Take A Break From Coffee To Ease Bladder Infection Symptoms
Sure, your morning cup of java perks you up, but it may also make your UTI symptoms act up again. Caffeine is known to irritate the bladder and worsen bladder infection symptoms. A study of people with interstitial cystitis found that people who drank coffee experienced worsened symptoms. Try a mug of noncaffeinated herbal tea to replace your morning coffee ritual until you are UTI-free.
What Are Changes In Urine
Normal urine is yellowish in color, ranging from clear to deep amber. The color depends on how diluted it is, meaning how much liquid you consume. All urine has a slight odor that can vary with your diet.
Changes in urine can refer to:
- Color changes.
- Changes in odor.
- Changes in consistency .
Sometimes these changes are temporary and harmless. They may be the result of eating certain foods or vitamins, or taking some medicines. Asparagus or beets can harmlessly change the odor and color of urine, for example.
Other times, changes in urine may be the result of a more serious underlying medical condition.
What Are Symptoms Of A Uti In Females
- The most common sign of a UTI is a strong urgency to urinate.
- Dysuria is when sharp pains or burning is felt when urinating.
- The urge to urinate returns minutes later .
- Soreness may be felt in the lower abdomen, in the back or in the sides.If you notice a strong odor, cloudy urine or even blood presence, you should walk-in to the GYN Emergent Care Center for immediate care.
If bacteria enters the ureters and spreads to the kidneys, symptoms may include back pain, chills, fever, nausea and vomiting.
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Additional Herbs For Utis
There are herbs, such as goldenseal and Oregon grape that do both needed jobs: they one, kill bacteria and strengthen the immune system and two, they also prevent the infectious E-Coli bacteria from sticking to the walls of the bladder and urethra, so they are rinsed off with urination.
It makes sense that those who struggle with UTIs are probably only seeing the tip of the iceberg. This one symptom may be a red flag. What underlying issues in your body may also need to be addressed? Leaky gut and pathogen overgrowth are often the root cause.
2018 Update I have now heard from so many of you! Thank you for emailing or commenting to let me know how much you like this remedy! I also have a family member who recently needed this remedy. She found complete relief the same day from her symptoms. These herbs really are powerful, wonderful and fast!
You Use Too Many Cleansers
Sprays, douches, vaginal cleansers â there’s a pretty long list of products that can go in and around your vaginal area. And while they’re supposed to help you feel “clean” and fresh, all they really do is irritate the area and make you more likely to get a UTI.
“This can interfere with the natural biome and typically acidic pH of the vagina, which helps fight infection and predisposes women to UTIs,”Dr. Chitra Kothari Mittal, PT, MHS, OCS, tells Bustle.
And the same may be true for soaking in a hot bath or using harsh soaps, both of which can cause “dryness at the opening of the bladder, allowing bacteria to enter and cause UTIs,”Dr. Sophie A. Fletcher, MD, urologist for Sutter Medical Group, tells Bustle.
So remember, since the vagina is self-cleaning, it’s just not necessary to use sprays or cleansers down there, not only for the health of your vagina, but also for your health of your urinary tract.
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Iced Tea May Cause Kidney Stones
Summer is high season for drinking iced tea. However, a John Miller, Loyla University Medical Center urologist warns that iced tea can contribute to painful kidney stones because of its high concentration of oxalate, one of the key chemicals that lead to the formation of kidney stones.
Around 10% of people in the U.S. suffer from kidney stones, a common disorder of the urinary tract.
Dr. John Milner, assistant professor at the Department of Urology at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine explains: For people who have a tendency to form the most common type of kidney stones, iced tea is one of the worst things to drink.
Drinking an insufficient amount of fluids is the most common cause of kidney stones, and during the summer, when people can become dehydrated from sweating, the combined effect of dehydration together with drinking a lot of iced tea can raise the chance of developing kidney stones, particular in those already at risk.
Milner said:
People are told that in the summertime they should drink more fluids. A lot of people choose to drink more iced tea, because it is low in calories and tastes better than water. However, in terms of kidney stones, they might be doing themselves a disservice.
Even though hot tea also contains oxalate, Milner said that it is difficult to drink sufficient amounts to cause kidney stones and figures from the Tea Association of the USA reveal that around 85% of tea consumed in the United States is iced.
Best Foods For Uti Prevention And Healing Plus 3 Uti
- Pin
If youve ever had a urinary tract infection, you know the burning isnt fun. These infections can last one to two days in the bladder and a week or so in the kidneys, and sometimes antibiotics are needed to get rid of the bacteria causing the issue.
While medicine is the best bet for many people, if youre experiencing reoccurring UTIs, it might be a good idea to look at the foods you eat and see if theres a way to tweak them to help prevent and fight infections.
If youre interested, read through this list of the 15 best foods for UTI prevention and healing. At the end of this article, Ill share a few snack ideas that you can use to build your own UTI diet around.
- Apple Cider Vinegar
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How To Tell If You Have A Uti
Painful, frequent urination and bloody urine are classic symptoms of a UTI. But youll need to make a doctors appointment to confirm a diagnosis.
Your doctor can order a urine sample and look for the presence of white blood cells, red blood cells, and bacteria.
If you have a UTI, youll receive a 7- to 10-day course of antibiotics to kill the bacteria. You should receive the shortest treatment course necessary to kill the bacteria. Shorter treatment reduces your risk of antibiotic resistance.
Its important to complete the full course of treatment as prescribed by your doctor, or else the UTI could return.
In addition to an antibiotic, other home remedies can help relieve discomfort. This includes drinking plenty of water to flush bacteria out of your urinary tract and using a heating pad to reduce pelvic and abdominal pain.
Your doctor may also prescribe medication to relieve burning and pain associated with these infections.
Some people also drink cranberry juice to help ease UTI symptoms. There isnt enough evidence supporting cranberry juice as a treatment, but it might relieve symptoms and prevent infections due to its infection-fighting properties.
Cranberry juice may interfere with the anti-coagulant medication warfarin and cause unusual bleeding. Dont drink this juice if youre taking this medication.
When to see a doctor
- You have burning, painful urination.
- You have foul-smelling urine.
- You have traces of blood in your urine.
- You experience frequent urination.
Other Causes Of Frequent Urination
While drinking tea can lead to more-frequent urination, other benign causes of increased urination may be the reason you find yourself needing to use the bathroom so often. For example, if you are drinking tea, you may find yourself unintentionally consuming extra liquids. This may cause you to need to relieve yourself more than usual.
Other causes of frequent urination may be signs of a serious health problem. Some health conditions that may cause you to experience excessive urination include:
- Diabetes
- Too much or too little calcium in your body
- Urinary tract infections
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Teas That Are Good For You
1. Azul Tea
Azul tea is one of the best teas to drink, especially if you are prone to kidney stones. Its a great alternative to your typical herbal teas. And, its a natural diuretic so it increases the production of urine.
Increasing your bodys urination may help flush out your kidneys and keep them healthy.
Also, Azul tea may help prevent calcium oxalate stones from forming. This is due to the isoflavones found in the Palo Azul plant. It is another preventive perk, even if you dont have kidney stones.
Additionally, Azul tea naturally modulates urine acid levels. So, it may help with urinary tract sediments and other kidney stone issues. This could make the oxalate acid dissolve into the urine and pass from the body, instead of forming painful deposits.
In contrast, Azul tea has other health benefits as well, like strengthening and maintaining joint health. It may also help detox your body prior to a drug test. Its natural body bolstering and cleansing properties make Azul Tea a highly recommended tea to keep in your kitchen.
2. Green Tea
Green tea is generally a good choice for tea lovers. Aside from its low oxalate content, it may also help your body prevent kidney stones from forming, too.
Calcium oxalate containing stones are one of the most common types of kidney stones. And, its the biggest culprit when you consume too many calcium-rich foods. But, there is an extract in green tea that may help with that.
3. Goldenrod Tea
4. Citrus Tea
5. Dandelion Tea
Do You Have Kidney Stones
The thing with kidney stones is that they tend to be sneaky. You will not usually know that you have one until it moves to the kidney or enters the ureters. The latter are the tubes that connect the kidneys to the bladder.
When the stone lodges in these tubes, urine flow reduces, which can cause swelling of the kidney. That is when the problem begins. Most people experience sharp pain on their sides and backs, as well as below the ribs. The pain moves from the groin to the lower abdomen and can come in waves. Sometimes, the pain fluctuates in intensity. Also, when you pee, you feel a burning sensation.
You can also look out for other symptoms, such as a change in the color of urine. If it comes out pink, red, or brown, you could have a problem. The smell can also change such that it smells bad. You may find yourself using the loo more than often and in small amounts. Where infections are present, other symptoms such as fever, chills, nausea, and vomiting can show.
Note that the pain caused by the stone can change. An example would be where the stone moves to another part of the urinary tract. The pain would follow this movement.
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Can Certain Food Or Drinks Irritate Your Bladder And Cause Burning When You Urinate
Burning when you urinate can range from annoying to truly painful. The medical term for burning on urination is dysuria. Although dysuria is a symptom rather than a disease, it is not something you should ignore, as several potentially serious conditions could cause dysuria.There are a number of causes for urinary burning ranging from infections to what and how much you eat or drink.
If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, seek emergency treatment immediately.
What Causes Urinary Tract Infections
UTIs usually happen because bacteria enter the urethra, then make their way up into the bladder and cause an infection. Girls get UTIs much more often than guys, most likely due to differences in the shape and length of the urethra. Girls have shorter urethras than guys, and the opening lies closer to the anus and the vagina, where bacteria are likely to be.
Bacteria can get into the urethra several ways. During sex, for example, bacteria in the vaginal area may be pushed into the urethra and eventually end up in the bladder, where pee provides a good environment for the bacteria to grow. This is why females who are sexually active often get UTIs.
Bacteria may also get into a girl’s bladder if she wipes from back to front after a bowel movement , which can contaminate the urethral opening. The use of spermicides and diaphragms as contraceptives also may increase the risk of UTIs.
Sexually transmitted diseases may cause UTI-like symptoms, such as pain with peeing. This is due to the inflammation and irritation of the urethra or vagina that’s sometimes associated with chlamydia and other STDs. If untreated, STDs can lead to serious long-term problems, including pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility. Unlike UTIs, STDs are contagious.
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Causes Of Urinary Tract Infection
A healthy person with good immune defense system is able to fend off bladder and kidney infections. However, when there is stress, illness, physical injury or nutritional deficiency, frequent use of antibiotics, immune defenses weaken, allowing the bacteria to take over. Pregnancy, menopause and sexual intercourse also increase the risks of UTI.
Urinary tract infections are almost always caused by the Escherichia coli bacterium, although some viruses, fungi and parasites may also infect the urinary tract. A majority of infections are caused by bacteria entering from the intestine or vagina. Bacteria that enter through the urinary tract are often flushed out when the bladder is being emptied.
Viruses: The herpes simplex virus type 2 may infect the urethra, making urination painful and emptying of bladder difficult.
Fungi: A common type of fungi that causes UTI is Candida . This usually happens to individuals whose immune system is impaired.
Parasites: Trichomoniasis, caused by a type of microscopic parasite, is a sexually transmitted disease that produces greenish yellow and frothy discharge from the vagina in women. There is usually no symptoms in men, although it can cause inflammation of the prostate gland.
Malaria is a disease caused by another type of microscopic parasite carried by mosquitoes. It destroys the small blood vessels of the kidney and can rapidly damage red blood cells, causing acute kidney failure.
How Are Utis Treated
UTIs are treated with antibiotics. After several days of antibiotics, your doctor may repeat the urine tests to be sure that the infection is gone. It’s important to make sure of this because an incompletely treated UTI can come back or spread.
If someone has a lot of pain from a UTI, the doctor may recommend a medicine to help relieve the spasm and pain in the bladder. This will turn pee a bright orange color, but it’s harmless and will usually make a person much more comfortable within hours. In the case of a kidney infection, a doctor may prescribe pain medicine.
If you’ve finished all the medicine or if your symptoms aren’t much better after 2 to 3 days of treatment, contact your doctor.
Drink lots of water during and after treatment because each time you pee, the bladder cleanses itself a little bit more. Cranberry juice may also be helpful. Skip drinks that containe caffeine , such as soda and iced tea.
People who get a doctor’s help for a UTI right away should be clear of symptoms within a week. Someone with a more severe infection may need treatment in a hospital so they can get antibiotics by injection or IV .
A doctor may tell people with UTIs to avoid sex for a week or so, which lets the inflammation clear up completely.
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Foods That Cause Heart Palpitations
By Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.A.C.N., C.N.S., C.B.T.
Often when I write about the best and worst foods for the heart, I talk in the context of heart-healing foods that are good to eat, as well as foods that should be avoided because they fan the flames of inflammation. Those discussions focus on how the things we eat and drink every day affect heart health over the long haul.
Today, though, I want to shift gears and focus on foods that can have more immediate and noticeable impacts on the heartstarting with foods that can cause heart palpitations. In this article Ill explore:
How To Make Better Beverage Choices
A little soda or sweet tea is not going to hurt you, but you are better off making sure you get the necessary amount of water per day first. An easy way to make water your priority is to count how much water you drink daily and refuse to drink anything else until you meet the necessary quota. Once you have the recommended amount, then you can have a glass of your favorite drink as a reward.
Now is good time to think about your calorie intake as well. The beverages you drink factor in weight management in fact, these beverages make up about 20 percent of total calories for most people. Once you realize how your calorie intake is impacted by the beverages you consume, youll see how fast the calories add up if you drink even just a few glasses of sugary soda or tea.
Make this the year you promise to pay attention to your urinary health. Drinking more water and less soda or sweet tea is a great way to start. If you have any questions about how your diet impacts your urinary health, contact Dr. Scott Miller or call at 705-5201.
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You Forget To Pee After Sex
UTIs can crop up after sex, but may be even more likely if you don’t take the time to urinate. And that’s because, as Bickman says, “sexual intercourse can cause bacteria to travel close to the urethra and tract to the bladder as well.”
That’s why you’ll want to make it a habit to use the bathroom afterward, in order to flush bacteria out of the urethra so it can’t lead to an infection. And if you’re particularly prone to UTIs, you may even want to take the time to cleanse the vaginal area. As Bickman says, “Cleaning after will wipe away bacteria so less will colonize the vagina and the urethra.”