A Bit About Me
Hi Everyone!
In my first post I gave you a quick overview of CranberryandDMannose.com. As promised, I will introduce myself and share my personal experience with UTIs (urinary tract infection) and with finding products for treating and preventing them.
As you saw in the first post, my overall mission for the site is to provide the latest information and news, product reviews, stories, visitor comments and interaction, as well as, to help people find the best UTI and urinary tract health related products from across the top suppliers.
Why do I want to dedicate a site to Cranberry, D-Mannose, Probiotic and UTI related information and products?
That’s an easy answer. UTIs are a giant pain in the What!?! I will get more into that later but many of you already know this.
If you’re like me or many others out there you’ve dealt with a urinary tract infection. If you’re like me and many others you’ve dealt with several UTIs. If you’re like me and an growing number of people… you’ve dealt with a UTI with antibiotic resistance that turned into sepsis. For many people prevention is crucial. For others it is a good practice to adopt after encountering only one.
My story is a common one. It’s one many of you may know.
I encountered my first UTI as a young teenager. I had previously only known one friend, a boy, who had a UTI before I did. While urinary tract infection in men becomes more common as they get older, it generally affects females more in younger people. But at the time I knew very little about them, except it hurt. My mom took me to the doctor. I was promptly diagnosed, tossed some antibiotics and given all the incorrect information that was so loosely tossed along with them.
Over the years, this scenario would play out a few more times, nothing special about it. I knew the routine and the (misinformed) lectures after the second dance.
At the time, it would be years between urinary tract infections, and it was just taken for granted as something that would happen if I hadn’t followed the “advice” I had been given from my previous doctor visit. It was also taken for granted that the regular routine would be to take the antibiotics and keep it moving.
Then they’d creep along a little more frequently and I didn’t want to continue the same pattern of grabbing some antibiotics. I started learning about what causes a uti and how best to prevent it.
The general information at the time was to drink lots of water and drink cranberry juice. We’ve come a long way since then. Eventually, I found cranberry pills, which was nice because I don’t enjoy cranberry juice and drinking enough to help a UTI had become a dread. Cranberry pills became my new routine for treating the occasional mild urinary tract infection.
Then I slacked
I didn’t have any cranberry pills when the next UTI came around, let it slide and I had to head back to the doctor for the “routine”. And, as expected, the antibiotics worked. I vowed to make sure to keep my cranberry pills in stock to take at the first signs of the next UTI. Again, several years went by and managed along nicely, which is what makes you complacent.
My next UTI didn’t go as expected. I slacked again on the cranberry pills. I never really knew which ones I should buy or where to find them… and it was harder to convince myself to spend the money when I wasn’t having an issue. But prevention is key. So, along came the UTI.
As sometimes they do, this one set in overnight it seemed. I hadn’t been making much effort to prevent them for a while and took the first tiny signs of the UTI for granted that it wasn’t too bad and planned to grab some cranberry and keep it moving. Then I woke up and was faced with the burning reality of a good ‘ole full blown UTI. I knew I had to go and ask for some antibiotics, again.
So, like the responsible person I try to be, I did just that. I always followed the instructions and took them correctly and completely. I started my new course of antibiotics with the pride of following the doctor’s directions as I always had previously. After a couple of days, it started to feel better, oh the relief of peeing without pain and crying felt like a small miracle.
But then a little fever crept up instead. It was only about day 3 for the antibiotics so I decided I needed to give them more time and just “knew” I’d get better like I always had. Then my lower back started to hurt and I knew it could be a kidney infection. The fever persisted the next couple of days but I still had hope in the antibiotics. I had been trying to keep my fever down with aspirin and ibuprofen knowing the antibiotics would cure me by the end of the course.
Then, I couldn’t keep the fever below about 102 and was usually around 104. I could feel my entire body in fight mode and could only manage to lay around sweaty or shivering for next 2 days. I finally took myself back to the doctor. Considering the last time I had just seen her was for a normal UTI and antibiotic prescription, I can understand the look of surprise on her face when I returned many days later a semi-delirious fever ridden mess.
Her eyes got alarmingly large as I explained the progression and fever over the prior few days and she did not hesitate to scold me for not returning sooner. Yes, I agree, but the antibiotics were supposed to fix it. They did not fix it.
Sepsis? Me?
The UTI was not cured with them this time, as I had taken for granted before. This time the UTI was stronger. This time I I was admitted with sepsis. I was promptly hooked up to fluids, “wide open!”, as she hurriedly instructed the nurses, and was sent to the ICU (intensive care unit). There, I was put on more antibiotics, stronger ones, through my IV. These worked, this time. I felt life returning to me over the next 3 days and was released. I felt almost normal within a week. But my system was generally strong and resilient, this time.
I have kept enough cranberry and/or d-mannose powder in stock at all times now and make prevention priority. That was about 4 years ago. My routine has been much more diligent and effective since. I make taking cranberry and d-mannose a part of my daily routine now instead of waiting until a UTI creeps back up to take it. While, I use the cranberry pills sometimes because they are much more convenient, I now prefer to buy pure cranberry or d-mannose powder in bulk because it is more cost effective for everyday use. This is what works for me.
Each one of you will, of course, have varying needs when it comes to managing urinary tract and kidney health.
UTIs are becoming more and more problematic in severity and are affecting more people more often with the development of antibiotic resistance. I will go into more detail on the next post about the cranberry powder I personally currently use. On future posts I will also provide detailed reviews for the many other cranberry and d-mannose products I have used before and new ones I try out.
Finding the right products for myself was an ongoing daunting task and I had to find ways to make managing my health more affordable and accessible. I hope to assist you in finding helpful information and products to manage your own health so we can All keep it moving!
Thank you kindly for visiting! Please feel welcome to leave comments or questions below.
Best of Wishes,
Shea
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*The information in this article is not meant to provide medical information or be a substitute for medical advice. It is also not intended to provide diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and all medical decisions should be made with your personal physician. Read more here.
