Katydid (Katy, Tx) on 11/16/2018:

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!