The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Uva Ursi
Posted by Meadow (Tampa, Florida, Usa) on 03/01/2011
★★★★★
I have not seen the herb Uva Ursi mentioned to help clear women's bladder infections. Uva Ursi leaf (an herbal dietary supplement) is effective with stubborn lower urinary tract infections and kidney (pyelonephritis) infections. Uva Ursi has antimicrobial activity. Uva Ursi contains a glycoside called arbutin, which has an antiseptic effect on the membranes of the urinary tract. As a natural diuretic this herb drains excess water from cells and promotes an antiseptic effect on the kidneys.
It is best to take Uva Ursi leaf as directed on the bottle, with a large glass of water and the juice of half a lemon, lime or baking soad. Fresh lemon juice has alkalizing and anti-bacterial properties. Bacteria can not live an an alkaline environment. Uva Ursi and a cranberry supplement will work in synergy to clear the infection. The enclosed link is a non profit women's health website that includes:
Uva Ursi
Posted by Francisca (Michelbach-le-bas, Alsace, France) on 03/02/2011
18 mg to 20 mg a day of Vit. C is very little, are you sure this is the right amount Linus Pauling advised? I am waiting for one of his books so I have no idea..... But the advised amount is 60 mg which is also very little, even if you are healthy!
Uva Ursi
Posted by Granny Laura (Waco, Tx Usa) on 03/03/2011
Francisca, My mistake! Thanks for noticing so I can correct it. I meant to say 18 to 20 grams of vitamin C, not milligrams. Actually I've taken 6-9 or more grams a day for years. The only side effect I've noticed is that I look 15-20 years younger than I am. I can handle that kind of side effect just fine.
D-Mannose
Posted by KF (Los Angeles, California, Us) on 01/23/2011
★★★★★
I know a lot of women are like me and have suffered from Uninary Tract Infections (UTI). After about 5 years of taking anitbiotics every few months because of a problem and having doctors tell me to drink more water and cranberry juice with little success, I finally discovered D-mannose. This is the part of cranberry that keeps the bacteria from sticking to the bladder. I take 1000mg (2 capsules) every 4-6 hours if I notice my urine get cloudy and start to feel discomfort. I do this for three days, with large amounts of fluids (water and juice) and then I can take a maintaince dose of 2 each day. As far as I can tell, your body flushes what it doesn't need and it won't upset your stomach like the acid in the cranberry juice.
As you know, UTIs can happen from a variety of exposure and often from sexual activity. Keeping water intake high keeps the system flushed. Also using the restroom after activies helps flush the urinary tract immediately. I've taken many many antibotics for (stronger and stronger) over the five years before discovering d-mannose as my natural remedy.
D-Mannose
Posted by Stacey (Mesa, Az) on 02/14/2012
★★★★★
D-mannose is the only thing that works for me. Now 3oz powder from Amazon is the cheapest. I always have a bottle on hand. One bottle is about 13 bucks and it takes about a bottle to cure, most of the time a little less than a bottle. If you go to the health food store, it will be triple the price, easy, but still a better option than anything else.
Multiple Remedies
Posted by Aimee (New Brunswick, Nj) on 01/11/2011
★★★★★
Re: Cures for Chronic (8 years) of UTI's
I have been feeling much better and though I must devote some extra energy to keeping myself healthy, the relief is well worth it! Here's what has helped me so far:
ACV- This has been a life saver!! I couldn't find the organic where I live in Mexico, so I just got the regular kind and it still worked wonders. I add a couple tablespoons to a large bottle of water which I sip over several hours. During an acute attack, I would drink a more concentrated solution and continue to drink a lot of water. I say would drink because I seldom experience the severe kind of pain that I used to feel. I can say pretty confidently that ACV has been one of the most helpful things in combatting these issues.
Water- I try to drink about 3 liters a day.
Probiotics- I take a strong probiotic everyday- helps to keep the general area in order, limiting vulvadynia symptoms and also keeps me more regular.
Fiber- speaking of regular... This helps with my bladder and female issues. If I am ever constipated, pushing at all can cause problems down there. I try not to push.
Kegel exercises- I contract the muscles and hold for a few seconds. I do this pretty regularly, but also when I am in the midsts of pain or discomfort. It really does seem to help.
Loose clothing- I used to wear tight jeans, sometimes a thong... Not anymore! I wear lots of skirts or dresses, cotton underwear and I make sure to wear pants and leggings that don't have big seems right through the crotch.
Stress- I know that avoiding stress is difficult at times, but it is paramount to reducing the severity of my health problems. So, I just pay close attention to what my body is telling me. If I am cleaning and start to feel a bit of pressure or stinging, well guess what- its time to stop for the day or maybe I just need to move slower. Lower back strain can make things worse, so I will try to sit more frequently, bend with the knees, that sort of thing. And I only cry when it is really worth it now. I think about whether or not what I am crying over is worth the pain it will cause a short while after. Usually its not. I am not a robot and it may be strange to say I choose not to cry-- but when you cry or worry or panic, the body tenses up and puts pressure on those nether regions. Sometimes the onset of my symptoms was enough to start this chain reaction of worrying and stressing and honestly it made it all much worse. Thinking too much about my symptoms never helped. I do what I know has worked for me and then try to keep calm and distract myself.
Things I try to avoid: sugar, lots of bread, alcohol (I immediately feel stinging in my bladder), really spicy foods, strong chemicals (bleach is the worst for me), pollution, cigarette smoke, lack of sleep.
Ice- I have several ice packs- I wrap one in a hand towel and place it down there when I start to feel swolen or stinging. It's instant relief.
Intimacy-Anything that touches down there must be clean. No after the game, after a long day anything with my husband. And right after, I make sure to pee and then rinse everything off. Maybe it hinders spontanaeity, but not as much as several days of pain.
I hope this is helpful. It's my arsenal and I'm sure that everyone needs to find what is specifically helpful for them. I have gone from having weekly bouts of severe pain, sometimes for several days... To having a problem once every couple of months.The first hint of discomfort and I am combatting it with everything Ive got. I really feel for anyone experiencing ongoing discomfort or pain of any sort and I wish you much peace and relief.
D-Mannose
Posted by Tasha (East Coast, Usa) on 09/01/2010
★★★★★
D-mannose 100% works. Not only will it blast a UTI away, but it seems to help with other female problems. Minor yeast, etc. I suffer from chronic volvodynia-like symptoms and this really helps it. Works even better in conjunction with citrical(for oxalate levels)and lots of h20. I highly recommend using the powder as the results are better than with the pills. VERY good stuff.
D-Mannose
Posted by Traveler (Santa Barbara, Ca, Usa) on 04/30/2010
★★★★★
I got turned onto D-Mannose by a former roommate, and while I was sucking down Apple Cider Vinegar straight and water, I was having NO LUCK!
So I bought D-Mannose from the local big-chain health food store for about $35, and while it was expensive, it worked so good and immediately! I ended up getting some $25 stuff off of Amazon, and have used that occasionally if I feel "off" to good effect, though not all the time (like right now I thought I was treating BV and it's not responded expect a little, so I treated it like trich with tea tree oil and coconut oil and that really worked-- but it's only been a few hours.
But yes- D-Mannose is a necessity for a woman's medicine cabinet.
Alka Seltzer
Posted by Teresa (Asheboro) on 05/02/2017
I am on 2nd round of antibiotics for UTI. This all started in march. I think I passed a kidney stone. pain started in my back on the left side. Within 3 days, the pain had migrated down load and I couldn't walk. I stayed in the recliner for 3 days with a heating pad to my back and abdomen. I finally went to the urgent care clinic when my urine turned very dark brown. I guess it was blood in my urine. The ER doctor did a UA and said there was RBCs, but no white blood cells. They sent it to lab to do a C&S, called me back and said they didn't culture anything, but put me on Cipro any way. Two months later, I'm having painful bladder spasms after I void. It fills like my bladder is filling up even though I just emptied it. It's painful. I went to the drug store and bought Oxytrol patches that stopped the spasms, but they come back after I remove the patch. I went to my internal med Dr.for a routine check up. She tested my urine and told me I had some form of staphy bacteria in my urine, Staphlycoccus epid something, cant' remember. Lab said it was sensitive to treatment with several antibiotics. I'm allergic to penicillin so that isn't an option. Now I'm on Macrobid and I feel awful! I've been pushing cranberry juice, peeing all the time, and taking something called cystex I bought at walmart. How long is this going to continue? I'm miserable. I'm drinking ACV with honey and ginger mixed in it.
Lime Juice for UTI Prevention
Posted by Hayley (Hanalei, Hi, 96714) on 02/17/2010
★★★★★
Lime Juice as UTI Preventative for Chronic UTI's...
2 tbsp/8 oz. glass of water (2x per day, 1/morning, 1/evening)
I get a UTI at least once/month and they're primarily caused by sex. I've always done the routine of cleanliness (peeing before/after, showering so there is as little bacteria in the area to even tempt an infection etc.) when having sex though an infection always occurred no matter how careful I was. This has been happening for the past 7 years and I've only ever been prescribed antibiotics to cure/prevent. After being sick of taking so much antibiotics to keep up with my libido I started doing my research on alternative treatments and here's what I've found that worked...
If your story parallel's mine, I've found that drinking lime juice in the morning and evening diluted in water prevents me from getting a UTI. Though you MUST do this EVERYDAY. People in my situation are in a critical place considering body maintenance and keeping our bodies clean. Lime is very Alkaline with other beneficial vit.'s and I believe this has a lot to do with disallowing bacteria to develop - hence - no infections. Though once more, you must be discipline and drink EVERYDAY. I promise this will work.
Fresh Lime Juice is always best though there are crystallized forms if you're always on the go like me. I stock up on limes at the beginning of the week, squeeze my lime juice and keep in fridge. When I'm without it I always make sure I have the crystallized packets.
Make Sure it is a UTI
Posted by Liz (Sydney, Australia) on 02/17/2010
Just in regards to a negative culture for UTI. A few years ago I was bothered by many bladder infections where the culture test was negative. Turns out i had endometriosis over my bladder, quite severely. I went to the gyno for what i thought was an unrelated problem who sent me to an endometriosis specialist who did surgery and found that my bladder was covered. Endo on the bladder can cause symptoms that mimic bladder infection but you will get a negative culture. After the operation the problem went away although it can return as there is no cure for endometriosis. Just a suggestion on a possible cause.
Olive Leaf, Turmeric
Posted by Vonni (Coromandel, Waikato, New Zealand) on 07/21/2011
Veru interesting to read you UTI remedy - how long did you continue with it?
Olive Leaf, Turmeric
Posted by Kelly (Toronto) on 04/28/2015
★★★★★
This is my favorite treatment for a uti that is full-blown, about to come on or used as a preventative. Olive leaf works to kill the bacteria causing the infection while turmeric acts as an anti-inflammatory and biofilm disrupter. For a while I was using olive leaf on it's own but it wasn't always strong enough. Olive leaf plus turmeric is a potent combo. I take 3-4 caps of olive leaf and 1-2 caps of turmeric, until symptoms dissipate.
Distilled Water
Posted by Sarahbelle (Bryan, Ohio) on 01/06/2010
★★★★★
Uti or interstitial cystitis and acid/alkaline
Please read this if you have a UTI or IC!!
I have been researching and this is my conclusion: Your urine is either too acid OR too alkaline. It may have caused bacteria to grow, or if cultures couldn't detect bacteria, it could just be irritated as in IC. I always read that my urine was too acidic. When I tried to make it more alkaline I was even more miserable! Once, when I was taking a barley powder product for it's health benefits, my bladder got worse. It was too alkalinizing. I read that DISTILLED WATER was very acidic, so I chugged a gallon that day. What a relief! (One wouldn't want to drink distilled water for more than three days, as prolonged use can be detrimental, but it is easy on the struggling kidney and bladder.)
Make sure you know if your urine is too acidic or too alkaline before you treat yourself. You can buy testing strips at a pharmacy. The doctors in our rural area would think I was weird if I started talking about natural cures and acid/alkaline. Be your own doctor if possible. Best wishes.
Over-The-Counter
Posted by Terrisa (Lubbock, Tx) on 12/17/2009
★★★★★
Urinary Tract Infections
Between the age of 7 and 10, my daughter had multiple urinary tract infections. Our pediatrician even had us have the bladder and kidney ultrasound done! After her last UTI, she began having symptoms around 5 PM--after doctor's hours and I didn't want her to have to sit in an ER for hours suffering, so I went and got her that pyramidine that turns the urine orange, but makes the symptoms tolerable, when I found a new product that has the following ingredients (since we can't mention the brand name here): benzoic acid, methenamine,sodium salicylate. I gave her just 2 tablets and she started feeling better within 30 minutes, and urinated with a normal volume within an hour. The next morning when I took her to her pediatrician, they did an in office lab test and the test was negative for bacteria. Since then, I've felt the symptoms coming on myself, and so I've taken 2 tablets and it's taken care of the infection. I asked my daughter's pediatrician how it could work and she looked at the ingredients and said she didn't see how it works just by looking at the ingredients--but, it does and I'm very thankful--and, it didn't make me get the yeast infection that I would get from taking antibiotics. Hope this helps, and thank you for this website--had a horrible toothache at 4:30 this AM and read about using cloves powder so I packed my tooth and it worked miraculously! The two ibuprofen didn't work, but the cloves worked within 2 minutes. I love this website and have it in my favorites. Thank you, Terrisa
Vitamin C
Posted by Aniasf (San Francisco, Ca, USA) on 12/26/2009
★★★★★
I think you can get soluble vitamin C 1000mg as part of some cold or multivitamin formulas. I got mine in Europe where you can get fizzy tablets 1000mg, very tasty. You can probably also crush/dissolve/sweeten regular pills but I haven't tried that.
Cranberry
Posted by Corinthianblue (Albuquerque, Nm) on 10/17/2009
★★★★★
I have tried various cures on this sight for my UTI and none of it was working, even stuff not listed here. I tried just cranberry, I tried the extract, the pills, and different juices and none of it worked until I found a strictly cranberry juice (no sugar added or other juices). I poured a cup of the cranberry juice and diluted it with a cup of water and chugged the whole thing down. I did this once a day. First day, the pain dropped almost to nothing. Today, I did this drink when I got up and there is zero pain anymore. I'm going to do this one more day and just be done with it. I feel like I'm cured.
Alkaseltzer only worked temporarily.
ACV worked for that day only and stopped working.
Lemon seemed to help kill this faster.
Uva Ursi
Posted by Azg (Toronto, On) on 09/28/2009
★★★★★
For Urinary Tract Infections, please try Uva Ursi. It's a powdered leaf in a gel cap... you follow the instructions on the bottle (I think 2 gel caps, 3 x a day) and within 36 hours all symptoms of the UTI are gone! I used to get UTI's like clockwork - every 3 month. I remember reading something about how the bacteria that causes it burrows into the skin of the bladder to hide from the anti-biotics. Because the skin in the bladder sheds like the skin that covers our bodies, eventually enough skin is shed to uncover the bacteria - and BAM you have another Urinary Tract Infection.
I don't know how the Uva Ursi worked, but after treating ONE UTI with it, I haven't had one since...it's been about 4 or 5 years since my last UTI and I've recommended this to countless women in my life.
Earth Clinic, I don't know where you want to post this, but I think it's so important that women who deal with recurring UTIs read this information... THANK YOU for this amazing website.
Apple Cider Vinegar and Baking Soda
Posted by Jenk40 (Seattle, Wa, USA) on 08/28/2009
★★★☆☆BETTER BUT WITH SIDE EFFECTS
Warning: ACV and Baking Soda for UTI. I woke up and realized I was getting a UTI this morning so I came to EC site to find out what I could do without having to use antibiotics. I saw all the positive responses for ACV so I tried that. I put 2 tbsp into to 2 cups of water and drank it down. 20 minutes later I was still in pain so tried again; 2 tbsp ACV in 2 cups water. 40 minutes went by, nothing. Then read that some had needed to add baking soda to the mix. So I put another tbsp of ACV and mixed with 1 tbsp baking soda. In less than 15 minutes the pain had subsided. However, shortly after started having watery diarrhea. I had read in another persons post that people who are experiencing stomach problems should be careful with the ACV/baking soda mixture because it can act as a laxative, but for some reason didn't pay attention. Well, my stomach has been touchy lately and this definitely made it worse. It helps with the infection, but may cause other problems. I don't recommend this cure to someone with stomach issues.
Apple Cider Vinegar, D-Mannose
Posted by Bee (Detroit, Mi) on 11/22/2013
I have been drinking 1/8-1/4 C of Apple Cider Vinegar for about 2 1/2 mos....i do believe it has helped me lose fat as all my clothes are fitting loosely; but it did not work to prevent a UTI...bad one this time...belly pain, side pain then in the kidney. The D-mannose, that is a wonder herb. I have not been on that for about a month & I started noticing changes for the worse. I'd have to say that is what keeps them at bay. While my dr wants to do a scope on me because I've had too many too frequently, especially after not having one for 6 years, I am fighting not to do that but am a little concerned as to WHY I am having them so frequently without the D-mannose.
D-Mannose
Posted by IceSeraph22 (Burton, MI, USA) on 07/28/2009
★★★★★
I have never had UTI before. But when I got it I knew!! I called my mom and got her on the ball. But with all of her wisdom, a hot bath, sea salt, cranberry juice, and some over-the-counter drugs to help with the symptoms, it was the experiences of the people on this site that really made a difference. I went out and grabbed D-Mannose as quick as I could. This progressively helped my condition and in three days of use i was completely healed. Not to be religious. But I was free from pain and bleeding. I know pretty icky but this site keep it real.
I really appreciate this site. and this is not the first time that I have been helped.
D-Mannose
Posted by Kiki (San Diego, CA) on 07/04/2009
★★★★★
I used to get frequent urinary tract infections and was tired of paying $100 to go to the urgent care clinic for another prescription for antibiotics. Then, I read about D-Mannose. It's not an antibiotic because it does not kill bacteria. It is a type of natural sugar that gets excreted through the urinary tract. The sugar prevents bacteria from sticking to the walls of your urinary tract and flushes it away when you urinate. The instructions are on the bottle, but it comes in either tablet or powder form. You take it with a glass of water every few hours. You can use it as a treatment and also as regular prevention if you are the type to get it often. If you want more information, there is a ton on the internet. Many web stores sell it also. This simple treatment saved me a lot of money and a lot of suffering!
White Vinegar
Posted by Jo (Calgary, AB) on 06/24/2009
★★★★★
At about 2 am i woke up and had to pee.. so i went to the bathroom and releaved myself then got back into bed right away i felt like a still had to go really bad. i tryed to go again but i didn't have to. it felt like i had to go so bad that i could sleep. i have never had a UTI before so i didnt know what it was. i went online to see if i could find some answers. after reading some things from other people i relised what i had. one women posted to drink 2 tbsps of vinager in a glass of water 3 times a day. i though gross but anything to make this go away and let me get some sleep. i went to the kitchen through it together. it was gross but i got it down and went back to bed i actually got to sleep and about an hr later i woke up feeling like i had to pee again so i got up to try. well i did have to pee this time and when i was finish the feel i had to go was gone! i was so releaved and went to sleep right away. i got up in the morning and had another glass. i dont think its gone yet but im no longer unconfortable. i used white vinager
