With a disdain for prescription drugs, I've learned to fight urinary tract infections with drinking a combination of 2 T apple cider vinegar, 1 T honey, 6 oz warm water. Drinking it twice a day, the vinegar changes the pH of your body making it inhospitable to bacteria. My family practice doctor supports my efforts but lets me know that if I want to be done with the infection more quickly, call him for a prescription. Prior to using the vinegar, I often had to go through a couple types of antibiotics to find one that would "kick" the infection...even if I had a culture done first to determine which antibiotic would work best. As to the potential cause of the recurrent UTI, I made some lifestyle changes to help - always wiping from front to back after urinating; and making sure to urinate completely very soon after intercourse to flush the urethra.
Hi, I used to come down with UTI about every 3 to 4 months requiring hospitalizations.
In 1996 I was diagnosed with a neurogenic bladder and was adviced to self cath at least once a day. I still seemed to get the infections up to about 2000. After having been hospitalized for orchitis and later on emergency orchiectomy, I started self cathing at leas twice a day. It seemed that this realy cut down the infection frequency.
I think that it is important in your case to be properly diagnosed. This might mean that you will have to undergo a or several cystoscopies. It took several years before that were able to diagnose me correctly. There could be many reasons as to why you keep coming down with UTI's.
All the best.
Ron
Hello,
You may be having recurrent UTI or interstitial cystitis also. As described in Wikipedia it is a urinary bladder disease of unknown cause characterised by pain associated with urination (dysuria), urinary frequency (as often as every 10 minutes), urgency, and pressure in the bladder and/or pelvis.
I suggest you to consult a urologist and get this possibility investigated. You need to have urine examination , culture, flow studies and ultrasound bladder done.
I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.
It is possible that the bacteria have moved passed the lining of the bladder and have established themselves in the muscle. This can cause reoccurance of UTIs and/or symptoms with negative test results for bacteria. Typically the treatment is a low dose of antibiotics over several months. It can take a good three months to clear up. If you haven't already, go to a urologist who can monitor you and won't just put you on little bursts of antibiotics. It might not be a stronger dose you need, but rather a slow, extended stream of medicine. Experience shows that "regular" doctors aren't always knowledgable when it comes to more complicated bladder issues. Drink lots of water!
Also, if this were occurring and you also had negative test results, kideny stones could play a role.