Hi there i am in need of some assistance with my MS as recently its driving me mad, at the start of the year i had my first urine infection ever in my life. Dr sent me for a bladder scan only to be told i have a remarkable bladder 
. i had antibiotics and i thought that was the end of it. well 4 more urine infections later i feel like i have another. it makes my legs awfully tingly and starts to depress me as i cannot sleep etc with it and i sometimes just want it to stop 
the Dr sent away my sample as the dipstick part in the surgery showed an infection but nothing grew in the labs. i dont understand that part :? now i am positive in this but to be honest i sat in bed thinking i dont want this to be the next 30-40 years of my life and that was quite depressing too. BUT i am over that for the time being. Is there any way to help prevent urine infections that i could try myself. got cranberry juice etc but to no avail. i dont have any pain with the infection except for my MS symptoms worsening so that also is frustrating. thank you for reading my ramble :lol:
Cranberry tablets are better than the juice,because if you dont get the right cranberry juice it doesnt work, i get mine online cheaper than the shops.
Hi I donât really have anything to offer except to tell you tha bicarbonae of soda (1 teaspoon in a halfpint of water) is good for reducing uric acid levels. But as you are suffering from the glorious gift 
of MS - reccuring urine infections, - has your gp got you in with either a continence team or an urologist or havent yo ugot that far yet? Hope you get better soon Clarexxx
Hi Jooly, Make sure youâre drinking enough fluid (water is best), aim for 6 â 8 glasses a day to flush any bacteria out of your system. Cranberry juice makes your bladder wall more difficult to stick to. You can also buy cranberry tablets. A vitamin C supplement would raise the Ph level of your urine making it more difficult for the bacteria to multiply; try 500mg every 6 â 8 hours. There are some theories that cranberry juice works primarily because youâre drinking more. There are a couple of herbal remedies you could try but please consult a registered herbalist â yarrow or uva ursi (urine must be alkaline for uva ursi to work â donât take if using cranberry or vitamin c which make the urine acidic) for example. Make sure you go to the toilet as soon as you feel the need to pee, if urine stays in the bladder long past its âpee byâ time, the bacteria starts to multiply and can cause infections. Urinate frequently and go when you first feel the urge. Bacteria can start to grow when urine stays in the bladder too long. Youâll know about wiping from front to back after a pee or poo? Try to have a pee before and after youâve had sex and if you can, have a good drink of water afterwards as well. Keep the area clean â have regular warm baths using an emollient cleanser (such as E45) instead of soap (which alters the Ph). Try to wear loose, cotton clothing, especially knickers. Cut out sugar from your diet and introduce a natural yogurt daily. If all else fails and you continue to get UTIâs, your GP should refer you to a urologist who will assess your treatment needs which might include a long term, low dose, antibiotic.
anu wrote:
Hi Jooly, Try to wear loose, cotton clothing, especially knickers. .
Whoops, I meant that itâs especially important that your knickers are cotton rather than âwear clothing, especially knickersâ :oops: :lol:
Hi Iâve had more than my share of UTIs over the years so I know how much of a pain they can be. As a couple of people have said, cranberry is meant to help. Tablets are better than the juice though - theyâre stronger and without the sugar of the drinks (I get mine from bigvits.co.uk) I also have a daily low dose of antibiotics. When I started doing that the amount of infections that I got went down loads - itâs not stopped it completely, but definitely much better. You might need a bladder scan as well. This is because you may experience retention if your bladder isnât emptying fully. The scan is just the same as an ultrasound for pregnancy. Speak to your GP to find about daily antibiotics or the bladder scan. Dan
Hi I was having a UTI every couple of months for over 2 years. I was told that I was retaining some urine when I passed urine and that was the cause of the infections. I started to do self catheterisation but I still got infections. Well I found out about the MS Therapy centres which have Hyperbaric oxygen therapy HBOT, Iâve been going twice a week since April and I havenât had one UTI, itâs fantastic. I was told by many of the people that go to the centre that the effect on the bladder is the first thing they noticed. Some people have been going 25 years and they are great. I told my Consultant and he just poo pooâd it. Typical. 
Lynne xx
stormonto57 wrote:
I told my Consultant and he just poo pooâd it. Typical.
At least he didnât pee pee it :lol: :lol: :lol: Iâll get me coat⌠:roll:
Dear all Still getting to grips with this new website so hopefully my reply will post :lol: thank you all for the replys , even the :oops: ones that made me laugh out loud (always a good thing) :lol: i will go and get cranberry capsules from local Holland and Barrett and hopefully that will start me on the right road. thanks again its most helpful Julie :mrgreen:
[b]Hello. Keep drinking. That is the core advice. Drink drink drink - it doesnât really matter what it is, water, tea, coffee, pint of beer, diluted orange or cranberry juice, anything that will make you wee plenty frequently so you have nice clear wee. It will clear out bacteria. My mum had MS and suffered from UTIs a lot and it made her very ill. So this is good advice I assure you. [b] Steffi xx
Hi - I went through this problem - 14 anitbiotics and six months later I saw a urologist - he put me on a low dose antibiotic and arranged for me to start self catherisation - that didnât stop them either - eventually somebody said the only way they had stopped was homeopathy. I was very sceptical - I have an MSc in Chemistry and it just doesnât make sense that it works but I was desparate! I thought I had tried everything (cranberry, drinking loads of water to flush the system, pelvic floor exercises, yoga, hyperbaric oxygen etc.) It did work - it took 4 months⌠and I havenât had a UTI for 2 years now⌠and I donât take the low dose antibiotic either. I do still self-catheriterise as I have a 250ml retention which is apparently huge, and now I suffer from spasms in my legs and anywhere below my waist which does sometimes include my bladder! I have to watch how much I drink on long journies (or pre-plan toilet visits) and I try not to drink after 9pm, and make sure that I empty before retiring for the night⌠Just make sure that you visit a fully traine Consultant, who checks other drugs you might be on. Carol
Hi, I believe that I have Interstatial Cystitis (IC), which is where the protective musus lining of the bladder has worn away in places exposing the bladder nerves. If I eat various foods or drink I get terrible bladder pain and cystitis. My MS Nurse and GP wanted me to go down the route of antibiotics and catheters, and I had to fight to convince them that my problems werenât down to MS and retaining urine. My MS Nurse came out with her ultra sound thingy and it proved that I do empty my bladder fully. Itâs not known what causes IC, but two theroies are that a) itâs caused by an allergic reaction to latex eg. a catheter, and b) itâs caused when a candida overgrowth spreads from the gut to other parts of the body. Iâd keep an eye on what you eat and make sure you drink plenty of water. For me, I mainly canât have fruit or fats (eg olive oil) but there are other foodss that effect me too. I canât have dairy or alcohol without feeling very sore. Cranberry just made me worse. Iâm also being treated for a candida overgrowth and am on the Best Bet Diet so my diet is very restricted anyway. I fry food in lard and that seems to help, as does coconut milk. Hope this helps, Heather
Dear all i am very grateful to all the replys and i did go and get cranberry capsules from holland and barratt and they were on offer 7.99 for 250 so that was great. i have taken for 4 days now and already feel the benefit of them. may be coincidence but i am now sleeping better and no longer have the dull ache in the lower body. trying to go the loo when the urge comes but sometimes think i should just move my work desk there 
so fingers crossed it keeps going well and i dont need another course of antibiotics. thanks again Jooly
Dear Jooly,
I have had lots of urine infections and Idrink lots etc but I take Manuka Honey +10 1-2 teaspoons a day and it keeps me away from infections. I swear by it, it really works. When I was in Hospital with out it I had an infection. I told the Docs about it and they said âbring it inâ I stated to take it when I was there and it went. Its a natural antibiotic. Read about it and please try it. Let me know how you get along with it !
Kind regards
Derek
Better then cranberry - try D-Mannose capsules - they are great for keeping your bladder healthy - a concentrated form of whatever it is in cranberry. l get mine online via amazon. Just look them up and read the reviews. Also, Apple Cider Vinegar is great at reducing uric acid. lt is alkaline - helps regulate the ph. You need 1 tablespoon +teaspoon of honey topped up with water to make a long drink. Manuka honey is a good healer - Aldiâs do one at a reasonable price. And also greek yoghurt - as a pro-biotic. Drink lots of water.
Iâve been taking cranberry tablets as theyâre stronger than the juice BUT having just had a horrible collapse (limbs stopped responding to instructions, fell and couldnât get up) and had to rely on ambulance crew to get me up and to hospital - partner, whoâs a big lad, tried but I literally had no power to help so was like a dead weight, ambulance crew used an inflating lift thingy.
A urine infection was diagnosed so I will never unerestimate the power of them again!! Scarey as hell!!
Anyway, I was advised in the hospital to drink cranberry juice as well as taking the tablets because the juice would help directly in my bladder. Makes sense. To be honest Iâd drink something disgusting if I thought itâd help, that experience is not one to repeat.
I see this thread is quite old so I hope you found a way to stop the infections or, at least, minimise them. Iâm seeing my GP next week and will ask if he can supply a home testing kit so I can keep on top of this.
Good luck all who need it!
I changed to the tablets but then had another infection ~ mine knock out the use of my limbs so I end up getting a lift (in ambulance) to hospital ~ and a nurse told me the juice was better as it sits in the bladder as liquid. I tried Slippery Elm too and now use D-Mannose. They both make the walls of the bladder slippery so infection is not able to take hold. Seems to help BUT I get throat infections that knock out my l imbs now. Grrrrrrrrr.
I was told half a teaspoon of bi-carb in a drink helps heat tolerance. HmmmâŚIâll increase to 1 teaspoon I think. Thanks for the tip.
Iâve not yet met a GP or Consultant who knows anything like as much as other MS-ers do. Forums, sharing symptoms and ideas is great. Weâre all just walking each other home.xx
Iâve used homeopathic remedies to good effect years ago for hormonal problems but hadnât even thought of them for UTIs. What do you take Carol L and where do you go to a homeopath?