I’ve got my first ever urinary tract infection. What a joy and a delight. I have no idea how I ended up with one, but I did. (Before you scold, I went to the doc this morning and he gave me some antibiotics.) I want these drugs to kick in, and kick in well. I hurt. Really.
I feel like I have constant low-grade period cramps. Then it hurts to pee. But I keep drinking lots of water because that’s supposed to help. Which makes me have to pee constantly. That made for a fun drive back to Knoxville from Atlanta yesterday. I ended up having conversations with my bladder:
Brain: We just stopped 2 exits ago, you can’t have to go again.
Bladder: But I do!
Brain: Can you wait just one more exit…it’s only 6 miles away. I promise, if there’s a rest area before then, I’ll stop there.
Bladder: NO! Stop NOW, or I will cause you to urinate right here in the car. And won’t you have fun getting that smell out of the car. Or explaining it when the time comes to sell this one.
Brain: Ok, fine. One more stop. Then you’re going to let me get to at least 100 miles of Knoxville, right? Please?
Bladder: Maybe. We’ll see. But only if you give me more water to get rid of these bacteria!
Fucking cranberry juice is nasty as hell - but I managed a good 16 oz glass last night and I’ll have another when I get home from class today. Because it’s supposed to help, I know. But dammit…I really just want to pee without hurting again.
Lsura, there is an over-the-counter medication designed for this called Uristat. It cuts off the urgency and the pain felt; the major side effect is day-glo fluorescent orange urine. (Really, big-time orange. Lasts for maybe a half-day after you stop taking it.) It used to be prescription only, and when the doctor would give me the antibiotics for the URI, I’d usually get a prescription for this stuff too.
It also helps if you get a URI but are in a lot of pain before going to see a doctor. Warning, this does not in any way, shape, or form actually treat the infection; you must see a physician as well. IANAD, and all the other disclaimers here.
Go for the cranberry juice big time. You could get the Cranberry and apple/blackcurrant/grape stuff if you don’t like it neat.
It stops the bacteria sticking to the bladder wall, and will help flush out the dead and dying ones that the ABs have dealt with.
Stay away from tea, coffee, cola, and sweet drinks (more sugar equals more food for bacteria).
There are lots of OTC stuff for cystitis, but most are basically bicarbonate of soda. Something like an alka seltzer would probably work too, failing that paracetamol and a big glass of bicarbed water.
If you are in absolute agony peeing, you can try running a warmish bath, putting bicarb in the water and lying in that…whether you pee in the bath is up to you.
I know it’s gross, but it will help the pain, and you can shower straight after.
Standard advice is that if you aren’t better in 72 hours, or develop a fever, joint pain, back pain, or have blood in the urine at any time GO TO THE ER.
Do not pass go, do not pick up 200 bucks.
UTIs are bad, Pyelo-nephritis is worse.
In the mean time, rest up, remember hot water bottles are your friends, and get well soon!
Flashback to a military hospital fifteen years ago; I had a simple procedure done, and the doctor prescribed this stuff. She didn’t warn me about the color. Four hours later I was staring in astonishment at the Tang-colored liquid that had just left my body. Truly an amazing thing, that was. Didn’t hurt to pee anymore, though.
The only advice I can give is cranberry juice, along with everyone else. When I got one a few years back, I drank two quarts of the stuff in approximately 4 hours. It took about 3 more hours (after that) to basically flush the painful stuff. And that was it. Really. Seven hours total, and it didn’t hurt to pee anymore.
My house is now never without cranberry juice in some form or another.
Isn’t there some sort of cranberry extract you can purchase at a health food store? Will that give you the same benefits without having to drink that vile stuff?
:ivylass, who now carries a 52oz 7-11 Big Gulp thermos full of water wherever she goes:
Not going to happen. Besides, there are no more car trips planned for a while. I don’t have cruise control anyway.
I picked up some Uristat at the store after class, and went for the first dose after I ate lunch. Here’s hoping it kicks in before the next time I have to pee!
I wasn’t going to mess with not going to the doctor, even though I was fairly sure as to what it was. Never having had one before, I didn’t want to self-diagnose and then try to fix it myself (especially since the student health center doesn’t have appointments on weekends - so I had to get it dealt with today or tomorrow, and the sooner the better).
I feel for you. I had one of these suckers at the beginning of the week and it was my first one, too. I didn’t realize it was possible for my naughty bits to HURT like that if it didn’t involve PMS. I sucked back about 2 16-oz cranberry juice cocktails in half an hour (I couldn’t find pure cranberry juice), and found these nifty little cranberry concentrate pills at CVS. No more pain by the evening. Yay! A warm bath helped, too.
Another good tip (because I’m pretty sure this is why I got mine) is to make sure you pee before and after sex. It helps flush out any bacteria that might be holding to the walls.
I get them a lot, Lsura. In fact, I’m fighting one right now. Here’s my experience.
Usually caused by not having a really good pee after sex. Really.
Another contributing factor, too many caffeinated drinks in my diet.
I’m allergic to many of the anti-biotics doctors like to prescribe for UTI’s, so I take Cystex (OTC). It is not just an analgesic, like Uristat, but also an antibacterial. I start taking it at the first twinge. Usually, that along with a lot of water, will clear it up before it gets really painful.
Lsura , I feel your pain. I once had six UTIs in one year. Ouch!
One thing that always causes me to get a UTI is to use spermicide. It’s pretty common to be allergic, from what I hear.
When I had to choke down cranberry juice, I would add sugar to it to make it better tasting. irishgirl made a good point about sugar having more food for the bacteria, though. If you are like me, and want to vomit when you drink the stuff, you might want to give sugar a try, but if it’s not that bad, just try to drink it straight. It helps, really!
Lsura I hope you get well soon.
I feel your pain. A few months back developed a bladder infection during my period. I could not tell that I was, the period cramps masked it. By the time my period was done, I’d developed a NASTY one. I had to go to the ER because I pee’d pure blood! I was on heavy duty pain killers for it too. Shudder
Wal-Mart sells cranberry concentrate capsules. Water is indeed, your friend. Peeing after sex is a very good idea, but I might wash up if you pee before. Always go get checked out if you suspect a bladder infection, they can get quit nasty and require a hospital stay to recover from.
My doctor told me some other things that can contribute to a urinary tract infection is taking prolonged or frequent tub baths, and also wearing panties to bed (covering the vaginal area at all in fact). Those things encourage yeast infections, and I think bacterial too. Warm, and moist areas are great for bacterial growth. I quit wearing panties to bed, and let myself “air out” after a tub bath, and after sex too. I don’t take tub baths as often either. It’s helped a lot.
a similar thing happened with me. i was just transferring to UT and i had to drive in from clarksville so i could go to orientation and register for classes. a few days before i started having to pee every thirty seconds… not that i actually did. just felt like i did. i went to the doctor and got the antibiotics and the painkillers. i love those things, but they turn the urine **UT orange ** . not only that, for some reason they were doing construction in the middle of no where. i was at a standstill for half an hour. i was jumping up and down in my seat just waiting to move my car three inches. and there was no exit in sight. that was one miserable drive.
not sure if any one mentioned this… just skimmed through, birth control can increase your chances of getting UTIs. and just a warning if you are on birth control:
antibiotics can cause the pills not to work. you have no idea how many women learn that one the hard way.
Cranberry juice or capsules are the way to go, as has been mentioned, I believe…
It acidifies the urine to the point that it kills any bacteria pretty well. I used to work for a place that made the capsules testing them for bacterial contamination. Well, we made all kinds of herbal supplements, including cranberry. Anyway, in the year I was there, I don’t think we found even one bacterial colony in any of the cranberry that came through. In fact, we had to try and get stuff to grow in it by deliberately inoculating it with cultured bacteria, for some QC thing we were doing, and we couldn’t get anything to grow, no matter how we coaxed it along.
Echinacea, OTOH, has a bacterial load that you’d associate with, say, rotten meat.
alice, much better thanks. Whether the cranberry juice, the Uristat, the antibiotics or the lots of water…something’s helping. I’ll continue to choke down the cranberry juice (hey, the only place my grocery store had it was in the organic section at almost $7/32oz. I’m drinking it no matter how much I hate it). ShadiRoxan, the UT Orange comment had me laughing. (For those of you who don’t know, I’m also a UT student.)
I’ve also gotten a huge amount of amusement out of the view to post ratio of this thread - 787 views to 18 posts…has to be the TMI warning.
