Waterfall D-Mannose Review

iv had cystitis on and off for a week now and its really really bugging me. apart from lots of water, what else helps?

Excuse me one moment while I do the brief mandatory warning;
If it gets too bad see a doctor, a week is a long time to have cystitis and I'm not sure if you have ever had a bad case before, but if not trust me when I tell you it will do a lot more than bug you and of course it can lead to bladder and liver infections.
Chances are your infection is probably on its way out, if you have been treating even with just drinking mass amounts of water the bacteria are probably slowly detaching from your urethral wall so you should see symptoms ease off, in theory.

You of course have the usual suggestions of lots of water, greatly reduce your sugar intake, unsweetened cranberry juice – or if you cannot handle cranberry juice bilberry or blueberry juice has similar benefits or you can get cranberry tablets – when buying juice also be sure to look for hidden sugars like glucose syrup.

A few other ideas;

-Drink apple juice, again unsweetened, with a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to make your urine more alkaline.

-Herbal teas [don't use any sugar or even honey, don't boil the water to brew, drink when cooled regularly throughout the day followed by water]; Raspberry leaf, Echinacea, Chamomile, Rosemary, Thyme, Lemon balm – all have various properties that if not used to treat at least used to ease your symptoms.

-Wash after you pee, as foolish as you may feel get yourself a little dish and put into it warm water and salt, then literally dunk your genitals into the dish and give yourself a little wipe. Fresh water every time of course.

-Bathe in chamomile tea, don’t have baths in bubble bath or any other such bath toiletries as the chemicals will further irritate the infection and generally are not the best thing for vaginal health all round.

-Plain pro-biotic yogurt both eaten and used as treatment directly, in other words paste it over your vulva at night, wash it off in the morning.

-Try vinegar in your water, about a teaspoon per 10floz of water.

-Eat a lot more fruit and vegetable, basically foods rich in alkaline will do the job, things such as bananas, apples, and pineapples, foods rich in vitamin A will also help such as broccoli and leafy green vegetables. Go from aiming for 5 a day at least to 8 or 10 a day.

Avoid cystitis best you can, and of course avoid things now while you have the infection, things to watch out for; avoid soaps or perfumed toiletries as these are not good for vaginal health full-stop, wipe front to back, avoid sugars, drink lots of water, avoid junk food, avoid caffeine, eat more barley, eat more garlic, practice safe sex, pee after sex, avoid tampons or commercial pads, wash regularly with just water, wear loss-fitting natural fibres, consider taking multivitamins.

Good luck!

Are there any home remedies to relieve symptoms of interstitial cystitis? A bladder condition that hurts like a bladder infection.

I've had pelvic floor pain misdiagnosed as IC. I know how really bad it is. I was off work for months until I got some relief and I am still slowly recovering. Work with your doctor to try all sorts of medications to relieve the pain. Don't rule out muscle relaxants and in my case Klonopin, an anti-anxiety drug that can relax the pelvic floor and reduce pain. Some of IC pain is the bladder but usually there is some pain from tight pelvic floor muscles too. Most urologists overlook this, stick you on Elmiron and hope you're one of the 20% it helps, or they do DMSO instillations. If your urologist is not working with you, find another. Mine was willing to try experimental treatments.

As for easy thing you can do at home – heat really helps. Get a rice or buckwheat heating pack for the microwave oven and use that.

Try the IC diet – it did not work for me but it helps some people. And see if you can get a prescription for physical therapy for pelvic floor – THAT is what changed my life.

If you can, go see Dr. Jerome Weiss in SF – I flew there to see him. He is a world expert in this. I paid a lot of money to get there and see him but it changed everything. Worth every penny. He is very supportive and he really helped me.

Also check out the IC network: www.ic-network.com/

Be careful there – there is good advice – there are also desperate people who have not gotten control of their illness for whatever reason. I took what I could from there and moved on and did not let it suck me down.

The main thing is to never stop looking for answers. If hadn't, I would still be where I was two years ago – on the sofa, non-functional and in pain. I'm back at work and about 80% recovered now and have a good life again.