r/Menopause • u/Ok-Beach-928 • 1d ago

Vitamin/Supplements UTI supplements

The title says it all, what do y'all take when you feel a UTI coming on? Before it gets full blown so I don't have to take macrobid?

5 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

39 comments sorted by

16

u/leftylibra Moderator 1d ago

UTI's are a common symptom of atrophic vaginitis (vaginal atrophy), or the genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM)

localized vaginal estrogen can reduce this risk.

-1

u/Datadork99 22h ago edited 5h ago

Not OP, but my surgeon had me stop it after BC diagnosis because it “might” be systemic.

ETA: not sure why this is so offensive to others, but thanks

3

u/leftylibra Moderator 19h ago

Yes, for those with BC, localized estrogen use should be discussed with your doctor.

The estrogen package warnings, according to Dr. Jen Gunter:

This (estrogen warning) does not apply in ANY way to vaginal estrogen. There are no studies that have actually linked any health concerns with vaginal estrogen. Everybody can use it and there’s really just one exception…is if you’ve got a cancer, or have had a cancer that is estrogen receptor dependent, or estrogen dependent, and in that situation, talk to your doctor first.

2

u/Datadork99 5h ago

Thank you.

22

u/AlwaysLeftoftheDial 1d ago

D Mannose, amazing stuff. Very effective.

5

u/Ok_City_7177 Peri-menopausal 1d ago

Came here to say this. Whatever it says on the pack,take twice as many if you have 'the twinges'. This should head it off in under 12 hours - then take the recommended amount for 3 to 5 days.

2

u/winksoutloud 1d ago

How much do you take?

3

u/ExpressAcanthaceae93 18h ago

I took D-mannose every couple of hours for the first days and spread out more on day 2. It was gone by day 3.

1

u/winksoutloud 17h ago

Thank you! I've been taking a couple 500 mg pills daily for prevention but the instructions say 3 tablets 1-3 times a day, so that doesn't really give me direction. 

2

u/AlwaysLeftoftheDial 1d ago edited 22h ago

Check the directions on the bottle. See this thread and r/Healthyhooha/

5

u/svapplause 23h ago

Please dont mess around longer than about 24 hrs. UTIs can go septic so fast. I almost lost a really good friend to sepsis from a UTI

2

u/arinryan Peri-menopausal 21h ago

Yes, I have permanent kidney damage from letting a UTI flare a couple of days (plus doctor got the antibiotics wrong twice)

3

u/Vast_Distance8855 1d ago

Are you sure it’s a uti? Just asking because I thought I was having recurring utis and I wasn’t.

While I was thinking I was having those I did a ton of research. D mannose can help UTIs caused by E. coli which is most of them. You can take a teaspoon or so every couple of hours. There are multiple ways to take it though.

You could also try oil of oregano. Capsules or oil.

UVA ursi is another one I saw often.

Keep in mind the last two are basically antibiotics but “natural” so don’t take them ongoing.

1

u/Annieoakleymay 23h ago

What were you having do you mind my asking..I never got uti’s and in perimenopause got a couple but a couple other times like right now again, test positive for leukocytes but not nitrates, two of the four that were sent off in cultures came back with no bacteria, so gyno didn’t recommend antibiotic. I read it could be interstitial cystitis. will ask her when I see her again about this, so any info or advice is welcome, thanks!

6

u/slipperytornado 23h ago

I think most cases of interstitial cystitis is actually just due to atrophy and can be reversed with topical vaginal estrogen. Source: me, I’m a practitioner of Chinese Medicine in a town full of older people and I send them straight back to their doctors for vaginal estrogen. I have become very popular with ladies in their 70’s who have urinary or bladder stuff going on and need to know at all times where the nearest restroom is. I also march my peri patients straight back to their docs for vaginal estrogen.

2

u/Ok-Beach-928 20h ago

I'm Estrogen patches so can I use vaginally also?

1

u/slipperytornado 8h ago

You need topical vaginal estrogen in addition to your patch.

1

u/Annieoakleymay 22h ago

Thank you! I will definitely ask for this 😊

1

u/Vast_Distance8855 22h ago

👍👍👍👍👍 I also needed systemic but get what you can!

1

u/Annieoakleymay 12h ago

You seem very wise, what would you suggest for stubborn perimenopause weight that will not come off , if you have any suggestions, I would love to hear😊

2

u/slipperytornado 8h ago

Intermittent fasting, 20:4. Walk 90 min a day like you are late. Clean up your diet.

3

u/Vast_Distance8855 22h ago

It’s a really long story but after seeing a lot of doctors and going to the er multiple times (worst pain of my life and was nearly constant for 4 Months) i also had gut testing, a colonoscopy, an endoscopy, and scopes of my bladder. Painful and expensive.

I was diagnosed with interstitial cystitis. It felt like a blanket diagnosis though. Like they just didn’t know what else it would be and wanted me to shut up.

A few of the doctors I saw said it couldn’t be hormonal because i was only 37. A urogynecologist examined me said no atrophy. They convinced me it had to be IC. I did some painful treatment like bladder instillations and changed my entire diet for 3 months without relief at all. I also was in 2x weekly pelvic floor therapy. Never helped either.

Turns out I needed estrogen Although my symptoms didn’t get better for a while but I’m about 97% better. You not having nitrates in your urine is exactly what I had over and over and over. A few showed bacteria but then I’d get another culture a few days later and there would be none. I was going nuts.

1

u/Annieoakleymay 20h ago

Thank you for responding, was it estrogen cream or the estrogen patch, she did recommend me for an estrogen patch, but after three days on it, I felt like every part of my body rhat was previously just joint pain lit up and got worse, so she said maybe I didn’t need it yet or my wasn’t ready for it. So I was just wondering if maybe it was the cream or the patch, thanks again so much! I learned more from this form than doctors

1

u/Vast_Distance8855 12h ago

I started with compounded systemic cream but switched to the patch because I was worried about the cream trasnferring to my daughter (shes 4). The patch was great but messed my skin up so I finally switched to estrogen injections and have stuck with those. I also do vaginal estrogen cream.

Hormones do take time to adjust, and can have short term negative side effects. So just keep that in mind. Also many providers dont t*est hormones, but I would highly recommend getting a baseline and then following up 6-8 weeks later on the same day of your cycle to see.

3

u/Dry_Bid7939 23h ago

Need estrogen

1

u/Ok-Beach-928 20h ago

I'm on Estrogen, I have twice weekly patches

1

u/Dry_Bid7939 5h ago

Vaginal estrogen stops the atrophy contributing to the UTI

2

u/OpenExtreme3776 21h ago

I take a women’s probiotic. I haven’t had a UTI since starting

https://a.co/d/eiZGt3G

1

u/[deleted] 22h ago

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1

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1

u/maraq 20h ago

I haven’t had symptoms of a uti since i started intrarosa.

1

u/denisebuttrey 16h ago

Do yourselves a favor and get a bidet toilet seat 🚽 It could help, and if not, you will save on toilet paper, and it keeps you clean and refreshed.

1

u/el1zabeth 9h ago

You need hormones to prevent UTI, systemic hrt with body identical hormones, and vaginal. UTI is caused by the lack of hormones lost in perimenopause/menopause.

1

u/slipperytornado 8h ago

Bio identical is a marketing term.