Another urinary tract infection. Yes, yet another UTI. I hate being ill and as I have previously confessed I am not a very patient patient. This time I’m trying a different approach although it is a little risky. Is it a case of cranberry juice to the rescue? Or is that an ‘old wives’ tale?
UTIs in my experience are horrible and I reckon I’ve had more than my fair share over the last year. Each time the symptoms have been pretty similar: cloudy urine (looks like chicken soup at times) with all kinds of mucus and debris floating, feeling cold and shivery virtually all the time and sometimes feeling uncomfortable and painful in the kidney area. I have had other symptoms but these are more kidney related.
It seems the Doctors have a couple of different ways of diagnosing a UTI. Firstly there is the list of symptoms and secondly a dipstick test of urine reveals the presence of blood and white blood cells in urine. All this is pretty instant. Another route is sending a urine sample off to the hospital laboratory for some other test. To me it’s pretty obvious nowadays when I have a UTI.
Cranberry juice to the rescue?
During my last bout of a UTI, antibiotics were prescribed and they were apparently very potent and even more so as the course lasted two weeks.
This time I thought I would imbibe a hearty quantity of cranberry juice as it is said to be beneficial for the urinary tract. At first it worked and I was amazed. Within hours the chicken soup urine had become nice and clear again. I decided to buy some more and, having noticed Sainsbury’s had a special offer, I bought 24 litres. Should keep me going for a bit.
In spite of this the chicken soup urine has returned and I now have a quandary. Should I simply go back to the Doctor and have another course of antibiotics? Should I try to keep cranberry juice and copious amounts of water flowing through? All of these have their pros and cons.
Instead I am going to discuss the issue with the kidney consultant this afternoon. Not sure which consultant I’ll get to see today. So far each was has been great and I happily trust them. I suspect they’ll say once the kidneys have produced the urine, it’s over to those guys in urology who sort the plumbing out. Nevertheless it is worth a try.
Whatever happens, I just don’t want to be in a continuos cycle of infections, antibiotics and everything which goes with this. Once again I am reminded how an oversight by my Doctor a few years ago can have such far reaching consequences.
If you’re a Doctor reading this….
….or a nurse or have some health expertise or knowledge, please leave a comment below or use the contact screen to send me a private message. Thanks in advance – I’m so fed up with yet another UTI even though I am scrupulously clean.