Conference turris::womannotes-v1

Another symptom is blood in the urine. The symptoms don't go away by
themselves; you need a doctor to put you on a course of antibiotics
immediately. 

I sure never heard about this in sex education class. What a pity, as
bloody urine is quite a fear-inspiring sight when you don't know the
cause. 

Doctors also normally prescribe Pyridium for relief of symptoms.
Funny, I never thought it worked for me -- what are others' experiences
with Pyridium? I've found the best symptom-reliever to be continuous intake
of water, and a very hot sitz-bath accompanied by loud music and a junky
novel.

					Val

    RE: .1
    
    I know what you mean about the blood in the urine being a very
    fear-inspiring event - especially when accompanied by lots of burning
    and pain.
    
    The best thing I found for relieving the symptoms in short order
    is to drink a lot of beer.  That was my Mom's advice (it happened
    on a Sunday of a holiday weekend) until I could get to a doctor.
    
    My doctor gave me Gantristin.  It eventually went away, but not
    very quickly with this stuff and my particular body chemistry.
    
    Elizabeth
    

    I've heard from a number of people that cranberry juice is supposed to
    help.  Is this true?

    ...Karen

    
    RE: .3
    
    I have to drink cranberry juice every day or take the chance
    of yet another UTI.  Twenty years ago I had kidney stones and the
    doctor told me that I should drink cranberry juice every day
    for the rest of my life.  Being young I thought he was crazy - 
    after 5 years of getting infections every couple of months I 
    started drinking the stuff faithfully.  Whenever I forget to 
    buy a bottle and have to go more than 5 days without my fix,
    I start getting worried.
    
    Also, fresh cranberrys, cooked, work just fine, as does a "Cape Codder"
    or any drink with cranberry juice in it.
    
    I have even grown to like the taste.
    
    
    _peggy
    
    

Re .1
>  and a very hot sitz-bath accompanied by loud music and a junky
>  novel.


 Okay, it's not in my American Heritage Dictionary...what's a
 sitz-bath?

    Not only does it hurt to urinate, but you feel the urge every few
    minutes (ouch) whether you need to or not. When you have a UTI, it's a
    little easier if you drink LOTS (flood levels) of liquid -- cranberry
    or tomato juice if you have them, or anything else. (You'll be in the
    bathroom whether you drink or not). For me, UTI's always got worse the 
    longer I waited, so I learned to see a doctor as soon as I recognized 
    the symptoms. I'm religious about urinating before sex, and I'm
    sure that has helped me avoid UTI's in the last 10 years. I also
    tend to drink lots of water and juice, which may have helped.

    Cranberry, orange, grapefruit, tomato juice (read anything acidic)
    will margininally help in UTI.  The juices will change the ph of
    the urine.  Apparently, when the urine becomes basic (constantly
    postponing trips to THE ROOM will do this) the bacteria that's
    naturally present gets a better environment to grow.  The moral
    here is -- When you gotta' go, you gotta' go.
    
    For coffee and tea fanciers - although coffee and tea are acidic,
    the caffine in both beverages is not good for UTIs.  
    
    Pain and blood in the urine aren't always an issue with UTIs.  I've
    had some pretty nasty infections where the only symptom was INCREDIBLE
    PRESSURE.  Having to *DESPERATELY* go to the bathroom every 3 seconds
    is no fun.                                           
    
    LZP
         

I do drink a lot of water (just got another glass of it before writing this!),
so that might have saved me the UTI's.  I also don't drink coffee or tea. :-)

Maybe I should start drinking cranberry juice again, too.  I like the stuff,
straight up.  I heard it was also good for or to prevent yeast infections.

For my next question:  I understand the importance of urinating *after*
intercourse now; but what is the reasoning behind urinating *before*?

Jill

> but what is the reasoning behind urinating *before*?

I don't know why you should, but if I don't I feel uncomfortable before
we finish intercourse.  Ummm, excuse me, hold that thought, I'll be right back.

:-)

...Karen

    Ah, another hospital story to follow......
    
    One of the clinics I was assigned to was the xray clinic for
    people with problems with kidneys etc.  I remember one xray
    technique where we filled the bladder with iodine dye and 
    saline solution via cathater, xrayed the bladder, had the
    person void and xrayed again.  This procedure was done on 
    people who had constant UTI's.  Well, this lady came in who
    was considering surgery to find out why she always had UTI's. 
    Upon filling up her bladder with over 3 bottles of liquid
    (normal bladders take a maximum of 1 with some discomfort)
    we found that she was in the habit of voiding once aday.  She
    said she did not have the *time* to be going to the bathroom.
    The doc suggested that she *make* time, her bladder couldn't get
    any bigger, the bladder was not made as a trash storage bin,
    and till she chose to change her habits, she would have problems.
    So the moral of the story was, go when ya gotta go.  
    
    vivian
    ps... FYI, some people have a problem with sphincter's to and 
    from the bladder which cause back-flow to the kidneys, or 
    incontinece.  This is not a common problem but is a possiblility
    that the xrays can deduce.

I've had (more than!) my share of vaginal/urinary tract infections.
I think the idea behind drinking alot of water is to keep the wastes 
(and any bacteria) well diluted and to keep the system flowing.  If
you drink a quart of water a day (along with whatever else you drink)
it's impossible to put off voiding.  I try to stop and take a couple 
of swallows every time I pass a fountain in the course of a work day.

Whenever I've had cystitis I've been prescribed a whopping dose of 
sulfa.  I don't remember if it's one pill or two, but it's an equine
portion and works fast.  You've got to drink lots of water for a 
couple of days when you use this stuff.

My latest bout with non-specific vaginitis (perhaps another hot topic)
got my attention by masquerading as cyctitis.

CQ

    re .12
    
    Off on another tangent ....
    
    Don't you think it's weird that people DON'T "make time" to void
    their bladders at the first sign of discomfort/fullness?  Is this
    the result of poor toilet training?  
    
    I get teased constantly by people who are around me enough to notice
    that I urinate on the average of once an hour (if facilities are
    available), and get up at least once every night to do so.  I once
    worried about this, but my doctor told me I'm healthy, and just
    have a small bladder and/or more sensitive bladder lining (so can't
    comfortably walk around with a full bladder).
    
    I've had very few UTI's (I do drink lots of fluids), almost everytime
    I can remember associated with prolonged intercourse, especially
    after abstinence from sex for a period of time.
    
    G

    I don't understand why anyone wouldn't go with the urge.  The lady
    I talked to in the xray room said she felt she had some control
    over her body....the only result I can see is a *large* bladder
    and infections.  (by the by,,she also drank large quanities of
    liquids)
    
    Personally, I ignore peoples comments on my frequent usage of the
    facilities......There is less harm in getting rid of body waste
    then storing it as this lady did.  
    
    vivian
    

    Maybe it's weird to ignore the signal that you have to go, but one
    of the things I read on UTI claimed that women in particular tend
    to put off using the toilet in public places, either from embarrassment
    or from fear of uncleanliness. 
    
    A sexist claim, to be sure, but I've got older relatives that fit
    that description. 
    
    					Val

    I'm one of those people who doesn't have any choice about waiting!
    I don't think I was aware that it was possible to wait indefinitely.
    
    I do sometimes feel a little awkward when during the course of one dinner
    in a restaurant, I can average 4 trips to the facilities.  A friend
    whom I often have dinner with can get through the whole dinner and
    the rest of evening without any trips!  She must be part camel :-).

    re .15 
    
    Embarassment is a problem for many older people.  A relative on
    my husband's side of the family, a successful business executive
    recently retired, once told me that she would go down several floors
    in the elevator rather than use the bathroom facilities on her floor.
    She didn't want any of her co-workers to recognize her shoes under
    the toilet stall door!!!
    
    Guess it's hard to admit we are human sometimes!
    
    Gloria

    re .10:  I have had exactly what you describe... a reflux.  I have
    no problem holding back the flow, but when I was little, I had
    practically ongoing kidney problems and urinary problems.  My right
    kidney is half the size of my left kidney... I had an operation
    when I was 12 to place the ureter (I think that's the right tube)
    in another part of my bladder.  I have only had one UTI since then
    (I'm soon to be 26) but am often bothered by an aching kidney after
    a night's sleep.... I void before going to bed and usually don't
    drink a whole lot of liquids after 6:00 pm.  
    
    *sigh*