladder infection = frantic efforts to avoid going in there even more = more urinary retention = another bladder infection = entry into the fellowship of continual UTIs.

So no, that sounds like extraordinarily bad advice to me too.

Doctors aren't always as sharp as we would hope. They can have the same kinds of funny ideas other people have, that aren't so funny in real life. When my sister, who is gay, came down with a serious precancerous condition that required immediate full hysterectomy before it blossomed into full cancer, her doc actually had the balls to tell her it was because she'd never had sex with a man.

I guess the man hadn't heard about HPV and its link to Cervical cancer, which you get via intercourse with a man.

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Originally Posted by ZenSojourner

When my sister, who is gay, came down with a serious precancerous condition that required immediate full hysterectomy before it blossomed into full cancer, her doc actually had the balls to tell her it was because she'd never had sex with a man.

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:eek: I hope she found a new doctor!

My sister unfortunately has Borderline Personality Disorder, which means she sees everything in black and white, love/hate, good/bad, etc etc etc. And she switches at the drop of a hat.

So when she likes you you're Indiana Jones, the Dalai Lama, and Stephen Hawkings all rolled into one.

When she DOESN'T like you, you're a kitten torturing devil

At the time (don't know how she feels now as she hasn't spoken to me since I stopped her from bullying my father into giving her all his money) she was convinced this guy was The Only Doctor Who Ever Cared About Her and Saved Her Life Because Nobody Else Ever Cared About Her EVER.

So no complaint was filed. At least he wasn't actually her doctor, he was just the one that got assigned by the hospital to do the surgery.

Ok I'm not sure this will help (and I've posted this multiple times on TE already) but it might solve some of the general irritation. I had a revolving door of yeast infections - like 6 a year - and tests never showed any reason. After a doc suggested I move to free and clear (and biodegradable) laundry detergent my yeast infections have become something that happens only if I take antibiotics. The new detergent halted it in its tracks. YEAH!

So, if you're trying to cut down on irritation (which is maybe partially caused by a chamois, which you wash in detergent) eliminating the dies/perfumes/mcnasties might just help. Ya never know, but it definitely has changed my life.

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Originally Posted by ZenSojourner

My sister unfortunately has Borderline Personality Disorder, which means she sees everything in black and white, love/hate, good/bad, etc etc etc. And she switches at the drop of a hat.

So when she likes you you're Indiana Jones, the Dalai Lama, and Stephen Hawkings all rolled into one.

When she DOESN'T like you, you're a kitten torturing devil

At the time (don't know how she feels now as she hasn't spoken to me since I stopped her from bullying my father into giving her all his money) she was convinced this guy was The Only Doctor Who Ever Cared About Her and Saved Her Life Because Nobody Else Ever Cared About Her EVER.

So no complaint was filed. At least he wasn't actually her doctor, he was just the one that got assigned by the hospital to do the surgery.

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Ha! My sister has BPD, too. All that sounds WAY too familiar. What "fun" Borderlines are! I don't have a relationship with my sis either--by choice. As sad as this sounds, it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Anyway, sorry to hijack the thread. Back to UTIs now....

I'm really surprised that nobody here has mentioned D-Mannose.

For a time, I used to get UTI even if I just thought about it. It was both painful and frustrating. I tried nearly everything to keep it at bay, from homeopathy to cranberry, to unfortunately when it got bad, antibiotics (which sucked because then it usually meant I got an yeast infection afterwards). I even got the procedure to widen my urethra which was more painful than it was effective. Along the way, I found out about D-mannose.

It's a type of sugar, and say what you will, it works immensely well. Cranberry works, but if you're full-blown into an infection, it doesn't work so well. D-mannose does. The only drawback is that it's not cheap. The cheapest I found was on iherb.com.

Until you can get your bladder/urethra to settle down, you can take d-mannose every day and then you can have some before a workout if you know that's a trigger.

Good luck!

I despise the taste of cranberry juice but I had success with cranberry pills. At least, taking cranberry pills coincided with the end of a 10-month string of UTIs, whether it was a cause and effect or mere correlation I can't say.

Hi ladies,

resurrecting an old thread here. I thought I had a run of the mill cystitis here a few days ago, but after a full day of blood in my urine and general miserableness a friend bullied me into going to the dr and sure enough, I had a kidney infection. Lucky me.

I've been taking penicillin for two days now and am back on bike, though a bit cautiously... The doc said I could "exercise at will" and we're planning to go hiking this weekend. Any reason I shouldn't do this? I realize that a kidney infection is definitely something to avoid getting again, but I do feel pretty chipper. Hoping that as long as I stay warm, drink lots and avoid exhausting myself I'll be ok.

PS. I do not in general suffer from recurring UTIs, this is only my 3rd ever.

Nothing of substance to add to this thread; just wanted to whine because I'm awake at 3 a.m. with a UTI. Can't take pyridiate for the symptoms because I have a new dr who asked that I give a urine sample for the next UTI (and he'll take my word for it after this), and pyridiate colors it orange so the dipstick test won't work.

Anytime I'm awake at 3 a.m. the world is a horrible place (brain chemistry I suspect?), and add in UTI symptoms and I'm very very miserable.

Happy Tuesday to everyone else!

Ugh. Hope you feel better soon.

UGH, Lph. Sounds like you're doing all the right stuff though. Not sure if you're into herbal remedies or not, but marshmallow tincture is pretty commonly used to help soothe the renal system and so is dandelion tea (though the latter can be pretty bitter)

Hi, Kit, and thanks :) But my post was old, so it's Melalvai who needs our sympathy now. Hang in there, uti's suck, and so does 3 am!

Oh! :p My mistake! Feel better, Melalvai!

I've mentioned on this site before, but I had about a year of recurring UTIs that was so annoying and hated taking antibiotics for them every time. So, after some research, I found d-Mannose. It's a form of sugar that isn't processed by your body but makes the inside of the bladder slippery so the bacteria can't adhere. Works very well as prevention as well as treating full-blown UTI.

Not the cheapest stuff out there, but works very well. Whole Foods carries it.

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Originally Posted by badger

I've mentioned on this site before, but I had about a year of recurring UTIs that was so annoying and hated taking antibiotics for them every time. So, after some research, I found d-Mannose. It's a form of sugar that isn't processed by your body but makes the inside of the bladder slippery so the bacteria can't adhere. Works very well as prevention as well as treating full-blown UTI.

Not the cheapest stuff out there, but works very well. Whole Foods carries it.

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sounds like the way xylitol functions orally. Good to know. :)

any research on it?
Got my drugs, better now :)

Try boiling your shorts. It may sound odd however, it will kill off any lingering infection that may be remaining in the padding. It's helped me in the past. You may have to do this several times to avoid passing it back and forth from yourself to the shorts.

As well, the idea of washing with no soap applies to laundry as well. Try washing your shorts separately with no laundry soap.