Water
★★★★★
At this point I'm almost 40 years old. I've dealt with this for over 20 years, getting multiple infections per year. I've tried all sorts of teas, several Native American cures, I've done the ACV, and then the baking soda, but I truly hate the taste of both. Turns out if I'm persistent enough there are quite a few natural cures that EVENTUALLY work. But they take forever. As in...a week or two. Or three. That's a long time when you're running to the bathroom dozens of times a day! In talking with a Chinese herbalist about a year ago, it was recommended to me to quadruple my intake of water during a bladder infection, and that alone would be enough. The liquids flow through your bladder and urinary tract often enough so that your body can then handle the many fewer bacteria all by itself. I wasn't thrilled to hear this...I just wanted to buy some magic herb that would fix it.
Needless to say, I was VERY skeptical. (And sorta ticked I wasn't just sold a herb of some sort...what can I say? I've grown up with the American medical system and we like our convenience.) But it beat the ACV that I hate, right? So I tried it and now I won't use anything else. I'll be honest. I don't love running to the bathroom more than I already do during an infection, with the additional water intake. But it's not that much more inconvenient, since I'm already up every half hour or so when I've got an infection. And wouldn't you know it - it DOES work!! And it's next to free and doesn't taste horrid! You can't even imagine my surprise at this after trying so many other things over the years. And safe for children, but be careful with how much water you make little ones drink..they can't handle adult doses.
I found that drinking as much water as possible (more than his recommended 4x more) helped quicker. I drink a bottle of water per hour (16.9fl oz) until symptoms subside, then I usually do an additional couple hours just to be safe. I just set an hourly timer. If it goes off and I haven't finished my bottle, I finish it right then and I start a new one and a new timer. Repeat, until my body is better. It is so simple and so effective, and SAFE.
And while yes, too much water can kill you; healthy kidneys can handle a LITER of liquid an hour, so don't overdo it but you can do a lot and still be quite safe. You can slam the water or you can sip it. Doesn't matter. What matters is having it running through the plumbing as much as possible, so for me sipping it is more comfortable. You do what works for you. And you are NOT trying to hold all the water in. You don't need your bladder to be full and uncomfortable! When you feel you need to go to the bathroom, then go. You need to flush all that bacteria out so let the water do it's thing. Every sip you take you're making yourself better. Every time you pee, you're making yourself better. That Chinese herbalist was wiser than I gave him credit for, and our bodies are really rather awesome when you think about it.
VERY IMPORTANT: don't drink anything but water, and NO sugar. Which means no lemon water, either. You want nothing in the water that those little bacteria evil geniuses can survive off of. Try not to take in any sugar in your diet, either, so skip dessert and limit breads until you're better. No intercourse because that will make it worse, too. Just baby yourself for a day or two, drink water, eat lots of veggies. I even skip most fruits, too, because that's so easily converted to sugar. Thankfully I've got it down to just a day (or under) of having to do this now, so it never seems to be the big deal it was before.
How long until you're cured will depend. If you catch things quickly, I've had it all over with and GONE in under 4 hours...and that's including my additional 2 hrs of drinking I do after the spasms subside and I stop having the urge to pee every 5 minutes. Folks, the antibiotics I used to get for these didn't even work that fast! When I procrastinate sometimes it takes a full day before I'm cured. (And let's be honest here. I really don't like drinking water every hour either, so sometimes I'm human and put it off. I know I shouldn't. Sigh. But if you're quick about it you can be done with the darn ordeal! )
Now if you have an infection that's already been going on for awhile I'm not entirely sure this would work for you, because you'd have more bacteria built up in your system. I think it'd still work but may take longer than a few hours.
It's really worth a shot, has zero side effects, and should at least help serve as a stop-gap until you can find something else that works for you. You are literally flushing out the bad bacteria with every drink. Plus you won't gag from the taste. ;) Cheers!
Water
★★★★★
Water
★★★★★
Water
★★★★★
Water With Lime and Lemon
★★★★★
Watermelon Seed Tea
★★★★★
P.S. The therapeutic dose is 1 tablespoon per 2 cups of boiling water. Just drink it until the symptoms subside and repeat as necessary.
(Sandusky, Ohio)
04/28/2009
★★★★★
Watermelon seed tea works for Bladder Infections. Just sprinkle about a half teaspoon in a mug and a cup of hot water. Take about 3 times a day, everyday until the pain is gone. Very effective. It has a bland taste.
Watermelon, Baking Soda, Azo
★★★★★
(Palma, Mallorca, Spain)
08/04/2011
★★★★★
Don't like the pill bit, and I don't understand why the baking soda has to go with it, but definitely can vouch for the watermelon doing its thing when the need arises! Eat nothing else but watermelon for a whole day (or longer if you wish) and the infection is gone. Easier in summer time when there is lots of them!
(Los Angeles, California)
03/30/2015
White Vinegar
★★★★☆
The white vinegar helps,The feeling of having to pee will goo away fast, I went all day long hurting, ended up leaving work early cause of the pain, I went on line and looked up help. As soon as I mixed it up I felt a little better. And a little better is, Alot better when you feel that way....2 tablesoons to 1 and a half cups of water.
White Vinegar
★★★★★
White Vinegar
★★★★★
I just want to relate my intense struggle with trying to cure a Urinary tract infection. I hate going to the hospital. I have actually had doctors misdiagnose me and tell me I didn't have a UTI, when I actually did, and then be forced to return with worsened symptoms, and have them finally confirm it. Anyways, after battling my latest UTI for a month, I got desperate, and drank a glass of white distilled vinegar.
I choked it down, it wasn't easy. I was nauseous for about an hour and a half afterwards, and chased it with a couple of glasses of water, but, Guess what? My symptoms were gone the next day, I swear to God. I'm still drinking plenty of fluids, all manner of Herbal tea,etc, and cranberry supplements. About two days after drinking the vinegar, I drank, another Quarter glass, the rest of it filled with water, and drank that. Just to be sure. It worked, it's been a month, symptom free. Let me tell you, I tried, Azo, Cystex, about 10 cranberry pills a day, Alka Zeltzer, Baking soda, Lemon ginger tea, everything. Vinegar works. Results ladies!!!
White Vinegar
★★★★★
First: don't take baths the water could be dirty and can somehow end up in your bladder 2nd: Wash good while showering penis needs to be washed good as well when showering.
I have Found out From my Extremely Smart parents that stuff like Soda Pop can cause Bladder infections. The cure, and this is the only cure i did, was using plain White vinegar. Turns out it gets rid of it fast but if you get the Infection in the Afternoon and was very painful I strongly recommend that you drink fresh cold filtered water for the rest of the entire day. It will do you good big time.
(Ottawa, Canada)
05/26/2008
★☆☆☆☆
I tried white vinegar and water for my bladder infection, and it did not work at all. I put 2-3 tablespoons in a tall glass of water, then drank another glass of just water immediately afterwards. Maybe the infection was already too far along for the vinegar to be effective, but I just ended up with a sore throat and a vinegar taste in my mouth while I was sitting in the emergency room of the hospital at 1:00 am that morning.
Zinc
★★★★★
(Ny)
06/05/2017
★★★★★
This makes SO much sense. My daughter had a UTI onset the evening after she got a mild sunburn. To heal the skin, especially from burns, the body uses zinc. If she was already depleted, then resources would be stretched even further and the cells could not be resistant at all! I am a firm believer that deficiency and toxicity are the two true causes of all illness. Adding zinc to the plan is already making a huge difference. Thanks!
