Antibiotics for UTI

Antibiotics for UTI

 

A urinary tract infection is no picnic.  If you’re suffering from a UTI, chances are that you’re looking for some relief.  The discomfort is really substantial and can seriously interfere with your ability to get things done.  Burning and pain during urination, or feeling like you have to go all the time but not being able to, or only being able to go a couple drops at a time.  Uhhh. it’s awful.

If you’ll indulge me for just a minute, I think it’s important to consider why we would want to look for a UTI home remedy in the first place.  I mean what’s the big deal about doing to see a Dr.?  Get a load of this.  Below is the typical treatment for a UTI if you go to a doctor:

• First choice is typically a single dose, three day course, or 7 day course of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, commonly called TMP-SMX (Bactrim, Cotrim, Septra). TMP-SMX combines an antibiotic with a sulfa drug. A single dose of TMP-SMX is sometimes prescribed in mild cases, but cure rates are generally lower than with 3-day regimens. Allergies to sulfa are common and may be serious.  Uhh .. what?  Seriously?

• Second choice is Fluoroquinolone antibiotics, also called quinolones.  However, in geographic areas that have a high resistance to TMP-SMX, quinolones are now the first-line treatment for UTIs. Ciprofloxacin (Cipro) is the quinolone antibiotic most commonly prescribed. Quinolones are usually given over a 3-day period. Pregnant women should not take these drugs.

• Nitrofurantoin (Furadantin, Macrodantin) is a third option. This drug must be given for longer than 3 days.

The problem with going to the Dr., is that they’ve been trained by an establishment .. a machine, that is programmed to  think that popping a pill or getting a shot iis the only answer, that antibiotics are always the best answer.  Well, antibiotics aren’t for everyone, and may not be the best treatment for a UTI.

One of the biggest problems with antibiotics (and there are a lot of problems with antibiotics) is that they’re non-discriminatory. Your body is a spectacular work of art suspended in a miraculous balance.  Antibiotics frequently are like taking a wrecking ball to your body’s natural balance.  There are LOTS of bacteria in your body and not all of it is bad.  You may have heard the phrase “intestinal flora” which refers to the balance of natural bacteria in your stomach, digestive tract, and generally, your gut.

When you take antibiotics you really foul up your intestinal flora.  You may have temporarily gotten rid of your urinary tract infection, but chances are you have introduced a whole host of new problems.  Maybe the most relevant to your UTI is that diarrhea is one of the most common side effects of antibiotics.  Why?  Because the antibiotics have killed all the good bacteria that live in your stomach and aid in digestion along with the E. Coli you were trying to get rid of.  What happens when you have diarrhea?  You increase the presence of fecal matter and E. Coli!

Sounds like a vicious cycle huh?  It sounds that way because it IS that way.  Did you know that over 10% of the women who have a UTI will have a second within 6 months of treatment for the first UTI?  The key is to find a natural, UTI home remedy.