We all know UTIs can cause confusion and far worse if left untreated, but problems also arise with over treatment. How do you determine if the person you care for has a UTI and what do you do about it?
I found D-mannose at a health food store, powder in bulk. So this can be mixed into drinks for those that can't swallow pills.
Another factor that doctors never bring up is getting enough prebiotics and probiotics. Fermented foods are a wonderful source of prebiotics and Swanson vitamins sells great probiotics at a reasonable price. I buy one with FOS and that is a prebiotic. Vitamin C is also necessary for a healthy system.
Keeping the body balanced goes a looong way in keeping infections at bay.
If someone is prone to UTI I found making a mouthwash out of colloidal silver and peppermint essential oil kept my dad from getting any infection. 6 weeks after he moved and decided that I was giving him snake oil he ended up in the hospital with sepsis from a UTI.
I believe the natural route is important in keeping our bodies strong enough to do the fighting without drugs. I also had him taking a good daily vitamin and magnesium supplement at night. All of his specialists thought that his regiment of supplements was beneficial for keeping him healthy, he had stage 4 kidney disease, went to low stage 3 and his CHF was monitored every 6 months and ensure he put his feet up every afternoon for a while. This man was on deaths door when he landed at my house, so I have a ton of confidence in using nature's bounty to get and stay as healthy as possible. Just wanted to give you some back ground on why I feel so strongly about it, sorry if it seems ranty.
I just read about D-Mannose (it comes in powder or capsules and can be bought online) which is the active ingredient in cranberry juice but the amount of D-mannose in cranberry juice is less than the supplement.
May be worth it to read about it as antibiotics kill friendly micro-organisms leading to major disruptions in health including risk of yeast infections.
Only a doctor can determine if Pops has a UTI. I can usually tell when something isn't right based on his mood and urination habits. Getting plenty of liquids, showering instead of bathing, and making sure he doesn't become constipated all seem to help ward off UTI for Pops.
Diagnosis - if your "caree" is using continence care pads, Tena make special strips that you put in them and read off against a chart. The strips react to proteins and bacteria in the urine. You may get false positives but you'll never get a false negative; so if you get a positive you then scale up and take the caree to the GP for a proper urinalysis. If your caree is fully independent with toileting, you need to collect a sample and do the same initial testing with a dipstick.
Treatment of low grade uti's has been widely - not to say endlessly - discussed in a number of contexts including person-centred care and antibiotic resistance. Urologists, geriatricians and pathologists get quite shirty about GPs who try to nip all uti's in the bud, pointing out that it is futile, contributes nothing to patient wellbeing, that px's are rarely followed through, and that it is a fearful waste of NHS resources and antimicrobial firepower.
So it is left to the carer to look at her caree and think "is this a grumbling resident uti or will you get sepsis if I ignore it?"
I gave my mother cranberry capsules (she didn't like the juice), kept her as well hydrated as possible, kept my eyes open, and queried all px's. Which sounds a bit schizophrenic of me, and I probably was by then; but what I hated was the idea of chucking antibiotics at a pathogen (and giving mother diarrhoea, which would compromise hygiene as well as being unpleasant for her) without identifying it.
So uti's what did I do? - Hygiene and hydration first, treatment second.
Hi Countrymouse, I had no idea I could do this at home for my Mom instead of waiting to collect urine from my Mom and wait for the lab results. I just found strips on amazon and ordered them.
I don't like using antibiotics unless it's necessary and like the idea of having my Mom drink cranberry juice (she can't swallow pills).
Edit: Countrymouse's advice is much better and more informative compared to mine so please ignore my response.
Your doctor should have a kit to get the urine tested. If the lab determines it is positive for a UTI then they culture it to determine what type of bacteria it is so the doctor can prescribe the correct medication to clear it up. There are several different classes of antibiotics for UTI's and it's important for the lab to determine which bacteria it is.
I'm waiting for my Mom's UTI results and hopefully will hear today.
JennaRose thank you for the compliment but please don't dismiss your own comment! The self-testing kits are only a first step and I absolutely agree that it's important to act on medical advice only.
Another factor that doctors never bring up is getting enough prebiotics and probiotics. Fermented foods are a wonderful source of prebiotics and Swanson vitamins sells great probiotics at a reasonable price. I buy one with FOS and that is a prebiotic. Vitamin C is also necessary for a healthy system.
Keeping the body balanced goes a looong way in keeping infections at bay.
If someone is prone to UTI I found making a mouthwash out of colloidal silver and peppermint essential oil kept my dad from getting any infection. 6 weeks after he moved and decided that I was giving him snake oil he ended up in the hospital with sepsis from a UTI.
I believe the natural route is important in keeping our bodies strong enough to do the fighting without drugs. I also had him taking a good daily vitamin and magnesium supplement at night. All of his specialists thought that his regiment of supplements was beneficial for keeping him healthy, he had stage 4 kidney disease, went to low stage 3 and his CHF was monitored every 6 months and ensure he put his feet up every afternoon for a while. This man was on deaths door when he landed at my house, so I have a ton of confidence in using nature's bounty to get and stay as healthy as possible. Just wanted to give you some back ground on why I feel so strongly about it, sorry if it seems ranty.
May be worth it to read about it as antibiotics kill friendly micro-organisms leading to major disruptions in health including risk of yeast infections.
Treatment of low grade uti's has been widely - not to say endlessly - discussed in a number of contexts including person-centred care and antibiotic resistance. Urologists, geriatricians and pathologists get quite shirty about GPs who try to nip all uti's in the bud, pointing out that it is futile, contributes nothing to patient wellbeing, that px's are rarely followed through, and that it is a fearful waste of NHS resources and antimicrobial firepower.
So it is left to the carer to look at her caree and think "is this a grumbling resident uti or will you get sepsis if I ignore it?"
I gave my mother cranberry capsules (she didn't like the juice), kept her as well hydrated as possible, kept my eyes open, and queried all px's. Which sounds a bit schizophrenic of me, and I probably was by then; but what I hated was the idea of chucking antibiotics at a pathogen (and giving mother diarrhoea, which would compromise hygiene as well as being unpleasant for her) without identifying it.
So uti's what did I do? - Hygiene and hydration first, treatment second.
I don't like using antibiotics unless it's necessary and like the idea of having my Mom drink cranberry juice (she can't swallow pills).
Thanks for all this information,
Jenna
Your doctor should have a kit to get the urine tested. If the lab determines it is positive for a UTI then they culture it to determine what type of bacteria it is so the doctor can prescribe the correct medication to clear it up. There are several different classes of antibiotics for UTI's and it's important for the lab to determine which bacteria it is.
I'm waiting for my Mom's UTI results and hopefully will hear today.
Hope this helps,
Jenna