[Mrod]

For those of you out there who have been suffering from frequent or reoccurring UTIs, I feel your pain as I've been through 18 of them in almost 3 years. *They occur every time I've had sex and to try and avoid them I've showered before and after intercourse, urinated before and after intercourse, drink a lot of water, take potent cranberry tablets, eat healthily, don't use products containing allergens, wear cotton underwear etc etc.
Nothing has worked. I've been to three different urologists (and doctors and gynacologists) and the answer I'm given is always the same - "just go on 6-8 months of constant antibiotics"
I refuse to do this because not only are you treating the symptoms and not the cause, so the problem is almost certain to come back, the antibiotics I've been on have ruined my body.
I just came back from a trip to a very reputable naturopath (who is also a doctor). I wanted to pass on the information I've been given in case it may be of help to someone.
The problem isn't so much to do with bacteria as it is to with my immune system functioning poorly (I'm not saying it didn't start out as bacterial) and my urinary system being in an almost constant state of inflammation.
I'm also apparently suffering from Leaky Gut Syndrome -damage to the bowel lining caused by the constant use of antibiotics (my doctor had diagnosed this as IBS and put me on medication for it which not only didn't have much effect but also dangerously increased my heart rate)

Here's the plan I've been given to fix this situation and fix my immune system so I don't get anymore UTIs and am not living on antibiotics:

I'm going to take 5000 IUs of vitamin D a day (I was deficient about two years ago which made me more prone to infection, but I was only on 500 IUs a day which I've been told is nowhere near enough)
I'm going to go on a 5 week bowel cleanse (this is specific to the naturopath clinic I went to, if ppl want details please pm me) in which I will be taking L-Glutamine plus Colostrum powder (two teaspoons a day)
I'm going to take Bactrex (capsules containing various herbs for upper intestinal health) twice a day.
I'm going to take Selenium (usually found in soil but we don't have much of it at all in Australia and farmers feed it to cattle to keep them healthy, but I don't eat meat so I don't get any) twice a day.
I'm going to take Ultra Biotic (extremely potent pro-biotic)once a day, after the 5 week bowel cleanse.
Starting now, I have to cut out all gluten and all milk products and alcohol. I also can't take products containing aspirin or ibuprofen as they are detrimental to the process.
I'm also not going to have intercourse for 5 weeks as I have to try and steer clear from any antibiotics during this whole process.

Anyway, I know it sounds like a lot, but it's a solution that treats the causes not the symptoms. Which means I'll be a lot healthier and happier in the long run. *I hope this helps those of you out there who are suffering like I am. *If you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to ask!

[Catinthe]

Hi Mrod, thanks for this post. I thought I'd ask you about this since you know a lot about UTIs. I got my first UTI about two years ago when I lost my virginity. Pretty normal. Went on antibiotics and it went away. Sadly though I got another one a few months later, and being stupid and naive, I messed up my antibiotics and never really healed it properly. Anyway, my body seemed to get rid of it by itself over the months, and I was fine. However for the past few months (around 5-8 months), I would randomly get symptoms of a UTI, but never the full blown thing. So I wouldn't feel pain while urinating, but I would get that lower stomach feeling of needing to pee really often, or a strange kind of tingling sensation around my urethra, followed by a kind of release of fluids in my panties, really strange symptoms. About a month ago I went on antibiotics again to try and get rid of this once and for all (I wasn't tested for a UTI, they just handed me antibiotics) but sure enough, I felt fine for some time and then these weird symptoms would randomly come back. It's like, I'm fine for a week and then have one odd day. It's never a full blown infection so im starting to wonder what it is? Could you help?

[Catinthe]

Oh and by the way, I haven't had sex for 5 months so its not sex related...

[Mrod]

Hi Catinthe,
That sounds very similar to what I was experiencing, except I constantly got told I had in infection when in fact there were no bacteria in my urine. The first thing I would recommend is getting a urine specimen sent out for testing to rule out if you have bacteria in your urine. Also, have your doctor use a 'pee stick' (the little stick with the colored squares on it that they dip in a cup of your urine) and see how high the leukocyte count is. You will probably find that it is high - meaning that what your experiencing is probably high levels of inflammation. If you are inflamed and you don't have bacteria in your urine, that's when it's time to take things further and do NOt take any more antibiotics (unless you do have bacteria) as it will only make things worse. I would recommend you go to a naturopath, like I did, or look up leaky gut syndrome. I've been on a gluten free, dairy free, alcohol free, ibuprofen and aspirin free diet for a month, and it's been hard but I have not experienced a single symptom at all of what I was going through. This is because my body now has a chance to heal my intestinal tract, which means the inflammation and the symptoms it were causing have gone.
If you have any further questions or info you need to tell me, please don't hesitate!

[Peanut23]

This is exactly what is happening to me. I can't stand it. I've been to bed for an hour and here I am awake at 4 o clock in the morning dying. I've been to the doctor and I haven't had an infection the last two times. She has sent it in and nothing is wrong but there is blood in my urine.

[Beatrix10]

HOPE THIS HELPS!
I used to get UTIs after sex all the time! I know how it feels, my hubby and I were too scared to have sex as it would always result in me going to the doctors and getting prescribed yet another dose of antibiotics! We'd do everything- shower before and after sex, I'd drink water and pee before and after, we made sure we didn't have rough sex, and we'd keep it shortl. These measures would help to an extent, but didn't really stop the UTIs recurring every now and then!
Then one time, we went away for a holiday for 3-4 days. We had sex every morning at around 6-7am (as always, following the same good hygiene stuff mentioned above!) I never got UTIs!!!
We came back from our holiday, and over the next couple of months, had sex during the morning/daytime, all was good. Until one time, when we did it at night. Lo and behold, the UTI came back!!!!!! I was taking antibiotics the very next day, frustrated and confused.
It then dawned upon us that having sex in the morning allowed enough time to flush out the bacteria in the urine, as one pees throughout the day!
Unlike at night, when the urine and bacteria accumulates for hours when you go to sleep, resulting in another UTI attack!!!
Since we knew this, we've only had sex in the morning, with no problems.
Also eating well is very important, I try and stay away from sugar (any form of it, including too many fruits), and packaged foods.
I hope this helps. Noone really tells us things like this, the doctors just keep giving antibiotics which is only a short term solution.

[Catinthe]

Mrod, did your method work?