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Any Suggestions on how to prevent UTI's?
I have been with my hubby for 10 yrs married for 1 1/2 years. However, recently this year I began getting bladder infections after intercourse. This has happened twice this year and I have gone to the doctor and gotten antibiotics both times which for me cause a secondary problem of a yeast infection any time I take an antibiotic.
I just cleared up the last infection about 2 weeks ago, but I now I am afraid to have sex with my DH because I don't want to get another infection. Does anyone have any recommendations on how they prevent these infections.
At this time, I have always instinctively urinated after sex. I just have had too so this is apparently one way to help. Occassionally, I will shower afterwards and I was wondering if this should become a must.
I have just started taking a pure cranberry supplement of 500mg once a day. Since I hate cranberry juice and have been told it can help to prevent also. I have also increased my water intake to the recommended 64oz a day to make sure I am flushing my system. I am sorry if I am giving TMI but I am really concerned about these infections. He and I have both gone to the doctor for checkups regarding this and we were told it is a normal thing sometimes and we have no infections of any kind. I just think its strange because it just started and has not happened in our 10 years together before. Unfortunately, the doctor told me not to worry unless I get 3-4 or more a year. And, my mother has never had these occur for her so she hasn't been able to offer me much insight.
So please give me any suggestions you may have that have helped you perhaps. I want to be intimate with my DH but I am just afraid to do it and have another infection. Thank you so much in advance for your help.
Re: Any Suggestions on how to prevent UTI's?
There are also probiotics you can take which promote the good bacteria and some cranberry supplements are apparently better than others. If you get another go ahead and go to the urologist. They can offer more helpful advice than your GP.
I had recurrent UTIs this year and was referred to a urologist (sp?). Mine turned out to be related to an irritated bladder rather than just an infection. I identifed things I was drinking and eating that were irritants and have been fine since. I was a big Diet Coke drinker and have had to give it up completely along with all carbonated drinks and artificial sweeteners and beer. Hate it, but what can you do. All that stuff is terrible for you anyway.
Oh my gosh! This is the story of my life. Here is what I have found to help:
-Don't hold your pee, in general. It does something to your bladder (stretches it out, I assume?) so that you can't fully empty it and makes infections more likely.
-Pee before and after sex (requires drinking a lot of water!)
-Wash before and after sex
-Take cranberry pills every day and drink lots of water, you're already doing that!
-I take D-Mannose capsules every time after I have sex. You can look it up; it's some kind of molecule that prevents bacteria from adhering to your bladder/urinary tract walls. It has helped me tremendously.
-I am interested in the Probiotics thing that the previous poster mentioned, though I haven't tried that. I know that only certain probiotics will actually affect your urinary/genital tract, and I have read good things about the supplement Fem-dophilus by Jarrow. I am going to try that next if I get another UTI any time soon.
I've always been prone to UTI's, but in the last year, it's gotten extremely bad. Nearly every single time I had sex, I got one. It did not matter that I was using condoms, urinated before/after, and showered before/after. I drank cranberry juice (yuck!), as well as took a cranberry supplement. No difference at all. Some women just get them a lot, and doctors do not know why.
My gyno gave me a standing prescription for a mild antibiotic. I take one pill every time I have intercourse. I have not gotten a UTI since, it works like a charm.
Ask your doctor about it. I had 11 UTI's over a 6 month span before my doctor put me on the standing antibiotics. My bladder is now weakened due to all the infections, so when I feel like I have to pee, I seriously cannot wait, because I feel like I can't hold it for very long. Don't wait until it gets that bad for you.
Go to a urologist.
I had occasional UTIS for years. I would take my anti-biotics like a good girl. and they would go away. But they would always flare up at the worst moment. My morning urine was also very strong smelling.
After more than a decade of this, I happened to go to a obgyn who was also a urologist. After I mentioned my repeated UTIs, she ran a more sensitive test on my urine and found that I had a low level UTI all the time. It just got out of hand every so often. So she put me on medication for 90 days (sorry, can't remember the name) and just wiped the infection out permanently. I haven't had a UTI since.
Go pee right after you have sex to prevent them. I am prone to UTI's as well and I have to do that ever time my husband and I have sex
This~and/or eat yogurt...the probiotics should be good for you. The good bacteria in yogurt can counteract the killing of all bacteria caused by the antibiotic and you should not get yeast infections.
Never had a UTI though, I heard the cranberry juice capsules are good, but go see a urologist.
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ughhh, i seem to be prone to those and to yeast infections (or irritations) even though i eat yogurt pretty often, like every couple of days (yeast). anyway, i don't have health insurance (poor college student) and going to the doctor every couple of months for one isn't cool. i try to drink a lot of water at least on the days me and my boyfriend are going to see each other and a couple days after and urinate afterwards all the time but that's not enough. my doctor is really old fashioned and says only to do missionary with a pillow under me and no more than "5 or 7 minutes" (SERIOUSLY?) and that's definitely not going to happen.
I also try to drink cranberry juice now and then like the day after having sex or whatnot, but that didn't help this time either. where do you get the acidophilus and cranberry supplements? If it helps, i'm all for it because I'm tired of getting them all the time/worrying about getting them constantly. I'm sure the pill is making me more susceptible to the yeast since i rarely got them beforehand and we're both clean and have been together for like 4 years now, so it's nothing else.
sorry this was so long!
Sounds extreme but:
Both take a shower before and after sex. (at least you after)
Drink lots and lots of water.
Don't ever hold it if you have to pee. The way it was explained to me is that holding it stretches the bladder and can cause microtears which make it easier for bacteria to adhere to.
Try Azo cranberry tablets. The cranberry and vitamin C make your urine more acidic and a more "hostile" enviroment for the bacteria to live in. It also has probiotics in it. I take two in the morning and two in the evening.
Good luck! UTIs suck =(