Public Service Announcement
Mar. 15th, 2010 02:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
redroseGeneral UTI advice: may not be applicable to any one particular situation.
-Cotton panties, not nylon or some other non-breathing fabric. No thongs. No tight pants. let your crotch breathe!
-Drink lots of water.
-Cranberry juice (must be over 27% juice) makes the walls of the bladder slippery, so the infectious bacteria don't stick to it, and you are less likely to get sick.
-I gather that more acidic urine can help with prevention. To this end, I take a gram of vitamin C every day. I have seen warnings that that much C may cause kidney stones, and I try to drink a lot of water every day to prevent it from doing that.
-Sex is sometimes a trigger. If it is, there is a prophylactic antibiotic, Macrodantin, which your doctor can prescribe. An extra gram of vitamin C may take its place.
-When I have the ache, I find that a heating pad on my lower stomach helps. I've never had it in my kidneys, though.
-It's worth keeping a few adult diaper pads handy - so that if you find it coming on while you are at class, you can nip off to the loo and put one in, instead of sitting in the lav for the rest of the day.
-Don't forget, once you have a UTI, you have an infection, and it will affect your whole body just like any other infection. You may feel tired and need more sleep. Get it if you can, and don't feel bad about that!
-Cotton panties, not nylon or some other non-breathing fabric. No thongs. No tight pants. let your crotch breathe!
-Drink lots of water.
-Cranberry juice (must be over 27% juice) makes the walls of the bladder slippery, so the infectious bacteria don't stick to it, and you are less likely to get sick.
-I gather that more acidic urine can help with prevention. To this end, I take a gram of vitamin C every day. I have seen warnings that that much C may cause kidney stones, and I try to drink a lot of water every day to prevent it from doing that.
-Sex is sometimes a trigger. If it is, there is a prophylactic antibiotic, Macrodantin, which your doctor can prescribe. An extra gram of vitamin C may take its place.
-When I have the ache, I find that a heating pad on my lower stomach helps. I've never had it in my kidneys, though.
-It's worth keeping a few adult diaper pads handy - so that if you find it coming on while you are at class, you can nip off to the loo and put one in, instead of sitting in the lav for the rest of the day.
-Don't forget, once you have a UTI, you have an infection, and it will affect your whole body just like any other infection. You may feel tired and need more sleep. Get it if you can, and don't feel bad about that!
