Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. – Romans 12:10
There is so much about living with chronic illness and disability that is strange. Hard. Embarrassing. Sometimes it can make us feel helpless or alone, when our bodies seem to turn on us or be completely foreign to us.
I am not a medical professional, but I have lived with some issues and am happy to share tips or understanding with all of these issues will be female more than male. I’ll warn you if that happens. Some of these problems are very personal and I will be as tactful as I can in addressing them, but I want us to be able to come out of the shadows with some of this and help each other.
To that end, I will be starting “Tips on Tuesday” for as long as there is interest. If you have a question or a tip, I’d love if you’d email me at and share it with me. All tips given will be through me and all emailers will remain completely anonymous. I hope this series will be helpful to all of you.
So for today, the first “Tips on Tuesday” is about something I am going through yet again. Over the past couple of years, I have had almost continual Urinary Tract Infections (UTI). These are very painful and make you feel completely miserable throughout your body. I want to give you several tips related to UTI, as it is a common ailment for the chronically ill and the disabled.
Frankly, a huge part of my problem is that I do not empty the bladder completely. I am also allergic to all the best antibiotics. A wonderful friend of mine who was a nurse showed me a wonderful website with tips for emptying. It had suggestions I hadn’t even thought of or heard of and has been a great resource to me.
I also use Azos. I use prescription strength, and it does grant relief. You can also buy it over-the-counter (OTC), but be certain that you choose the pain relief one and not the straight cranberry one, because that one is strictly preventive and will not help with pain.
A little baking soda stirred into your glass of water might help with pain as well. It’s not too bad to get down and if it helps, is well worth it. An infected bladder is a very sensitive bladder, so while infected, avoid anything that would hurt an open wound… like citrus, carbonation, caffeine, vinegary things like pickles, even strawberries are acidic. Here’s a great website to help you know what food and drink to avoid during infection.
Food and Drink that May Aggravate Pain of UTI
Baths are known to cause or aggravate UTI. So are other more intimate times with a husband or wife. Please give your body some tender loving care during this sensitive time while it is infected.
When I have a UTI or even just a spastic bladder, a heating pad on low, held between the legs, up against your body, will give you unbelievable relief. It’s weird, but hey, whatever works.
Antibiotics are known to strip good bacteria from your body, along with the bad. This causes an overgrowth of yeast in the body, also known as a yeast infection. If you’ve ever had one of these, you know what torture they are. They can happen to men or women and can be passed between the two during intimate contact. I keep a pack of extra-strength Probiotics in my fridge and I take them every day that I am on an antibiotic. For me, this is every day. They will not hurt you and will many times prevent a yeast infection. Also, anytime I am given antibiotics for any issue, I request a prescription for Diflucan. It’s one pill, taken orally, and is much better and less hassle at treating an infection, should you get one. I fill the prescription only if needed. Most doctors are more than willing to do this for you, especially if you face frequent infections.
I hope this has helped you to see what “Tips on Tuesday” will be like. Also, if you have any of your own tips to add, email those to me and I’ll include them at the start of next week, before we get into another Tip.
Thanks for being here! <3
Dear Lord, thank You for always creating community for us. You know exactly who we need and when. Please help us to reach out to each other. In Jesus’ Name, Amen…
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May God Bless You,
Shelly
Glad that site on tips for emptying the bladder was worth sharing.
My daughter would totally agree with the things you’ve said here.
She gets UTI’s and lived with candida for many years but is now free of it…but what a long hard battle it was getting rid of it !
If any of your readers want info and how to overcome candida, you could tell me and I will email her post about it.
Love you Shelly and praying the present UTI will soon be gone !!
xxxxx
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