Treating a UTI without antibiotics?

[yequanamama]

What are ways of treating a UTI without taking antibiotics? I'm thinking my 3-y-o might have one....I hope!

[asherah]

Cranberry juice.
The real stuff, though.. not the "juice-drink" stuff.
Lots of it.

[PapayaVagina]

Blueberries also have the same properties in them to help UTIs as cranberries. Eat up-yum!

[Trishy]

I would really stongly encourage you to get a urine culture and see if it is a UTI. I believe that UTIs are one of those things that you really need antibiotics for.

[candipooh]

You don't need antibiotics for a UTI. Now Kidney infection is another story. I have treated my UTIs without antibiotics during my pregnancies. I had one during each pregnancy (come to think of it, my 1st medicalized pregnancy I took the antibio.). I took cranberry tablets (don't know if a 3 year old take it) and peach left tea. My midwife told me about the peach leaf tea. I drank 3 cups a day for over 2 weeks. And as always tons and tons of water.

[PikkuMyy]

Yes, you don't have to have antibiotics for a UTI but if you don't get rid of it, not only can you get a kidney infection, but you can also get bladder scarring from the UTI. And, you run the risk of having an infection that pushed you over the brink into IC - Intersticial Cystitis - a horrible bladder disease I have as a result of trying to treat a UTI without antibiotics and getting a kidney infections. Please be careful.

[rowantree]

garlic too,tons of antibiotic qualities!!!

[NatalieS]

What makes you think it's a UTI? My pediatrician told me that often times when kids have pain when they pee it's actually because yeast has irritated their urethra. Are there any yeast symptoms?

The prob with a urine culture is that the only way to get an accurate result is by using a catheter which usually LEADS to a UTI!!

Cranberry juice- yes, unsweetened is a must- is great. Mix it with unsweetened pinapple juice to help tame the taste.

Be sure to boost his/her immune system. I use a great formula called Mommy's All Better. It is full of great stuff- GSE, Colloidial Silver, Astragalus, Echinacea, zince, Vit C etc. This formula would also be good if he/she has yeast.

Cantharis is the main UTI remedy but there are others depending on the exact symptoms.

UTI's are not something to fool around with but neither are antibiotics!

Lots of water, lots of rest. I would do probiotics- acidophilus- just in case it's yeast and to boost the good bacteria in case you do end up needing antibiotics. They certainly won't hurt.

[StillForest]

My understanding is that cranberry juice and blueberries etc are only effective for *preventing* UTIs and perhaps for UTIs caught in the very earliest stages. A component of cranberry juice and blueberries makes the walls of the bladder slippery so that bacteria can't adhere and multiply there. However, they're not especially effective once the infection has really taken hold.

I have had good look with cantharsis but also recommend getting a culture. Nothing to fool around with. I ended up getting a kidney infection (pyelonephritis) while trying to self-treat during a period of time when I didn't have health insurance...very painful and scary.

[maddysmama]

I've had great success with colloidal silver (taking internally). Also, I boiled fresh parsley, then drank the water.

[ekblad9]

Speaking as a person currently suffering from a UTI I would have to say that antibiotics are probably the way to go. I tried the cranberry tablets, juice, blueberries, you name it. My UTI got so bad I could hardly walk or function at all. I've now been on antibiotics for a week and it's still painful! I don't use antibiotics usually but this really needed it. I would get a child checked out for sure before doing anything.

[PikkuMyy]

Natalie - who told you you needed a catheter for an accurate UTI diagnosis? I've had many done, none with a catheter.

Yes, when I went to the ER with my kidney infection, I told the doctor that I'd been self-treating with cranberry tablets (I mean, taking like 5-10 a day!) and he laughed. He said I could have taken an entire bottle a day and it wouldn't have helped once the infection was there. So it's a good idea to take (as long as you don't have IC - because the acid just burns your bladder if you do) them on a regular basis to help prevent but not to treat.

[yequanamama]

Thanks, everybody! I do intend to have her checked out - we've got an appointment tomorrow. Thank you!

[yequanamama]

AND..........she's just fine! Must be a phase. (Whew! These phases just come right on top of one another, don't they?)

[PikkuMyy]

Glad to hear it!

[LizD]

I have had a couple of UTIs and have never taken abx. I don't use homeopathics but drink water- like at least a gallon a day, at the first sign of tenderness or that persistent need-to-pee feeling. And I have had success with the cranberry juice but I have always done these things at the first sign, which I basically consider to be a message one isn't drinking enough water. I drink about three to four quarts a day and haven't had one in years.

Also, if one is getting them frequently, look at how much coffee or tea you might be taking in. I know some folks who have a low tolerance for coffee and this is one sign they're drinking too much.

To ease the pain, whether you're using abx or not, I have read to take a small bottle of sandalwood essential oil diluted in a carrier with you in your purse...dab the opening every time you pee. Very soothing, has healing properties and worth the expense... there's nothing like that particular pain-ugh!

Glad to hear it was nothing as regards the 3yo, though.

[Mama Lori]

Glad to hear it's nothing and she's fine! Yay!

Incidentally I have had great success with cranberry juice (pure, no sweetener) in TREATING, not just preventing, UTIs. Drinking plenty of water, along with plenty of cranberry juice, and avoiding alcohol and sweeteners, works for me. In fact it was only when I stopped treating UTIs with antibiotics and started treating them naturally that I stopped getting them altogether. I don't get them at all anymore, it's been years.

I wish I would've known this as a child and teen because I got SO MANY of these infections from ages 8 to 23, and I was always given antibiotics. It was only after I met dh and I started reading his natural healing books that I found out about cranberry juice.

I've heard you can also take cranberry capsules, if you really can't stand the juice. It is very tart, but I don't mind it as long as it's well diluted.

[Mommy2threeboys]

Treating UTI's with herbs

I have had several UTI's in my life and can recognize when one is coming on. I had one a few months ago and since it was on the weekend and I couldn't get ahold of my naturopathic doctor, I went into the ER to get antibiotics and that red pill because I knew I was going to be in pain if I didn't!

Well, after that course, a few weeks later it came back (I don't think it totally went away). I got ahold of my naturopath and she has had a lot of success using Nature's Sunshine Goldenseal and Cranberry & Buchu. I was a bit nervous about trying it as I was feeling it in my back already (kidneys), but took 8 Goldenseal capsules and 8 Cranberry & Buchu capsules three times a day for 10 days. I felt much better after the first day, and it went away without recurring since! I was so excited that it worked!

By the way, stay away from cranberry juice as it is high in fructose, a natural sugar that still acts like a sugar and will feed a yeast problem, which can contribute to a UTI.

[Mama Lori]

Originally Posted by Mommy2threeboys

By the way, stay away from cranberry juice as it is high in fructose, a natural sugar that still acts like a sugar and will feed a yeast problem, which can contribute to a UTI.

Mommy2threeboys - I know many cranberry drinks are sweetened, but are you saying that even 100% cranberry juice is high in fructose? I don't think this is correct. The kind I've used and always have had success with is Knudsen's "Just Cranberries" concentrate. It's 100% cranberry juice, no fructose or anything added, and you dilute it with water. Works every time.

[Gendenwitha]

Originally Posted by ekblad7+

Speaking as a person currently suffering from a UTI I would have to say that antibiotics are probably the way to go. I tried the cranberry tablets, juice, blueberries, you name it. My UTI got so bad I could hardly walk or function at all. I've now been on antibiotics for a week and it's still painful! I don't use antibiotics usually but this really needed it. I would get a child checked out for sure before doing anything.

Antibiotics are the way to go, but after other things failed. I took 2 tablets Uristatin (cranberry & other berry stuff--bayberry I think?), Vit C, Vit A and I think Vit E? and a class of water all this every hour for a really bad one. And it worked all day long--until I went to sleep. Then about three or four hours into my sleep without this stuff and I woke up in pain. Went back to my ND and he prescribed antibiotics.

Now I pay more attention to my body and at the first sign of one start drinking more water, and cran-apple juice. If I don't and let myself get dehydrated I'm in trouble. So it's my little reminder to listen to my body.

(Oh, and for any adults I'd also say avoid sex until it's gone, that can make it worse. Just having too much sex can cause what my doctor called a "honeymoon UTI" )