I just posted the following on Facebook, but I need help fast so I’m hoping to get even more ideas from all of you, my awesome super smart readers. (You guys are always there for me and I’m so thankful!)
I need your help again! My daughter said it hurts to go to the bathroom, and before it gets worse and she ends up needing an antibiotic for a urinary tract infection (she’s never had one before), I want to get some good natural stuff going to knock it out. I gave her extra fermented cod liver oil and probiotics, along with lot of kefir soda (for the liquids and for the beneficial bacteria) and extra healthy fats. WHAT ELSE should I be doing?
p.s. The comments on FB are freaking me out so far. I’m calling the store now to see if they have a “D-Mannose” supplement…
{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
No reason to freak out. Urinary tract infections aren’t that big of a deal although like anything if it’s gone unchecked than of course it could eventually go into the kidneys, etc etc, but that doesn’t happen every day. Some people even have Chronic bladder infections that simply never go away and it’s never become more.
Anyway, —coconut milk and coconut water are my go to for bladder infections. It goes away pretty much the same day after drinking coconut milk.
I hope it works for your daughter as well!
Oh I should mention too that I drink the coconut milk and water throughout the day and keep drinking it for a couple of days just to make sure it’s gone.
100% Cranberry Juice! (Not apple juice with cranberry juice added) It has condensed tannins that prevent bacteria such as E.Coli from attaching to the bladder wall, basically working as a natural antibiotic. I have never tried it on myself, but it did clear up my dog’s bladder infection!
Beets and beets root juice are very cleansing for the kidneys and liver so adding some should help flush out toxins and any die off that may be taking place.
Garlic is a natural antibiotic.
And colloidal silver is effective against a wide range of pathogens but won’t cause germs to become immune as some antibiotics can.
Hope some of these things are helpful!
I was encouraged to take Cantharis (homeopathic) in addition to the D-Mannose. These two took care of it faster and better than when I DID go on the Rx. This is what i give my daughter when she complains too.
Its harder to treat in kids, mainly because a lot of the really fast-acting stuff they won’t take because of taste. If you can get a kid to take it (or for an adult) 1/4 tsp baking soda in water will help kill the infection almost immediately (sometimes a second dose is needed). 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar will also do the trick. For kids, sometimes using a full-fat organic plain yogurt on the outside of the area will help probiotics reach the urinary track faster and speed healing. Big doses of vitamin C will also help clear up infection.
One approach would be to search for ‘homeopathic urinary tract infection’.
http://www.urologychannel.com/uti/alternativetreatment.shtml seemed to be useful.
Ciao,
Pavil
Cranberry juice! Maybe olive leaf extract would help, too, but not sure. It’s an immune booster.
I’m just wondering what caused it. Both my daughters got UTIs from bubble bath/bath salts in the tub when they were little. (You’d think I would have learned from the first one!)
I fought one for 3 months last summer using natural methods. It never went completely away. Eventually I needed antibiotics. Be careful. It can turn into a kidney infection much faster in a kid. Go the antibiotic route in a few days if she does not get better.
http://www.azoproducts.com/products/azo_cranberry – dd’s use this along with water and natural blueberry juice
I don’t know how old your daughter is & if she can swallow capsules… but this is what I do:
Drink water like you are trying to drown yourself.
Take lots of cranberry capsules. (wonderful cranberries without bitter taste)
Take lots of garlic capsules.
(probably not the best quality, but the cranberry & garlic are both available at Wal-Mart if a health food store isn’t near and they work fine!)
History… I used to have chronic uti’s… constantly at doctor, constantly on antibiotics (this is before we completely changed our lifestyle as far as meds & diet goes). I did have my urethra widened eventually… ouch! BUT now if I ever feel a slight “twinge,” I do what I mentioned above. I haven’t had a UTI in over 10 or 15 years, I think!
If your daughter can’t swallow pills, I know both cranberry & garlic comes in a liquid tincture type application… but the capsules are so much “tastier.”
Also, probably not so natural, but if the pain is really bad, they have over the counter pills she can take to make the pain go away… AZO, I think they are called. This used to be prescription only when I was having my problems.
Praying she’s all better soon!
Blessings,
Melinda =0)
All great advice above, and cut out all sources of sugars natural or otherwise. If she won’t drink coconut milk, Lauricidin is a good supplement if you can find it in a health food store. On line it is Med-Chem.com. Good luck!
We’ve been using kombucha (about 1/4 to 1/2 cup several times throughout the day) for a different inflammation/infection and it’s working like a charm, so long as we don’t run out of it! I have a SCOBY if you need one, although it will take almost about 10 days to make a good batch.
I thought it was well known and accepted by both natural healers and mainstream medicine that cranberry juice is the go to cure for UTIs. But you have to use the real cranberry juice, not the sugar laden syrupy kind, I think. As I understand it (with no scientific or medical bent at all), the infection binds to something in the cranberry juice and gets carried out of the body.
and if you can’t stand the bitter cranberry juice… get the capsules and drink lots of water! The capsules are just ground up or freeze dried cranberries! (I personally can’t stand the juice, as you may have guessed!) =0)
D-mannose is easy to get from a health food store & looks & tastes like powdered sugar. It binds to the bacteria and is excreted in urine. keep taking it all day until the infection is gone. Works for me, good luck
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/04/20/a-simple-natural-treatment-for-urinary-tract-health.aspx
Cranberry and garlic, FCLO, water, kombucha….yes, yes, yes. And how about some products from Standard Process? Albaplex for Kidneys and/or one of their infection fighting supplements (Maybe Congaplex or Thymex?). (Available through chiropractors and other health care professionals.)
Also, juniper berry extract/syrup is supposed to be good for the whole urinary tract. I recently started one of my boys on it. – Supposed to be good for fighting off any latent infections that may remain (as per example of some chronic sufferers) and cleansing the urinary tract.
I hope she and you are both feeling better soon!
Blessings,
Beth
I have to tell you! My daughter had reflux of the kidneys and we started using D-Mannose and it is the best product! It works everytime!
She was getting infections every month! have not had her on antibiotics for 2 years!
I had UTI’s chronically for well over a year. You can incorporate probiotic foods to prevent them, but when you actually need to treat them I drank LOTS of water, unsweetened cranberry juice with a little stevia, and D-mannose. The D-mannose seems to work well & is easy to find. It does taste like a less sweet powdered sugar and is easy to mix with water or even add to the cranberry juice. Hope this helps.
I’m SO thankful for all the advice here and on FB! I don’t know if it was a false alarm or if the stuff I did last night has already helped, but this morning she was totally fine! Kids always keep you guessing don’t they?! I’ll keep a close eye on her and prob get some D-Mannose, and maybe also cranberry caps and garlic caps just in case! I’ll also keep pushing liquids, etc…
Oregano oil helped me a lot recently when I had a UTI. It’s a very strong natural antifungal and antibacterial supplement. That and drinking a lot of extra fluids (cranberry included) knocked it out in a couple of days.
I get them chronically and what always helps me are Uva Ursi tablets. However, if you’re going with cranberry juice don’t mix the two because they will cancel each other out. Cranberry juice never worked for me so I went this route. If it’s really bad, mix a teaspoon of baking soda into a glass of water and have her take that every couple of hours until the pain subsides (and maybe for a day or two after just to make sure it’s gone). Uva Ursi works better if your system is more alkaline so the baking soda helps with that.
I’ve also found hibiscus tea infused with a little cinnamon to be rather soothing for a uti… tasty too!
ok, what’s with the baking soda recommendation? isn’t that GAPS illegal? does it do more harm than good like other ingested anti-bacterials?
You’ve probably already bought it, but I also recommend D-mannose AND high doses of Vit C. Either one will work, but combined they work really fast.
I have a weird problem and maybe someone can help. My almost-3 year old keeps telling me that his tongue hurts. I look at it and it looks totally normal. He’s been saying this off and on for about a month. Pretty soon I guess I will have to take him to the doc to check it out but I keep hoping it will just go away, whatever it is. Any ideas?
Hmmm, that is an odd one……. He’s not biting it while he sleeps or something is he? Does it hurt just in one spot? Maybe you could just call your dentist and see what they say?? (Our dentist is totally sweet and down to earth and wouldn’t mind a call like that.) Keep us posted!
I could be that he has a bit of dry mouth syndrome. I have Sjogren’s syndrome and have dry mouth/dry eyes (particularly). My tongue often burns right in the center if my mouth gets too dry. I make sure I have water handy at all times, and I have just recently started using a homeopathic cell salt (Kali Sulphuricum). When I place a drop on my tongue and a drop under my tongue (sublingual) it helps the burning, although initially it burns for a second because the base of the homepathic remedy is pure alcohol, which is the base for most homeopathic drops. There are also Kali Sulphuricum pillules available from Hyland’s (usually found at a health food store or on line) and they just dissolve right away in a kid’s mouth. But I’d start with whichever type you can find to begin with.
**To address the UTI question, if there is external itching involved, here’s what I do for my daughter. I put about two tablespoons of coconut oil into a small baby food jar and add two capsules of acidophilus powder and mix together; then rub onto (and into) the itchy spot (ya’ll know where that is without my graphic description, I’m almost certain!) and it will help inside, as well. Cranberry juice is always good for this, of course, as is aloe juice or gel (although a kid wouldn’t find it very alluring). The aloe should be continued for up to two weeks to knock out everything bad. I had bladder/urethra dilation surgery done in 1978 and haven’t had a UTI since. My second pregnancy was carried low and smashed things in there and created problems by not letting my bladder empty completely.
I had chronic UTI’s growing up until I hit puberty. Mine were ‘silent’ though, meaning I had no symptoms like pain or anything. I got tested regularly and went on antibiotics a lot. To this day the smell of liquid amoxicillin brings back a lot of childhood memories for me. My grandmother had similar issues after she went through menopause.
Obviously I am concerned since I don’t have a way of knowing if I have a UTI or not since I have no symptoms. My doc says I shouldn’t be concerned, that ‘chasing UTI’s’ are usually a waste of time and antibiotics for no reason.
What can I do to prevent them?
I’d say you could do any of the things mentioned here or on FB as a preventative. Not sure about the supplements long-term, but things like garlic caps wouldn’t hurt long term. Fermented foods are great for long term, so is the fermented cod liver oil!
I just wanted to add that I took my daughter to the dr. a few months ago because she was saying it hurt to pee. It ended up not being anything. She’s potty training and he said she’s probably just getting irritated because she’s wiping herself and not getting as clean as she used to. So we just increased bath frequency and water intake. So depending on the age of your daughter – maybe it’s just potty training
My good friend suffered w/UTI’s for years. Finally found out if she squeezed lemon or lime slices into the water she was drinking that was enough citrus acid to keep them away. Cranberry juice never worked as well. I think grapefruit works too. Might be an easier option with a kid too.
Chickweed (also the name of my band) is available in capsule form and is great for UTIs! I used to get them all the time. Yes, it’s the same plant as that cute little shallow-rooted lawn weed: http://www.sagewomanherbs.com/bulk-chickweed.html
A pint of water to stop the pain, then a couple of capsules. Works like magic for me. By the way, I wouldn’t treat any infection proactively; you don’t want the offending bacteria to get accustomed to your regimen. Lowering the pH a little with fruit juice probably wouldn’t hurt though.