Non-Antibiotic UTI Remedies That Work
Throughout my course of being paralyzed, going on 21 years now, bladder infections have always been the bane of my existence. And believe me when I say this is not an understatement.
They warned me this would happen. All the doctors and nurses I saw after my injury; every one of them was hyper-paranoid about my bladder health. It kind of bugged me too, and then I got my first bladder infection.
It arrived soon, just days after my accident (gotta love Foley catheters). And since that day I’ve pretty much always had some kind of low grade bladder infection. It’s not enough to give me a fever thank God, but it’s still there, lingering… refusing to go way. I’ve taken all the antibiotics available for bladder infections to help too, but unfortunately I’m now resistant to many, and my doctors want to be careful and avoid making me resistance to all.
The solution is to find a remedy (or several) that don’t rely on antibiotics. These remedies aren’t as good of course, but they can help with certain people. In a day of age where so many people are becoming resistant to antibiotics, finding non-antibiotic remedies is the super smart thing to do (Lord knows I don’t want my cause of death to be kidney failure caused by an untreatable bladder infection).
I do believe something good has happened to my bladder along the way – my body has come to some kind of harmonious balance with whatever stubborn bacteria that refuses to leave my bladder. I now rarely express bladder infection symptoms – cloudy or bad-smelling urine, increased spasms, fever, frequent urination. None of that happens unless the bacteria levels get out of control again.
The question I know some of you may be asking is how did I do it. And the answer – it was a combination of things. Over the years, I’ve had some pretty rocky bladder situations and they were attended solely by my medical doctor. They all gave me antibiotics. I even had A regular bladder doc who would give me a prescription for an antibiotic over the phone. This was not good.
I soon reached out to the spinal cord injury community for their tips, and find some awesome non-antibiotic bladder health tips did I ever. Here are some of the remedies I’ve tried over the years that I believe have contributed to my positive bladder-health direction, and ever better, its ability to become friends with certain bacteria.
D-Mannose
It has a weird name I know, but it is just a sugar; a special kind of sugar however that some believe helps get rid of bacteria in the bladder. The theory is that bacteria will stick to the special D-Mannose sugars as it passes through the bladder, and out goes the bacteria. Simple as that.
I was really jazzed when I first started it. You take one capsule a day, and within 24 hours I noticed a difference. My bladder (even though I can’t feel it that great) stopped burning. I was amazed it actually worked. After a couple of weeks of taking D-Mannose however I noticed it didn’t work as well, so I’m not quite sure if it’s the medicine or the bacteria in my bladder is just that strong.
Check it out: D-Mannose (it’s also available in powder-form)
Reverse Osmosis water
There’s another theory that the water you drink can contribute to bladder infections as well as stones, another issue of mine. Being that I live in the city and had been drinking tap water for years, I wanted to test this theory. So I began drinking reverse osmosis water, the best filtered water you can purchase; it’s demineralized. Within a day, just like the D-Mannose, I noticed an improved difference, but it continued. And it only costs $1.50/jug where I live. I’ve been a faithful drinker of this stuff since.
Learn more: Reverse osmosis water
Organic Cranberry Juice
We all know that cranberries can help fight off bladder infections, but I’ve found that it will only work if you get the right kind of cranberry juice. The cranberry juice cocktail full of sugar and no actual cranberry juice will not help too much. Instead, look for the organic cranberry juice that contains no sugar.
I’ll warn you now, it doesn’t taste the greatest, but it can help alleviate bladder infections symptoms. A bottle of this stuff will also cost you a couple dollars more, but it’s worth every penny.
Check it out: Lakewood Organic Pure Cranberry Juice
At the end of the day, I think the smartest thing anyone can do is to just know their bodies when trying to work on their bladder-health. What works for me may not work for you, but if you’re finding yourself in a corner with your bladder right and you’re not sure which direction to go in, try some of the suggestions above. You never know what may work for you.
What remedies to you believe have helped your bladder?
