It was scary for my 29 year old patient. Her usual UTI pain became excruciating very quickly. It was “normal” for her to get 2 UTIs a month. Six years bi-montly UTIs and she is still under educated about them. She is suffering. Now, even more. Today, her legs became numb. Her spine ached. Walking seemed impossible.
When I saw her, tears were pouring from her eyes. “Make the pain stop,” was all she could utter.
We called neurosurgery to evaluate her. Something was wrong. Was this “just” a really bad kidney infection? Or something worse. We started to worry about blood infections, bone infections, and other disastrous complications of UTIs.
A simple UTI can become a complicated UTI with a kidney infection. A kidney infection can spread to your bloodstream. And the bacteria in your blood can rarely seed into your bones and cause a bone infection (osteomyelitis).
One really bad UTI could alter her life forever. She would have to have 6 weeks of antibiotics and hope that the pain would resolve at some point. She may have had complications from the bone infection that could cause permanent disability.
She neglected taking preventative measures therefore she was suffering through the worst infection of her young life.
Luckily, we were able to give her powerful IV antibiotics, and with a lot of morphine, make her infection and pain abate. Ladies, do not end up this type of infection. Get those UTIs treated early, and even better, prevent them from occurring in the first place.
Last week, I received an email from Terry, a woman who has been suffering regular UTIs for the last 8 years:
(4/15/2011)
Hi Dr Wu,
Just wanted to let you know, I’ve finally been able to give the You-T a proper try.
My UTIs are all intercourse related, and I was taking 50-100mg of Nitrofurantoin as a prophylaxis on an almost daily basis. If I didn’t, I am guaranteed to have cystitis which turns into a full blown UTI within a few hours. So quite severe.
I started two weeks ago drinking two servings of You-T per day and went a full ten days with no symptoms at all. Which for me is remarkable! So of course, I started to reduce the quantities to see what I could get away with. After two days of just drinking one serving per day I got severe cystitis, to the point where there is normally no going back from a full UTI. I immediately drank two servings of You-T and by afternoon it was gone. Unbelievable. I am so happy to not have to take constant antibiotics anymore.
So far it has been 100% effective for me. It’s the most comfortable I’ve been with my bladder in the 8 years since I started getting regular UTIs
Kudos!
So, I love it.
Thank you so much!
All the best – I hope this really really takes off for you,
Terry
~~~~~~~
Thanks for your feedback Terry!
If you would like to share your story too, please email us!
Do: Make sure you get enough folic acid, drink lots of fluids, eat plenty of veggies.
Dont: Eat certain fish, dye your hair, change your cat’s litter box.
A pregnant woman is bombarded with advice coming from all angles; whether the advice is accurate or not, it’s hard for women to not only keep track of the advice but also prioritize it. One aspect of a pregnant woman’s health that needs to be especially monitored is her urinating habits. A woman may mistake her constant need to urinate or burning as typical pregnancy symptoms however these symptoms could be symptoms of a urinary tract infection.
A pregnant woman is often at risk for developing a UTI because of the changes in her urinary tract. As the uterus grows, the increased weight can block the uterus from draining from the bladder which can ultimately lead to an infection. Also, that bulging belly makes it hard to wipe after urinating leading to less than par hygiene.
While the early phases of a UTI are very treatable for a pregnant woman, the infections can become very serious if it spreads to the upper urinary tract as it results in kidney problems. Kidney infections can negatively affect the development of the baby and potentially speed up childbirth resulting in low birth weights.
So what should pregnant women look our for? Well, basically the same symptoms that a woman who is not pregnant should look out for:
Pain or burning (discomfort) when urinating
The need to urinate more often than usual with a feeling of urgency to urinate
Blood or mucus in the urine
Cramps or pain in the lower abdomen
Chills, fever, sweats, leaking of urine (incontinence)
Waking up from sleep to urinate
Change in amount of urine, either more or less
Urine that looks cloudy, smells foul or unusually strong
Pain, pressure, or tenderness in the area of the bladder
If a pregnant woman suspects anything is out of the ordinary she should contact her physician immediatley so she can get a uralysis. It is pertienent that a UTI in a pregnant woman is diagnosed as soon as psossible to prevent the infection from spreading to her kidneys!
While it may seem simple, pregnant women should add two more very important Do’s to their ongoing list:
Do: pay close attention to urination and Do: drink plenty of fluids including cranberry products to help prevent UTI’s
Misconceptions about how Cranberries help prevent UTIs
So where do cranberries come into the picture, as far as stopping this process is concerned? Initially, researchers went off-track when they figured that the cranberries’ ability to prevent UTIs was because of its acidity. Later on, this misconception was cleared by Dr. Amy Howell, a scientist working with Rutgers University. She said that cranberries prevent UTIs by preventing the bacteria causing UTIs from attaching itself to the surface of the urinary tract lining. Amy Howell published this discovery in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1998.
Her research shows that cranberries are basically rich in proanthocyanidins. Proanthocyanidins are tannins, a type of organic chemical compound, that have been condensed. This is how it works. The proanthocyanidins have their own specific way of functioning – they are blockers that block the bacteria from attaching themselves to the surface of the lining of the specific body part in question. In the case of UTIs, the proanthocyanidins prevent the bacteria from getting glued to the lining of the urinary tract.
Oh those special nights you dream of… romantic candle-lit dinners, a glass of wine and lovemaking, proceeded by an interrupted day at the beach with a constant urge to urinate, a burning sensation when urinating and pain or pressure in the pelvic area. Wait, maybe “romantic” is not the word to describe this honeymoon.
These are symptoms of a type of urinary tract infection called, cystitis. It is often referred to as ‘honeymoon cystitis’ because frequent sexual activity is the leading cause of this form of infection. Fortunately, this type of UTI is not limited to your honeymoon however, it can basically occur at any time.
So what is cystitis?
Cystitis is a very common form of a UTI; it is essentially inflammation of the bladder. The most commonly diagnosed form of cystitis is bacterial. Bacterial cystitis occurs when E.coli gets into the bladder through the urethra during sexual intercourse. Once the E.coli get into the urinary tract, the infection develops and the inflammation occurs.
Don’t go canceling your honeymoon yet, or vowing to remain abstinent! While cystitis can really be a miserable experience there are methods of prevention:
Urinate and gently wash the genital area after intercourse
Drink fluids
Do not hold urine in for too long
Take supplements that contain proanthocyanidins (YouT)
Cranberries contain powerful anti-adhesion ingredients called PACs. PACs attach to E. coli and prevent it from adhering to your urinary tract . . . but how many PACs are enough?
So we took the time, effort and money to make You-T different. Powerful. 30mg PACs per serving. And we just found out . . . it worked!
A recent study confirmed that people that drank You-T displayed significantly more anti-adhesion activity in their urinary tract cells than those that drank a placebo. AND . . . people that drank You-T displayd significantly more anti-adhesion activity in their urinary tract cells than those that took a store brand cranberry pill. What does that mean? You-T helps prevent the adhesion of bacteria to your urinary tract, helping to prevent urinary tract infections.
For the woman in this video getting a UTI on a regular basis was not concerning until just one UTI almost cost this woman her life.
Routinely getting urinary tract infections is commonplace for many women; doctors often prescribe antibiotics as urinary tract infection treatment but the problem with this form of treatment is that the women who receive the antibiotics on such a regular basis can build up a resistance to the prescriptions. In the case of the woman in the video, her body built up such a resistance to the antibiotics that she developed a kidney infection which then lead to sepsis, a deadly bacterial infection in her blood.
This woman’s serious case is an example of why urinary tract infection prevention is essential; prevention is especially important for women who routinely get UTIs and use antibiotics as treatment.
UTIs are painful and can lead to kidney infections . . . or worse
Latest Cranberry comment from Dr. Howell in response to the new study out from Barbosa-Cesnik C, et al. (see original blog post: http://bit.ly/hFE6kG) Read more…
