I have a UTI. For some reason this doesn’t strike me as being at all TMI, possibly because a UTI takes up THE ENTIRE WORLD, and can’t you just TELL from the way EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD IS WRONG that I have a UTI? I’m not telling you anything you don’t know, is my point. I bought cranberry juice at Target while my prescription was being filled, so that I could take my first dose of antibiotic before even leaving the parking lot. I had also already taken Azo (pain relief for this very problem), and that DOES help but NOT NEARLY ENOUGH, and also the nurses are so exasperated with me for taking it because it messes up the pee test. A nurse today actually THREW HER HANDS UP IN THE AIR upon hearing that I had not chosen to spend all night wide awake and weeping with misery, unable to sleep because of feeling as if I desperately needed to pee. Has she never had a UTI? I wish her one, on a weekend after Urgent Care has closed for the afternoon, as a gift to improve her understanding of modern medicine.
The morning exercise plan was a total fail. I did it for about a week and then…didn’t anymore. BUT, it was also a success, because trying to exercise in the morning dramatically improved my attitude about exercising in the evening. If I’m even tempted to flop and whine, I just imagine getting out of bed to put on workout shoes, and I suddenly feel cheerier.
The jam I made is very delicious, but is SO FULL OF SEEDS. And this is AFTER I removed many MANY seeds: for 4 cups of mashed fruit, I got about 3/4ths cup seeds. Paul and William took a random sample of berries and COUNTED THE SEEDS IN EACH ONE, so I can now say that based on a sample from our black raspberry bushes, black raspberries have an average of 49 seeds each. Well, this does explain why the jam is still jam-packed with seeds despite my efforts. How do the jam makers do it? Brute force, I’m guessing. A total lack of regard for the berries’ feelings.
I wish you a speedy recovery from the UTI.
I always find commercial raspberry jam pretty seedy too. At 49 seeds per raspberry (I love that they counted), I suppose it’s hard to avoid.
Hilarious!
Raspberries are just seedy. I don’t think I’ve had any jam that was seed free.
Why do they even really NEED to do a pee test after you’ve ever had one UTI in your life? I love the questions now when I (thankfully rarely, although I am sure I just jinxed myself) get one: “what makes you think you have a UTI?” “Well, I have to pee every 1.3 seconds, I’m in severe pain when/if anything comes out, or even when I’m just curled up in bed, I’m peeing blood oh and also BECAUSE I HAVE A UTI.” Can’t they just take your word for it? Argh. And they always DO happen after hours don’t they? Hope you are feeling much better!
Ugh. Get well soon!
I have never had a UTI but after reading this I have the violent urge to go pee. Feel better quickly.
I’m sorry you have a UTI, I’m sorry the morning exercise was a fail, and I’m sorry your jam was too seedy – but your assessments of the situations did make me laugh.
UTIs definitely suck. I think if you have one documented, diagnosed UTI, they should trust your diagnosis from then on. It’s not like you’re going to get that one wrong; you know if you have one. You know how they tell you to take the FULL COURSE of antibiotics? I always take the full course, LESS ONE. So when I think one is coming on, I can take the last pills from a few bottles until I can sweet talk the nurses on call to phone me in a new scrip.
I had my second UTI ever this spring. I hope you feel better soon!
I think all jam has seeds. That’s why I’m a jelly girl.
Hey, you should talk to your doc about self-treatment prophylaxis. If you have several UTIs throughout the year, but they are well-spaced and uncomplicated and usually treated by the same drug (which it sounds like yours are), then you should be able to get a standing prescription to fill when you feel one coming on.
And I respectfully disagree with Suzannah’s comment above– you should ALWAYS take the full course of antibiotics to prevent recurrence and drug resistant bugs!
I don’t like raspberry jam for that exact reason. Why can’t they come up with a fix for this? Seriously! I’m sure we could divert some funds from NASA or Viagra or somewhere to come up with a seed removal device/method that works.
You are so right that UTIs take over everything in the world. NOTHING can be enjoyable with one.
I will admit though, that I sort of understand why they won’t just call in abx – I have had a lot of UTIs in my life and I thought I had another one and it turned out to be kidney stones (that and kidney infections are why they push on your lower back) which aren’t helped by abx and need freaking drug-drugs. That said, I wish they could come up with some screening questions to let you make a quick self-diagnosis so that you can have less pain while waiting for the outcome.
ok swistle, this is about to change your life. i have been getting UTIs since girlhood – i remember in 1st grade getting a note from my mom that i could go to the bathroom as much as i needed to during the day. it got to the point in college where i would go in and be like, i have a UTI, yes i wear cotton, no i don’t wear tight clothing, yes i wipe front to back, yes i shower instead of bathe, yes i pee after sex, and yes i drink plenty of water. i regularly maxed out their tests for how bad it was.
UNTIL. someone recommended cranberry pills. i’m not kidding you, this was a life changer. i take one every day, have now for maybe 4 years, and i have not had one UTI. this is after years of getting them regularly multiple times per year.
i told my obnoxious doctor this and she was like, yeah, studies don’t really bear that out, placebo blah blah blah. but frankly? MY evidence for ME is on MY side. i will also note that if i make the mistake of running out or forget to take the pills with me on trips, i start feeling like i’mma get a UTI.
anyway. if you get them regularly, ditch the cranberry juice (foul stuff, i did my time on that sh*t) and get you some pills.
I agree. UTI’s suck. Morning exercise sucks. Making your own jam rocks!
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Superjules – I know you’re right. I just figure *one* pill out of 14 (2 a day for a week) can’t make that much of a difference, right? And I can build up a nice little stockpile by skimming that way? I should have been born during the Depression, the way I stockpile.
DISCLAIMER – I am not a medical professional! Do not take my advice!
Cranberry pills, yes, but look into the herb uva ursi. Studies have shown (and I’m too lazy to linky but you can find – Health magazine even touted this) that uva ursi was the ONE thing that finally killed the UTIs that some women got chronically. And they didn’t get another one for a year. Or something like that, but really! It’s true! So you can make a tea of the herb, or find a tea bag, or find a tincture, or find capsules. Really.
Yes yes yes to cranberry pills! No no no to morning exercise!
I have never had a UTI, and hope I never do. My sister’s teeny baby has had three before the age of 6 months, combined with lactose intolerance and poops that were so acidic they literally burned her butt cheeks. They had to do baby catheters for her pee tests, damn that baby was miserable for a while.
As a chronic UTI sufferer, I can tell you that I would have punched that nurse in the face for as much as slightly hinting that pain meds shouldn’t have been taken. SO AWFUL. I hope you feel better. Also, cranberry pills, YES.
JMT- *writing cranberry pills on list*
Anonymous- *writing uvi ursi on list*
UTI are miserable and why do they mostly only happen to women??
Like Leah, I once had a UTI caused by a kidney stone, thus don’t recommend trying to go it alone. BUT I would get in the face of that nurse with the thrown-up hands and say just exactly what you wrote. Feel better fast.
Some of the higher-end commercial groups make seedless raspberry jam. I made ONE batch, one time, and decided it wasn’t worth the effort because I had to de-seed TONS of berries to get enough pulp for the jam. I just buy the seedless and smile.
Don’t like raspberry bacause of the seeds. But I LUV *entenmanns* raspberry danish. UTI’s are the worst! Morning excercise is yucky, but it is nice to get it out of the way.
UTI! Ugh, those are horrible.
I had never had a UTI until last year and couldn’t believe they could be that bad. Now I know they are the DEVIL. I do what Suzannah does too, save the last dose for the next time, and luckily, my doctor takes my word for it instead of making me come in for an office visit, peeing in a cup, etc. Just calls in a script.
I too have gotten the derisive ‘well we can’t test this urine because it’s discolored’ kind of attitude, and my response is ‘bitch please’. I’d freebase coke to get rid of that pain. I’d take anything, anything, to rid myself of it. It’s not even pain. It’s beyond pain. I’d rather have a migraine. I’d rather be in labor.
As someone who has had several UTIs in my lifetime, please let me offer some ASSvice. There’s a product called d-mannose. You can get it at health food stores or order it from Amazon. I take it after sex. It helps prevent any pain-in-the-ass e coli from sticking to the bladder wall. And just keep hydrated. Cranberry is a good preventative as well. It’s been a year since I’ve had an actual infection.
Never thought of the silver lining in re: morning exercise. The thought of exercising in the morning at 5:00 am or some god awful hour before my early rising kids wake up is enough to make me exercise in the evening. Will employ that thought process tonight!
Kelly- OMG, I SO WISH I had said “Bitch, please” to Miss Fling The Hands.
UTIs are without question the assholes of infections. Fingers crossed you feel better soon!
Next time, make jelly! Just add water to your fruit mush and strain it through cheesecloth or a new dish towel. Use the juice to make jelly. No seeds!
women get UTIs more often than men because our ureter is shorter so it is easier for the bacteria to travel up to the bladder. lucky us :)
I’ve had a few UTIs and found that my local pharmacy (drugstore) sold sachets of a urinary alkiliniser that helped the symptoms A LOT and almost immediately. Then I discovered that I got exactly the same results a lot more cheaply by drinking a glass of everyday antacid.
My doctor also advised me to pee after sex, but as that usually means getting out of bed when I’m warm and sleepy…
“Has she never had a UTI? I wish her one, on a weekend after Urgent Care has closed for the afternoon, as a gift to improve her understanding of modern medicine.”
CAN’T STOP LAUGHING!!!! Hope you feel better soon!
I work in healthcare, dealing with infection control, and just read an interesting article about a relatively new over the counter product for UTIs.
http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/news/2010/07/tolerability-study-indicates-effectiveness-of-formula-to-help-prevent-recurring-utis.aspx
It’s available at Amazon…
http://www.amazon.com/CYSTEX-Liquid-Cranberry-Complex-Proantinox/dp/B003ONZF1O
I haven’t tried it, so can’t comment at that, but wanted to pass on the info.
Ah, Swistle…you are priceless! I used to say…when my doctor was poking around through the speculum and said…this won’t hurt…I wanted to say…have you used it on your sensitive parts yet? If not, then don’t tell me how it’s going to feel. Every nurse(I used to be one) and doctor should have to be hospitalized and receive a few treatments before they are allowed to practice…to give them some perspective and compassion! UTIs are hellish. I’ve only had one as an adult and it was soooo uncomfortable..on a Saturday in the ER…waiting and waiting to be seen. Torture.
Back when I first started getting the odd UTI I went to my university clinic. The dipstick didn’t say much so they wouldn’t give me any meds until they sent my sample for culture. I didn’t know enough yet to say WTF? OMFG give me the damn antibiotics already!
No, I suffered for 3 days until I called and asked for the results and they cheerily told me I didn’t have a UTI. By that point I was peeing bright red blood, so I hotfooted it back there and demanded they take another sample and give me some meds NOWDAMMITNOW!
When they got the sample I had a hard time convincing them it wasn’t that time of the month. Three doctors were called in to see the it because it was SO RED and that was probably very NOT GOOD. Idiots. Sorry for the TMI, you touched a nerve.
My family loves homemade berry jams, but I have the same problem w/ too many seeds (I use raspberries or blackberries.) I solve that problem by mixing strawberries in. You don’t have to remove ANY seeds(which always feels like a waste to me)and it tastes great. I use a half/half ratio of the two types of berries.
Oh, Anonymous! What a good idea! I’ll try that! The seed-removal feels like such a waste to me, too: not only the work involved, but also surely a portion of pulp is lost with the seeds.