recurring UTIs

[OakLeaf]

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?

[indysteel]

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.

[ZenSojourner]

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.

[msincredible]

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.

[Thorn]

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

[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.

[Duck on Wheels]

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! 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.

[Mistie]

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

[indysteel]

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.

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.

[Melalvai]

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.

[lph]

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.

[Melalvai]

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!