Natural Remedies for a Bladder Infection (UTI)

I wanted to share my positive experience with Uva Ursi as well and hope it helps someone else!

It's been over a year now, but for a while I was having a lot of trouble with bladder infections. I'm talking rounds and rounds of antibiotics until finally I had to go through a cystoscopy which wound up costing me thousands of dollars. And none of it helped! I just ended up with other problems from the side-effects of the antibiotics.

I had been also been trying the usual cranberry, ACV, salt water, etc- no help. Alka seltzer helped temporarily to feel better but will not cure it.

So, finally a urologist identified my infections were caused by staph. I had stumbled on using d-mannose and tried it- but it never helped either- which made sense because that's only effective if your infection is caused by e-coli.

So finally I found Uva Ursi- not a whole lot of feedback but came up a lot and I decided I had nothing to lose. Finally I found something that cleared it up!

Some keys, don't take it too long- follow instructions on the bottle- that's what I did. Drink lots of fluids because it's diuretic and will help flush out the infection.

Now I keep some on hand, I've found one with a blend of complementary herbs for bladder/kidney health and at the first sign of infection I take it and usually don't need more than a day or two worth of doses. This past week was a little worse it seems, have been taking it for a week this time, but today I found that once again it's done the trick and I feel back to normal.

Also, to balance out your system again I've found the probiotic for women in the pink bottle to be invaluable and a life-saver! I was regularly taking it and have been feeling a little off so have started taking that again as well.

Hi, I currently have a bladder infection that i've had for about two weeks, and you know how bladder infections are, they are stubborn. I've tried a lot of things so far, I've been taking high doses of vitamin c, been drinking lots of water and cranberry juice, I've taken apple cider vinegar for about 2 weeks straight and even though it makes urination less painful, it hasn't cured my bladder infection. I've also been taking acidophilus, echinacea, and a cranberry supplement. So none of this is CURING my infection, I need to get rid of it, I don't have the money or insurance for a doctor's visit and antibiotics.

So I heard about uva ursi, and it sounds like a good idea. But my mom who's a nurse told me that it can be dangerous taking in high doses, so is it safe to take the capsules up to 4 times a day? I don't plan on doing this past a week.

I have not seen the herb Uva Ursi mentioned to help clear women's bladder infections. Uva Ursi leaf (an herbal dietary supplement) is effective with stubborn lower urinary tract infections and kidney (pyelonephritis) infections. Uva Ursi has antimicrobial activity. Uva Ursi contains a glycoside called arbutin, which has an antiseptic effect on the membranes of the urinary tract. As a natural diuretic this herb drains excess water from cells and promotes an antiseptic effect on the kidneys.

It is best to take Uva Ursi leaf as directed on the bottle, with a large glass of water and the juice of half a lemon, lime or baking soad. Fresh lemon juice has alkalizing and anti-bacterial properties. Bacteria can not live an an alkaline environment. Uva Ursi and a cranberry supplement will work in synergy to clear the infection. The enclosed link is a non profit women's health website that includes:

I used to get at least 2 bladder infections per year, and the only cure was taking antibiotics. (I had tried cranberry juice and ever other nature "cure"). I discovered uva ursi while at Whole Foods and tried it. Oh my goodness!! It's been 10 years and no bladder infection---that means no antibiotics for 10 years now! The minute I feel an infection coming on, I go for the uva ursi and it goes away!

I think I got this bladder infection by not drinking enough water. Anyhow, it was bad, had to go to bathroom every few minutes and hardly anything got out. I understood it was inflammation of the urinary tract. I put some probiotic yogurt over there and it gave some small relief. Then I drank a big glass ACV and a bit later I took 1500 mg vitamin C. All this began in the evening and going to bed I could not sleep because of the pain and urgency to pee. 10 minutes after the vitamin C I fell asleep for a few hours. The next day I took 3000 mg vitamin C and so the day after. I also tried to drink a lot of water. That's it. Last time it happened I took antibiotics.

I have a history of recurring uti's so when I felt one coming on 6 days ago, I came straight to Earthclinic. My symtpoms were urgency. Burning urethra and tenderness in the bladder, although I rarely have burning upon urination. I read all the yea's for the ACV and I know that most bacteria doesn't like the acidity, so I gave it a shot. This is what I took:

1) 2 tablespoons of ACV with the "mother" mixed in with some water. I would down this like a shot and then chase it with a glass of water. I did this every 3 hours or so during the day. I noticed immediate relief of the burning sensation and the urgency would improve.. Also, it's a diuretic so I could void easier.

2) 5,000 mg of Vitamin C a couple times a day. It's also good to take a dose right before bedtime to keep the urine acidic during the night. I crushed the tablets with a garlic press and put them in a glass with a pinch of baking soda. Mix a little water so it fizzes and drink it like a shot. Follow with a full glass of water. I had around 12,000-15,000 mg a day.

3) I also take oregano oil pills and turmeric on a daily basis, so I continued this as well. Although, honestly, I think the biggest help was taking the ACV and Vitamin C to change my pH.

I did this for 4 days. You have to listen to your body... If I felt like it was too much, I would skip a dose or two. Also, you have to drink water until your eyeballs are swimming, literally. Flush all that bad crap out!

I went and got a dipstick test yesterday and it was clean!!! My Dr. said to keep doing what I was doing (I had told her about the ACV and mega-dosing Vitamin C) She said they change the pH of the urine and the bacteria can't thrive in it.

I'm still taking vitamin C, around 5,000 a day for a few days, to make sure the infection is gone and starting back on my probiotics. I do feel lots better and hope this can help someone!!!

I have been struggling with a bladder infection for about 3 weeks now, trying every possible remedy under the sun (plus antibiotics, which helped initially, but then it came back). I read about Vitamin C and decided to try it. I took 2 doses of sodium ascorbate (c powder with baking soda) as recommended on this site and within 24 hours my bladder infection symptoms had completely disappeared. Amazing!!

Vitamin C for bladder infection (cystitis)

I had a few acute bladder infection that I treated with antibiotics. Then there was that really nasty one which turned into a chronic problem. I was on various drugs for a year, it was ruining my stomach and whenever I stopped taking them the problem was returning.

A friend showed me a book about natural healing where one of the remedies was high dose vit C. I didn't expect much but it was easy enough to try. I think I was taking 5000 to 8000 mg a day in diluted form. Within days I was off any other medication and then shortly off vit C as well. What a life saver!

My bladder has never been the same after that year of cystitis, I have to avoid most of red wines, but this is manageable.

The cure in the book also mentioned drinking cranberry juice and eating watermelon with seeds. Maybe they also helped, but the vitamin drink had critical effect. I could feel the pain ease almost immediately after taking it.

I had a pretty bad bladder infection that I discovered on a Friday. Had heard that vitamin C could knock one out... makes a lot of sense because increasing acidity of the urine seems to reduce bacterial load. (as craberry juice is supposed to do). Anyway, I took 1000 mgs two or three times for the next several days. almost over night I got relief.. I kept doing it for several days to make sure.

Feminine itching/irritation: Vitamin E oil works great for that most personal itching and irritation. Just insert a gelcap at bedtime and morning. Don't forget to wear a pad, it can ruin your clothes. I had an extremely itchy irritation going that was caused by a UTI. Of course getting rid of the UTI helped, but it was completely relieved by the Vitamin E.

I have gotten bladder infections for years, and doctors haven't been able to figure out why. I was taking antibiotics so regularly that I became allergic to them and ended up in the ER, blue, and struggling to breathe. Now I'm pretty much screwed if I ever get severely sick, and although the Drs are more than happy to experiment with very targeted antibiotics I might not be allergic to, I'm not so happy to try that. Especially after they told me I'd have to attempt it in a hospital setting only. So my search for alternatives began.

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!

Hello there! Im a male 24 yrs old and I wanna share my natural cure with the world because I also suffered from UTI last year. So I decided to post this information to help the many people that suffer from this problem, I cured my UTI by drinking 8 glasses of water a day, water helps to flush out the bacteria that causes the burning sensation when urinating, so that all you got to do just drink 8 glasses of purified water (not tap water) minimum a day. Before I had tried many powerful antibiotics that did not worked, so try it out it easy and simple, 80% of the body is made up of water so it is that significant, you must eat plenty of water to be in good health and cure yourself of UTI, I wish you all good luck.

I recently got a urinary tract infection. I noticed this only by the pain I was feeling on my lower abdomen. The doctor subscribed me antibiotics which greatly helped but I also tried a few things that i felt completely cure my symptoms. Drinking PLENTY OF WATER, urinating frequently and also, drinking cranberry juice!

I did my research and THEE BEST home remedy for a bladder infection is... 1) Drink LOTS of water! Just keep taking water down! It will help flush out the bacteria that causes the inflammations! 2) Take vitamin C 3) Have a warm bath! It helps relieve the burning. I have had this bladder infection for about 2 days and now that i am drinking a HUGE amount of water the burning is going away... and i have to go to the bathroom a lot which is a great thing because it gives me the chance to drain all of the bacteria.

Water with lime and lemon for UTI: Drink the whole day till night water with lemon and lime, fill for yourself at home a jug of water with lime and lemon...