Hi ladies,
It is 5 AM on a Monday morning and I just woke up with the signs of a urinary tract infection (UTI):
- Burning sensation when I pee
- Pain in lower abdomen
- Strong smelling urine (smells like I ate asparagus, which I didn’t)
- Cloudy urine (it is harder to tell when there is water in the toilet bowl but it looks funky)
But I have no back pains or fever.
Quite frankly, looking back I know that I noticed the very first symptoms yesterday night: my urine smelled funny, it was a bit cloudy and I had a slight feeling of irritation in my urethra. I brushed these signs off, since I have been UTI free for over a year now. I shouldn’t have!
At the same time, I have bitter sweet feelings about this outbreak.
First of all, of course I am not thrilled that I am going through this experience again.
On the other hand, I get to use D-mannose to treat UTI! Sadly, all stores are closed and the first one opens at 7 AM. I am convinced to start on the natural route and if symptoms do not clear up/ improve by the evening I will take the antibiotics. So here I am, sharing my experience as I live through it.
Using D-mannose to treat UTI: Day 1
So here are the first things I’ve done so far (it is 5:40 AM):
1) Drank two glasses of water with 1tbs of baking soda per glass (brr…nasty tasting) to help to flush the germs.
2) Drank one extra glass of water for the same reason.
3) Ate two minced gloves of garlic with a tiny piece of bread and salt to help fight the bacteria.
4) Called my doctor’s office to ask for antibiotics. I will see if I can skip this and will give myself a whole day before I start on them.
5) Searched for when the first Sprouts stores are open in my area (7 AM).
6) Started this blog post 🙂
In one hour I will go to Sprouts to buy D-mannose. I will also need to work from home today since I smell like a freshly baked piece of garlic bread 🙂
6:06 AM: another full glass of water and a tea tree oil wash:
7) Tea tree oil wash (3-4 glasses of warm water and 3-4 drops of tea tree oil).
6: 29 AM. Spoke to a Kaiser nurse. The nurse (male) suggested I take AZO and drink cranberry juice while waiting for my antibiotic script to go through for the doctor’s approval. The nurse that I spoke to, had never heard of D-mannose and it is not in his “reference book”.
Noticed a slight improvement in my symptoms: no more abdominal pain, but true test is to pee and see how that feels. In the meantime, I am due for another glass of water.
6:33 AM: another full glass of water.
Peed and it was less painful. The urine looks much more diluted but also pink-ish. So not sure at this point if there is an “improvement”.
Getting ready to go to Sprouts store. I will call them first to make sure that they do indeed have D-mannose. Driving around in traffic with a UTI is super uncomfortable.
6:59 AM: yet another glass of water and I do feel urgency, so the symptoms are not getting better yet. Peed and it is getting more painful! Time to go to the store.
7:58 AM and I am back from the store. When driving, every single traffic light seemed to be endlessly long. The pain is increasing. Peed and the urine while diluted still has recognizable pink shade to it. However, compared to usual, my symptoms are developing slower.
Here are the things that I bought at the Sprouts store:
–Bragg Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar, 16 Ounce – 1 Pack (recommended at the store)
-“Urinary tract support” drops (similar to Gaia Herbs – Usnea/Uva Ursi Supreme – 1 oz) (recommended at the store). Will need to research and post about this item later.
–Nature’s Way Vitamin C 1000 with Rose Hips, 250 Capsules
–Now Foods D-mannose Powder, 3-Ounce
As soon as I came home (15 mins ago) I took the following:
-700 mg of vitamin C
-60 drops of “Urinary tract support”
-a glass of water with two teaspoons of vinegar (yikes!)
-a glass of water with D-mannose (2 tablespoons). Actually, more than one glass since at some point it stopped dissolving. The guidelines call for 1 teaspoon, but I feel desperate!
Out of all listed above, D-mannose was the most pleasant experience so far: just slightly sweet water.
I called the pharmacy and they haven’t gotten my prescription yet. The pain in my abdomen has returned. Trying not to panic. I’ve been through this before and survived every other time 🙂 But hoping that my symptoms won’t get worse when I need to drive to the pharmacy!
8:20 AM: Just went to the bathroom and it was super painful! Also peeing out bladder lining (looks like pieces of wet red paper) and blood, which adds to anxiety. If I had my antibiotics now, I would just take them since I know this brings an instant relief and I am a sucker for instant relief right now 🙂
Feeling nausea from all that I’ve drunk so far. Just hoping that I can stomach all these remedies (just had a stomach ache the other night from drinking too much coffee so not sure how I will react to the vinegar).
8:45 AM: Continue peeing out bloody urine. Just took another glass of D-mannose. So now I took it twice in the past hour but I feel that maybe I started too late (first symptoms were yesterday). And since it is completely safe, why not? On the other side, it is not cheap to buy it at Sprouts. I paid $25 for a bottle and since you need to take a teaspoon every hour I am afraid I will run out fast!
9:22 AM: Status is same as above: peeing is painful, urine is bloody. Took another glass of water with D-mannose.
I haven’t eaten anything and although I already feel weak I am not intending to eat just yet. I want to make sure that there is nothing in the way while the D-mannose is running through my system.
10:02 AM: Another glass of water with D-mannose. I just discovered that I hate-hate-hate water 🙂 My body just doesn’t want any more water!!!
On top of everything I have diarrhea now (sorry for the details, but I thought you might go through the same and wonder if this is normal). I’ve heard that D-mannose might cause this issue. In my case I feel like I am pretty much peeing from both holes (sorry for being graphic).
On the positive side, it looks like I am experiencing less lower abdominal pain. But it is too early to celebrate since it looks like it comes and goes. When I pee the symptoms are still same: bloody urine and twinge at the end.
11:56 AM: No more lower abdominal pain! But still peeing out blood and it is painful. Ate a salad with chicken and feel really tired. Read about hyponatremia (in relation to “how much water is too much?”) and decided not to drink more than a glass per hour.
From 12 PM till 4 PM I was basically dozing off, having a headache, diarrhea and pain when urinating. Toughest times today!
I took another dose of “Urinary tract support” and have been drinking a glass of water with a tea spoon of D-mannose every hour. Around 4 PM I took a Ibuprofen pill because I was getting a horrible headache and two tablets of Pepto Bismol to hopefully stop the diarrhea.
6:54 PM: Took another dose of “Urinary tract support” (that’s three now) and a glass of D-mannose water. My lower abdominal pain is gone completely! I do not feel the urge (although I go often enough since drinking so much water), there is still a bit of a pain after I urinate, but there is no more blood in urine. Overall, I am feeling much better and the Pepto helped with the side effects of the D-mannose. Napping throughout the day also helped to restore my strength. Will reserve announcing full victory till tomorrow, but I feel much better!
When I called the pharmacy at 2 pm they still didn’t have my prescription ready, but since I am on the mend I feel glad that I didn’t have the antibiotics. I didn’t call them back after that. I would probably have taken the antibiotics by now if they were readily available since the pain was pretty bad in the middle of the day.
I will report how I feel tomorrow!
