urinary tract infection-what do you use?

[chewy]

should i drink pure cranberry juice or am i better off taking cranberry capsules?

[SarahJ]

Chamomile tea seems to help me. For this I'll drink it like water until I'm feeling better. Cranberry juice is great, but I have to share it with the rest of the family, and it never lasts around here.

Now that I think about it, I don't have this problem nearly as much since McDougalling!

[slugmom]

I take capsules for the same reason SarahJ mentioned -- other people drink up my juice LOL

if you like cranberries, I wonder if cooking with them, fresh, would be even better?

[Anne]

Chewy, this sounds weird, but I take a B-complex when I start to feel symptoms. I take one a day, plus a cranberry tab every 4 hours, and drink a green smoothie with at least 2 oz of kale in it twice a day.

[Chrmann]

Cranberry tablets are fewer calories than cranberry juice. I never have to worry about someone drinking my juice anymore, when I take tablets. Plus, they can be kept in the cabinet without worrying about them going bad as much. Also, do some figuring. cranberry tablets are a good bit cheaper than cranberry juice. Makes sense which to use.

If you take the tablets, be sure and drink a whole glass of water each time you take some. My Dr. told me to do that. Also, take acidophilus tablets.

[Caroveggie]

I had (or I think I had) a urinary tract infection once. I tried d-mannose and it went away before I had to see a doctor, and I've never had a problem again. I found it doing searches online for treatments, and decided to do it because I found it fairly cheap and it's natural - just a type of sugar that binds with the bad stuff and you flush it out. Although by now you probably no longer have a problem, I'm just leaving it on here for those who maybe get them a lot. My mom did and she's now taking d-mannose. At least, I saw it in her cupboard, but I don't know what her experience has been, I'll have to find out next time I talk with her.

[Puddy]

I've been told by my dr. to drink pure cranberry juice, which tastes terrible. I have cut it with ice water and that barely makes it tolerable. So no one in your family would drink that up.

Cranberry juice cocktail has loads of sugar and I don't think it helps with a UTI.

[PattyC]

I make a drink with pure cranberry juice mixed with the So-Be Lean Cranberry-Grapefruit drink. I add Equal to taste and ice and it's delicious. I usually do a 1/3 - 2/3 or 1/4 - 3/4 ratio.

It not only helps with those infections, but I recently saw reports that cranberry juice has something in it that captures flu and cold bugs in your body and protects you against them. So far, I've managed to escape the bugs going around - knock on wood!!

My SAD son loves the drink and ends up drinking half of mine when he's over

Trader Joe's has the pure cranberry juice for a really decent price and I usually keep a few bottles around. It's terribly expensive in the health food stores.

[hope101]

Carroll, it is true you can self-treat IF you don't have a fever, back pain, or any kind of significant kidney problems. If it is going to work, however, it tends to work very fast. From personal experience, if self-treatment is going to do it, I know within 24 hours. If it has reached the kidneys before self-treatment I very much doubt anything short of antibiotics will work.

[hope101]

Oh, and being pregnant would be another situation where I would be very, very careful. Untreated UTI's, especially in the kidneys, can cause harm to the babe.